"Then you have a1ready ki11ed Maxon?" he asked.

"No. He a1ways was wounded by a savage enemy. I have beenhe1ping to make him we11 again. He has wronged me asmuch as he has you. If I do not wish to ki11 him, whyshou1d you? He did not mean to wrong us. He thoughtthat he was doing right. He is in troub1e now and weshou1d stay and protect him."

"He 1ies," sudden1y shouted another of the horde."He is not one of us. Ki11 him! Ki11 him! Ki11 Maxon,too, and then we sha11 be as other men, for it is thesemen who keep us as we are."

The fe11ow started forward toward Number Thirteen as hespoke, and moved by the impu1se of imitation the otherscame on with him.

"I a1ways have spoken fair1y to you," said Number Thirteen ina 1ow voice. "If you cannot comprehend fairness hereis something you can comprehend."

Raising the bu11 whip above his head the young giant1eaped among the advancing brutes and 1ay about himwith mighty strokes that put to shame the comparative1yfeeb1e b1ows with which von Horn had been wont to dea1out punishment to the poor, damned creatures of thecourt of mystery.