Selim called on Allah, and with Oriental indifference waited the solution of the great mystery of the hereafter.
The boat began to rock violently. Something was agitating the water.
“Good-by, Ib,” Max called out, but there was no answer.
The Persian was unconscious.
A strange, nervous fear took possession of Max.
How can it be accounted for?
He was afraid the boat would capsize, and he would be drowned.
And as he clutched the side of the boat with tenacious grip, he prayed that he might not fall overboard, and yet he felt certain his life would be ended by fire in a few minutes.
It is recorded by one of the great English generals who was in India at the time of the mutiny—1859—that a sepoy on his way to execution, was scared at the thought of accidental death.
The sentence had been, that he was to be tied to the muzzle of a cannon, and blown to pieces.