"Force—that is in thy soul, Ammalát!... Despise dangers and they bend before you.... Dost thou hear that?" added Sultan Akhmet Khan, as the sound of firing reached them from the town. "It is the voice of victory!"
Saphir-Ali rushed into the chamber with an agitated face.
"Bouináki is in revolt," he hurriedly began; "a crowd of rioters has overpowered the detachment, and they have begun to fire from the rocks."[34]
"Rascals!" cried Ammalát, as he threw his gun over his shoulder. "How dared they to rise without me! Run, Saphir-Ali, threaten them with my name; kill the first who disobeys."
"I have done all I could to restrain them," said Saphir-Ali, "but none would listen to me, for the noúkers of Sultan Akhmet Khan were urging them on, saying that he had ordered them to slay the Russians."
"Indeed! did my noúkers say that?" asked the Khan.
"They did not say so much, but they set the example," said Saphir-Ali.
"In that case they have done well," replied Sultan Akhmet Khan: "this is brave!"
"What hast thou done, Khan!" cried Ammalát, angrily.
"What you might have done long ago!"