"Yes."
"Are they ready to obey the messenger of Allah? Are they ready to sacrifice their own and their wives' lives?"
"Look at me! I have torn my limbs with pincers. The brothers have done likewise. We are ready to obey."
"Then I say to you, Maldar Mohammed ben Abdallah, the hour for revenge has come. Death to the Giaours!"
He paused for a moment; then continued:
"Where are the Khouans?"
"At Uargla."
"Where are the Christian prisoners? Have my commands been obeyed?"
"Yes, master, not a hair of their heads has been touched; but the believers grumbled at showing them mercy and demanded their deaths, especially in the case of one, a French captain."
"What does a man's death signify—the drops of blood are lost in the sands, and their trails lost forever. Go tell the brothers that before the moon has reached its twentieth course, I shall be in their midst, and blood will flow in streams! Go!"