'No. Leave him alone,' he cried harshly. 'The colonel has left express orders that he wishes to see these men before they are executed. Stand aside! It is only a short delay. They will both be shot at sundown.'
Von Steegman, if a brute, had ten times the physical power and moral force of Hartmann. The man obeyed at once, and in a few moments order was restored. Two men carried away the insensible form of Achmet, Roy watching with a grim smile.
Ken had hardly thought of his own danger. His lips were bleeding, and the foul blow had for the moment rendered him perfectly reckless.
'Is this the way you treat prisoners? he thundered, his eyes blazing. 'Small wonder a people who do such things are despised by every other nation on earth!'
'Himmel, you dare to talk like that?' snarled back Hartmann. 'You, a private soldier, venture such insolence to an officer?'
Ken was already ashamed of his outburst.
'An officer!' he said with bitter contempt, 'or do you mean a bathroom steward?'
Hartmann's sallow face went livid with excess of rage. He bit his lip till the blood showed upon it in a thin red line.
'You will sing a different song when you stand before the muzzles of the firing party,' he said in a grating voice.
Von Steegman, who seemed to be the only man among them to remain quite unmoved, raised his hand.