Henry C. Rowland

“ Mussulman jostled shoulders with Christian; pastoral feuds between herders and maize growers were forgotten; men from different valleys looked at each other for the first time without the hand going to the hilt of the yataghan. If there were any rivalry, it was only as to who should strike first, hardest, and last.
At the head of the "column," if so it could be called, Sir James rode at the side of Ishmi Bey, with whom he conversed in French. The holy man had done his best to persuade the mountaineers to return peacefully to their homes. ”

“ Then Sheik Izzat, the blade of his yataghan a glittering circle over his head, plunged down the slope, howling furiously. With a roar, the Shkipetari were on and after him.
Ishmi Bey, who had been overthrown by the rush, sprang to his feet and shook his clenched fists with a gesture of passionate despair. He turned toward Sir James, and cried out something which Dallas could not hear. But the Englishman had understood. He looked at his friend with a pale and horror-stricken face.
"Good Heaven!" he cried. "It is not the prince at all! Those are Turkish troops!" ”

“ The entire horde—for it could scarcely be called an army—was under the nominal command of one Sheik Izzat, himself a hermit who had gone half mad as the result of wrong dealt him by the Turks. But once in motion, there was no pretense of leadership. The object of the expedition as understood by all was to strike a final and fatal blow at the hated stronghold of the prince, and every man would fight his own fight in his own way. ”

“ A swarthy man sprang at Sir James with a wicked slash of a cavalry saber, but the Englishman caught the blow on his yataghan, then thrust his antagonist through the body. Dallas, peering under the smoke, saw the prince and another man standing behind a large table in the middle of the room. He fired quickly into the smoke, and saw the man at the prince's elbow fall. Then the prince himself fired, and Dallas felt the wind of the bullet on his cheek. At the same moment Ishmi Bey sprang forward, when the prince turned and ran to a door at the far end of the hall. ”

“ Yet for all of their frenzied fighting, the injury inflicted by the Shkipetari was but very slight, while that which they suffered was terrific. In less time than it takes to tell, a third of them were down, and then, as though recognizing the hopelessness of the struggle, the tribesmen suddenly lost heart and the place was filled with flying figures, retreating not back in the direction whence they had come, but on down the watercourse, toward a spot where the forest grew to the edge of the bank. ”

“ A troop of cavalry had appeared and apparently halted, when a column of infantry followed, and likewise disappeared.
"It is but a mouthful for the Shkipetari," whispered Ishmi Bey exultantly. "There are perhaps fifty horsemen and twice that number of foot, while we are over five hundred strong. We will strike when the cavalry is crossing the river bed."
He hurried off in search of Sheik Izzat, and a moment later the two dark figures could be seen flitting here and there among the mountaineers. ”

“ Nearly all the men carried guns—long weapons with narrow barrels, often richly ornamented with traceries and patterns wrought in silver and gold. Every one was armed with the weapon so dear to the native heart, the yataghan. ”

“ There were men clad only in sheepskins, with the wool turned in, and tight-fitting caps of white; others were more elaborately dressed in kalpaks of black wool, sometimes of astrakhan, with short, full-sleeved tunics, white kilts, woolen stockings, and shoes of red leather, with tufts of black wool upon the toes. ”