"Really!" said the General, again trying to laugh. "Permit me to tell you, sir, that in this case there will be no fault in question, neither of mine nor anybody else’s. El Azhar is a hotbed of sedition, and it is high time the Government cleared it out." "El Azhar," said Ishmael, "is the heart of the Moslem faith. Take their religion away from them and the Moslems have nothing left. You are a Christian, and when your great Master was on earth He fed the souls of the people first." "Yes, and He whipped the rascals out of the temple, and that’s what the Government is going to do now—to drive out the pretentious impostors who are putting a lying spirit into the mouth of the people and making it impossible to govern them." The Egyptian showed no anger. "I am here only to plead for the people, sir. Do not harden your heart against them. Do not send armed men among an unarmed populace. It will be slaughter." "Tell them to submit to the Government and there will be no harm done to any one. It’s their duty, isn’t it? Whatever the Government may be, isn’t it their duty to submit to it?" "Yes," said Ishmael. "We who are Moslems are taught by the Prophet (blessed be his name!) that even if a negro slave is appointed to rule over us we ought to obey him." "Deuce take it, sir, what do you mean by that?" said the General. "But Government is a trust from God," said the Egyptian, "and at the Day of Resurrection the Most High will ask you what you have done to His children." "Damn it, sir, have you come here to preach me a sermon?" "I have come to plead with you for justice—the justice you look for from your Saviour. ’Be merciful to the weak,’ He taught, and it is for the weak I appeal to you. He was meek and lowly—will you forget His precepts? ’Love one another’—will you make strife between man and man? He is dead—shall it be said that His spirit has died out among those who call Him their Redeemer?" The General brought his fist heavily down on the desk as if to command silence. "Listen here, sir," he said. "If you imagine for one moment that this tall talk will have any effect upon me, let me advise you to drop it. Being a plain soldier who has received a plain command, I shall take whatever military steps are necessary to see it faithfully carried out, and if the precious leaders of the people, playing on their credulity and fanaticism, should instigate rebellion, I shall have the honour—understand me plainly—I shall have the honour to lodge them in safe quarters, whosoever they are and whatsoever their pretensions may be." The Egyptian’s eyes showed at that moment that he was a man capable of wild frenzy, but he controlled himself and answered— "I am not here to defend myself, sir. You can take me now if you choose to do so. But if I cannot plead with you for the people let me plead with you for yourself—your family." The General, who had turned away from Ishmael, swung round on him. "My family?"