He pulled the ragged, black beard from his face and the _chuddah_ from his head. But Phil's eyes were opened, and he resisted. "Heavens above, sir!" he said. "Do you think I'm going to do a thing like that?" "You must!" Tudor answered. He spoke quietly, but there was deadly determination behind his quietude. They faced one another in the gloom, and suddenly there ran between them a passion of feeling that blazed unseen like the hidden current in an electric wire. For a few seconds it burnt fiercely, silently; then Tudor laid a firm hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You must," he said again. "The choice does not rest with you. It is made already. It only remains for you to yield--whatever it may cost you--as I am doing." Phil started as if he had struck him. "You are wrong, sir," he exclaimed. "On my oath, you are wrong. You don't understand. You never have understood. I--I--" Tudor silenced him summarily with a hand upon his lips. "I know, I know!" he said. "There is no time for this. Leave it and go. If it is any comfort to you to know it, I think no evil of you. I realise that what has happened had to happen, was in a sense inevitable, and I blame myself alone. Listen to me. This disguise will take you through all right if you keep your mouth shut. You are a priest, remember, preaching the Jehad, only I've done all the preaching necessary. You have simply to walk straight through them, down the hill till you come to the pass, and then along the river-bed till you strike the road to the Frontier. It's six miles away, but you will do it before sunrise. No, don't speak! I haven't finished yet. You are going to do this not for your own sake or for mine. You think you are going to refuse, but you are not. As for me, your going or staying could make no difference. I have come with a certain object in view, but I shall remain, whether I gain that object or not. That I swear to you most solemnly." He turned away with the words and began to loosen his sandals. Phil watched him dumbly. He was face to face with a difficulty of such monstrous proportions that he was utterly nonplussed. From the distance came the sound of voices. "You had better go," observed Tudor, in steady tones. "The guards are coming back. It will hasten matters for both of us if we are discovered like this." "Sir!" Phil burst out suddenly. "I--can't!" Tudor wheeled swiftly. It was almost as if he had been waiting for that desperate appeal. He caught up the native garment and flung it over Phil's shoulders. He dragged the beard down over his face and secured the _chuddah_ about his head. He did it all with incredible rapidity and a strength that would not be gainsaid. Then, holding Phil fast in a merciless, irresistible grasp, he spoke: "If you attempt to disobey me now, I'll kill myself with my own hands."