"You must, and you will!" cried the second officer.
That was the signal for all the men to draw their knives with lightning-speed from their belts. They brandished them in their fists, pressing from all sides upon the two officers, and swearing to kill them if they did not go at once to Cavalla and announce what had occurred here.
Some of the men rushed off to the dwelling of the sheik, while others hastened to bring the ulemas to the square.
"Are we to pay the double tax, sheik? Speak for us; tell the officers what answer they must take to the tschorbadji."
The sheik bowed kindly on every side as he made his way through the circle of armed men. All was profound silence as he came before the two officers, and all present listened in breathless silence to his words.
"Lo, ye servants of justice!" exclaimed the sheik in a solemn voice, "I say, go up to the city, and inform the tschorbadji that he has demanded more than is just of the men of Praousta."
An overwhelming, thundering huzza interrupted the sheik.
"Speak on," was then the cry. "Let us hear what the good sheik has to say to us!"
Once more there was breathless silence, and the sheik proceeded in solemn tones:
"State to the tschorbadji that, by the will of Allah, we have been pursued by storms and misfortunes. We submit to the will of Allah, and pray to the prophet, to implore him to be merciful to us. If he hears our prayers, and the next harvest is blessed, and the fish are plentiful in our nets, and if then the purses of the people of Praousta are again filled, they will gladly pay the tschorbadji the accustomed tax, but not a double tax."