to his yelped commands they swooped in unprovoked attack on our unhappy
muleteers. Before we could interfere they had thrown each Turk face
downward, our Zeitoonli helping, and were searching them with swift
intruding fingers for knives, pistols, money.

The Turk leaves his money behind when starting on a journey at some
other man's expense; but they did draw forth a most astonishing
assortment of weapons. They were experts in disarmament. Maga Jhaere
lost interest in Will for a moment, and pricked her stallion to a
place where she could judge the assortment better. Without any hesitation
she ordered one of the old women to pass up to her a mother-o'-pearl
ornamented Smith & Wesson, which she promptly hid in her bosom. Judging
by the sounds he made, that pistol was the apple of Ibrahim's old
eye, but he had seen the last of it. When we interfered, and he
could get to her stirrup to demand it back, Maga spat in his face;
which was all about it, except that Monty made generous allowance
for the thing when paying the reckoning presently. As our servants,
those Turks were, of course, entitled to our protection, and besides
that weapon we had to pay for five knives that were gone beyond hope
of recovery.

Monty paid our Turks off (for it was evident that even had they been
willing they would not have been allowed to proceed with us another
mile). Then, as Ibrahim mounted and marshaled his party in front of him,
he forgot manners as well as the liberal payment.

"Mashallah!" (God be praised!) he shouted, with the slobber of excitement
on his lips and beard. "Now I go to make Armenians pay for this!
Let the shapkali,* too, avoid me! Ya Ali, ya Mahoma, Alahu!" (Oh,
Ali, oh, Mahomet, God is God!)