"Go on! go on!" the prince ejaculated fiercely.
Kanana drew a deep breath and shouted:
"In one hour thirty thousand Arabs will draw the sword in the army of Heraclius!"
Then gathering all his strength, he hurled the lance directly at the great Mohammedan general, who had not moved since he began to speak.
Throughout those two great armies one might have heard a sparrow chirp, as the gleaming, flashing blade fell like a meteor from the cliff.
The aim was accurate. The Bedouin boy cringed, and one might have imagined that it was even more accurate than he meant. It pierced the gray charger. The war-horse of Kahled plunged forward and fell dead upon the plain.
A fierce howl rose from the ranks of the Ishmaelites. Men and women shrieked and yelled.
"Kanana the traitor! A curse upon the traitor Kanana!" rent the very air.
Such was the confusion which followed that, had the Greeks been ready to advance, a thousand might have put a hundred thousand Bedouins to flight. But they were not ready.
Kanana stood motionless upon the cliff. He heard the yells of "Traitor!" hut he knew that they would come, and did not heed them.