"God knows, mister! They can come fast. Unless I consent to let
them use my boat, Anazeh will order his men to kill me, and then
they will take the boat in any case! There is only one thing:
they must leave the sheep behind and all crowd into my boat, but
I cannot persuade them!"

At that moment another of Anazeh's party burst in through the
door. He evidently bore bad news. Catching sight of me, he
lowered his voice to a whisper, and, whatever he said, Anazeh
nodded gravely. Then the old sheikh gave an order, and four of
his men came without further ado to seize Ahmed.

"Bear me witness!" the wretched man called back to me as they
dragged him off. "I go under protest--most unwillingly!"

Somebody struck him with a butt-end. A woman's head appeared
over the top of the partition, and began to jabber noisily.
Several of Anazeh's men hurled jests: the highest compliment
they paid her was to call her Um-Kulsum, the mother of sin.
Anazeh beckoned to me. He did not seem to doubt for an instant
that I would follow him.

I was in no mind to wait there and be arrested by the Sikh
patrol. I wondered whether they were coming in open order,
combing the countryside, or heading all together straight for a
known objective; and whether in either case I could give them
the slip and head back toward Jerusalem. In that minute I
recalled Grim's advice: