Then occurred a thing unparalleled in the history of the Sakae, who consider an envoy’s truce most sacred. Suddenly turning, Atana flung his dagger straight at Kyrlos’s throat, and then fled for his life to the horses. It missed its mark by a bare inch, tearing through the leather collar of Kyrlos’s under-jerkin, just over the mail, ripping a long, though luckily not deep, gash at the base of his neck. The thing was clearly premeditated, for his men were in the saddle as he did it, and two of them dashed forward with his horse. Before the bowmen above us could loose string, the whole lot of the Shamans, bending low in their saddles, were out of arrow-shot away across country as hard as they could go. But they had reckoned without Payindah. As Kyrlos staggered back against me, Payindah whipped his rifle from under his _poshtin_ and opened fire. He brought down three of them before they were out of range, and the second was Atana, who was pitched out of the saddle, as his horse went down, with a smashed shoulder. He picked himself up and ran shouting after his men, though I doubt if these would have faced Payindah’s lead. But Henga was after him, running like a deer. Atana saw him, and, seeing him gaining, drew his sword and turned, and a minute later they were at it. The fight did not last two minutes. Seeing Kyrlos was not badly hurt, I, with several of the men, had followed Henga, and, as we got there, we saw Atana’s sword slip from his grip as Henga’s steel ploughed up his wrist under the mail. I thought Henga would give him the point in the throat then and there. But instead he dropped his weapon, sprang on Atana, and hurled him on his face on the ground, kneeling above him, and with his knees pinning his arms to his side. Atana fought and writhed to get his arms free as Henga seized him with both hands under the chin, twisting the man’s head up and back till he could look down into his face. Then he said slowly and distinctly: “You miscalled the Lady Aryenis just now, and said you would bring her to shame even as you and your brother did my cousin. For these things I promised to kill you with my two hands. “When I send your brother to join you in hell, remember to tell him that I kept my word.” And with that he twisted Atana’s head very slowly round and back, looking down into his face the while, the man’s eyes starting from his head, and his legs threshing the ground till suddenly something seemed to give; he straightened out slowly, gave a spasmodic jerk and a long shiver, and lay still. Henga waited an instant before he loosed his grip. Then he got slowly to his feet, and, picking up his sword, wiped it on the dead man’s cape. He rolled over the body with his foot, the limp head grotesquely twisted back, and looked at it thoughtfully. Spitting on the ground, he turned to me: “The world is somewhat cleaner now. That is a useful trick, which I have practised long against the day when Atana or his brother and I should meet.”