"I mock at you, I laugh at you, Inglese," he cried. "You dare threat us? Who has the greater army, I like to know? You take the fort! Bah! Is it a dog's kennel? You talk to me, eh? I talk to you, so; I say, you insolent puppy; you no take fort; no. You go back to your camp, and in a little while our army will come to you and drive you into the water. Bah, I spit at you!"
Tom paid no heed to the furious man's insolence. He turned quietly towards Mustapha, and with unruffled courtesy said:
"Have I your final answer?"
His manner evoked a corresponding politeness from the Arab, whose reply, as translated by Mboda, was simply:
"I have sworn an oath. I will not surrender. I will fight you."
Tom decided to make one more appeal. Addressing the hakim, who had stood hitherto gravely silent, he said in German:
"Mahmoud, my friend, cannot you persuade Mustapha, to abstain from a hopeless contest? You have all heard of my success till now. You, surely, do not doubt that I shall succeed again? You yourself were kind to me; I should be deeply grieved if, during the struggle that seems inevitable, any harm came to you. Will you not induce your chief to give way?"
The stately hakim looked with kindly eyes upon the young Englishman, whose earnest and friendly tone had touched him. Then he shook his head.
"I am an Arab," he said. "Whether we win or lose, whether we live or die, all rests with Allah. I am Mustapha's man."
"I am sorry," replied Tom, and was about to take leave when De Castro said suddenly: