Part 53 (1/2)
Be warned unless you thirst for the Paradise of the Prophet”
”Sakr-el-Bahr!” cried Asad, and froed to a note of intercession He stretched out his arly to the captain whose doom he had already pronounced in his heart and mind ”Sakr-el-Bahr, I conjure thee by the bread and salt we have eaten together, return to thy senses,so I have no iers--by the o back with thee to be hanged or sent to toil at an oar again”
”And if I swear to thee that naught of this shall come to pass?”
”Thou'lt be forsworn I would not trust thee now, Asad For thou art proven a fool, and in all ood in a fool and never trusted one--save once, and he betrayedthee the wise course, and affording thee thine opportunity At a slight sacrifice thou ed me at thy leisure 'Twas my own life I offered thee, and for all that thou knewest it, yet thou knewest not that I knew” He laughed ”See nohat ht thy ruin Thy hands were opened to grasp more than they could hold See now the consequence
It coalleon”
Every word of it sank into the brain of Asad thus tardily to enlighten hi his hands in his blended fury and despair The crew stood in appalled silence, daring to ht precipitate their end
”Nath, ”and I swear to thee by the beard of the Prophet it shall be paid thee”
”I named it yesterday, but it was refused I offered thee ain the liberty of another”
Had he looked behind hi of Rosamund's eyes, the sudden clutch at her bosom, which would have announced to him that his utterances were none so cryptic but that she had understood them
”I will ently ”Thou shalt be as mine own son The Bashalik itself shall be thine when I lay it down, and all men shall do thee honour in the hty Asad I never was Already wert thou set upon my death Thou canst command it now, but only upon the condition that thou share the cup with me What is written is written
We have sunk soether in our turn to-night if that be thy desire”
”May thou burn for evermore in hell, thou black-hearted traitor!” Asad cursed hi all the bonds he had imposed upon it
And then, of a sudden, upon that adreat clamour from the crew Sakr-el-Bahr's sea-hawks called upon hi could he repay it now by doo them all thus to destruction
”Have faith in ht but victory Be sure that I shall not lead you now into defeat--on this the last occasion that we stand together”
”But the galleon is upon us!” cried Vigitello And so, indeed, it was, creeping up slowly under that faint breeze, her tall bulk loo slowly forward at an acute angle to the prow of the galeasse Anotherand clank and a yell of victory fro irons swung down to seize the corsair shi+p at prow and stern and waist Scarce had they fastened, than a torrent of ht upon the prow of the galeasse, and not even the fear of the lantern held above the powder barrel could now restrain the corsairs fro these hardy boarders the reception they reserved for all infidels In an instant the fighting platfor hell of battle luridly illuhts aboard the Silver Heron Fore those who had leapt down had been Lionel and Sir John Killigrew Foreh, who had passed his sword through Lionel's body even as Lionel's feet came to rest upon the deck, and before the battle was joined
A dozen others went down on either side before Sakr-el-Bahr's ringing voice could quell the fighting, before his command to them to hear him was obeyed
”Hold there!” he had bellowed to his sea-hawks, using the lingua franca
”Back, and leave this to lish he had surew!” he called in a loud voice ”Hold your hand until you have heard me! Call your men back and let none others come aboard! Hold until you have heardhi at the most inevitable conclusion that he meant to threaten her life, perhaps to destroy her if they continued their advance, flung himself before his men, to check them
Thus almost as suddenly as it had been joined the co?” Sir John demanded