In his hands was a leathern thong.
Achmet saw, felt the presence of the slaves behind him, and shrank back
numbed and appalled. A mist came before his eyes; the voice he heard
summoning him to stand up seemed to come from infinite distances. The
hand of doom had fallen like a thunderbolt. The leathern thong in the
hands of the slave was the token of instant death. There was no chance of
escape. The Nubians had him at their mercy. As his brain struggled to
regain its understanding, he saw, as in a dream, David enter the
court-yard and come towards Kaid.
Suddenly David stopped in amazement, seeing Achmet. Inquiringly he looked
at Kaid, who spoke earnestly to him in a low tone. Whereupon David turned
his head away, but after a moment fixed his eyes on Achmet.
Kaid motioned all his startled guests to come nearer. Then in strong,
unmerciful voice he laid Achmet's crime before them, and told the story
of the bridge-opener, who had that day expiated his crime in the desert
by the hands of Mahommed--but not with torture, as Mahommed had hoped
might be.
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