framework of poles, stripped naked to the waist, while two Musselmans laboriously beat him with heavy rushes till his back was striped with red and blue and his cries and shrieks rose above the clamoring of the spectators.
Anniston paused for a moment and gazed at the scene in silence. Then he elbowed his way through the motley throng till he reached the side of the little Jew. His right arm shot out several times, with telling effect, and the two Musselmans lost all ambition in life and sank to the ground.
The next moment he had flung several handfuls of small coin at the angry populace and while they scrambled about on the ground, cursing, fighting, struggling for the money, he cut the ropes that bound the Jew to the framework of poles and placed him on his feet. He was so weak and frightened that he could scarcely stand, and Anniston, noticing this, lifted him up on his shoulders like a bag of meal, and disappeared with his burden into the night.
"What those fools need is a leader!" he ejaculated as he strode off.
"Sahib," groaned the little Jew; "it is you who are the fool."
"I?" Anniston gasped in great surprise.
"Yes," was the reply. "According to the Koran, 'a fool is he who plunges into peril which he might avoid.'"
"If he wanted to."
"And do you not?"
"Not over much if there's adventure behind it."
