I call on you to
return to your master, and set at liberty the Arab Hussain--"
He was answered by a perfect blaze of rifles. Every man fired at
random. At least a dozen bullets crashed against the rock. A violent
tug at his left sleeve and some spatters of hot lead on his cheek
showed that one missile had come too near to be pleasant. After passing
through his coat it had splashed on the granite just behind him.
He did not speak again, nor would he fire until sure of a mark. Another
volley lit the darkness. This time he made out the forms of his
attackers. They were standing some twenty yards away, and he marveled
that they seemed not to see him; though he reflected at once, with the
utmost nonchalance, that the blinding flash of the guns screened him
quite effectually from their eyes.
Then he saw two dim figures moving swiftly forward. He brought both
down, and their yells rent the air.
He sprang sideways, as far as the narrow road permitted, and reloaded.
The Arabs aimed wildly at the place where he had just been standing.
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