"Hah!'

A third man thrust himself forward and thumped the butt of a long
rifle on the floor.
--
"They took my wife and two daughters before my very eyes, Kagig!
It is no time for talking now--you have talked already too much,
Kagi,--now prove yourself a man of deeds! With these eyes I saw
them dragged by the hair down street! Oh, would God that I had put
my eyes out first, then had I never seen it! Kagig--"

"Aye--Kagig!"

"You shall not sneer at me! I shot one Turk, and ten more pounced
on them. They screamed to me. They called to me to rescue. What
could I do? I shot, and I shot until the rifle barrel burned my
fingers. Then those cursed Turks set the house on fire behind me,
and my companions dragged me away to come and find others to unite
with us and make a stand! We found no others! Kagig--I tell you
--those bloody Turks are auctioning our wives and daughters in the
village church! It is time to act!"

"Hah! Who was it urged you in season and out of season--day and
night--month in, month out--to come to Zeitoon and help me fortify
the place? Who urged you to send your women there long ago?"

"But Kagig, you do not appreciate. To you it is nothing not to have
women near you. We have mothers, sisters, wives--"

"Nothing to me, is it? These eyes have seen my mother, ravished