“Now,” I said, “explain what I said, or I’ll hang you in sight of both sides!”

I wondered whether he would not turn the tables and hang me.  I knew I would not have been willing to lessen Kagig’s chances by shooting any of them if they had decided to take Ephraim’s part.  But the politician in the man was uppermost and he did not force the issue.

“All right, effendi—­oh, all right!” he answered, trying to laugh the matter off.

“Explain to them, then!”

I made him do it half a dozen times, for once we were on our way along the precipitous sides of the hills the only control I should have would be force of example, aided to some extent by the sort of primitive signals that pass muster even in a kindergarten.  If they should talk Turkish to me slowly I might understand a little here and there, but to speak it myself was quite another matter; and in common with most of their countrymen, though they understood Turkish perfectly and all that went with it, they would rather eat dirt than foul their months with the language of the hated conqueror.

But, once explained, the plan was as obvious as the risk entailed, and they approved the one as swiftly as they despised the other.  The Kurds below were not oblivious to the risk of reprisals from the hills, and we spent five minutes picking out the men posted to keep watch, making careful note of their positions.  At the point where we decided to debouch on to the plain there were two sentries taking matters fairly easy, and I told off four men to go on ahead and attend to those as silently as might be.

Then we started—­not close together, for the Kurds would certainly be looking out for an attack from the hills in force, and would not be expecting individuals—­but one at a time, two Armenians leading, and the rest of them following me at intervals of more than fifty yards.

At the moment of starting I gave Ephraim another order, and within two hours owed my life and that of most of my men to his disobedience.

“You stay here with your handful, and don’t budge except as Kagig moves his line!  Few as you are, you can hold this flank safe if you stay firm.”

He stayed firm until the last of my seventeen had disappeared around the corner of the cliff; and five minutes later I caught sight of him through the glasses, leading his following at top speed downward along a spur toward the plain.  The Kurds on the lookout saw him too and, concentrating their attention on him, did not notice us when we dodged at long intervals in full sunlight across the face of a white rock.