Here the Sergeant saluted again, murmuring beneath his breath, “I hope so, sir.  Being a Christian, I hope so, but till it comes to the sticking-point, one can never be sure.”

“You speak big words, O Higgs,” answered Shadrach insolently, for, as I think I have said, he hated the Professor, who smelt the rogue in him, and scourged him continually with his sharp tongue, “but if the Fung get hold of you, then we shall learn the truth.”

“Shall I punch his head, sir?” queried Quick in a meditative voice.

“Be quiet, please,” interrupted Orme.  “We have troubles enough before us, without making more.  It will be time to settle our quarrels when we have got through the Fung.”

Then he turned to Shadrach and said: 

“Friend, this is no time for angry words.  You are the guide of this party; lead us as you will, remembering only that if it comes to war, I, by the wish of my companions, am Captain.  Also, there is another thing which you should not forget—­namely, that in the end you must make answer to your own ruler, she who, I understand from the doctor here, is called Walda Nagasta, the Child of Kings.  Now, no more words; we march as you wish and where you wish.  On your head be it!”

The Abati heard and bowed sullenly.  Then, with a look of hate at Higgs, he turned and went about his business.

“Much better to have let me punch his head,” soliloquized Quick.  “It would have done him a world of good, and perhaps saved many troubles, for, to tell the truth, I don’t trust that quarter-bred Hebrew.”

Then he departed to see to the camels and the guns while the rest of us went to our tents to get such sleep as the mosquitoes would allow.  In my own case it was not much, since the fear of evil to come weighed upon me.  Although I knew the enormous difficulty of entering the mountain stronghold of Mur by any other way, such as that by which I had quitted it, burdened as we were with our long train of camels laden with rifles, ammunition, and explosives, I dreaded the results of an attempt to pass through the Fung savages.

Moreover, it occurred to me that Shadrach had insisted upon this route from a kind of jealous obstinacy, and to be in opposition to us Englishmen, whom he hated in his heart, or perhaps for some dark and secret reason.  Still, the fact remained that we were in his power, since owing to the circumstances in which I had entered and left the place, it was impossible for me to act as guide to the party.  If I attempted to do so, no doubt he and the Abati with him would desert, leaving the camels and their loads upon our hands.  Why should they not, seeing that they would be quite safe in concluding that we should never have an opportunity of laying our side of the case before their ruler?

Just as the sun was setting, Quick came to call me, saying that the camels were being loaded up.