"English lord," he gasped, "you shall have the bearers. I will go to
fetch them."
"No, you won't," I said, "you will stop here as a hostage. Send that
man."
Hassan uttered some rapid orders and the messenger sped away, this
time towards the stockaded village on the right.
As he went another messenger arrived, who also stared amazedly at the
condition of his chief.
"Bey--if you are the Bey," he said, in a doubtful voice, for by now
the amiable face of Hassan had begun to swell and colour, "with the
telescope we have seen that the English man-of-war has sent a boat and
boarded the /Maria/."
"God is great!" muttered the discomfited Hassan, "and Delgado, who is
a thief and a traitor from his mother's breast, will tell the truth.
The English sons of Satan will land here. All is finished; nothing is
left but flight. Bid the people fly into the bush and take the slaves
--I mean their servants. I will join them."
"No, you won't," I interrupted, through Sammy; "at any rate, not at
present. You will come with us.
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