"Allah is Allah; there is no God but God."
"And sometimes," said Bruce, moodily, "he watches over the innocent."
"Ahmed is at Hare Sahib's camp."
"Thanks, Ali; that's the best news I have heard yet. Ahmed will find a way. Take care of yourself. I'm off!"
When Umballa appeared before the council their astonishment knew no bounds. The clay tinted skin, the shaking hands, the disheveled garments—what had happened to this schemer whom ill luck had made their master?
He explained. "I went too near our prisoner. A flash of strength was enough. They shall be flogged."
"But the woman!"
"Woman? She is a tiger-cat, and tiger-cats must sometimes be flogged. It is my will. Now I have news for you. There is another sister, younger and weaker. Our queen," and he salaamed ironically, "our queen did not know that her father lived, and there I made my first mistake."
"But she will now submit to save him!"
"Ah, would indeed that were the case. But tiger-cats are always tiger-cats, and nothing will bend this maid; she must be broken, broken. It is my will," with a flash of fire in his eyes.