Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 26, No. 4. Whole No. 143, October 1955

He brought witnesses too. His relations and other base ones whom he had bribed to support his perjury. One claimed he had seen Abdul enter the hut, another that he had watched Abdul dig the hole and hide the money, another that he had heard Abdul boasting of the theft.

Thus did they swear in the “durbar” before Nir Din and the elders. They vomited their lies like poisoned jackals. As I listened, I thought I could see the death cord being twisted around the throat of my blood-brother.

Nir Din looked as if he believed their words. But just before he passed sentence he called for anyone who could testify to Abdul’s innocence. And I was the only one who came forward, for I was the only one who knew for a certainty where Abdul had been that night.

It was my word against that of a dozen. And I had no golden tongue such as Shere Makmud possessed. It was bullets I was fluent with, not words. I gave my evidence, lying on the ground at Nir Din’s feet and sobbing as I spoke. I was but a boy, and my heart was bleeding at the thought of the injustice.

But Nir Din mocked me. He thought I was lying to save my blood-brother, and did not question me with easy words as he had done Shere Makmud and his friends. Instead, he spoke insultingly of my shooting. He asked me if I had ever hit certain targets at certain distances, and I answered truthfully that I had, he laughed aloud and called me a boaster and a liar.

He looked at Shere Makmud and his friends, and they also laughed, seeking to curry favor with the chief. They were like jackals fawning round a lion. Then Nir Din turned to me and said:

“The feats you claim to have performed with your rifle are impossible — therefore you are condemned out of your own mouth as a liar. How then are we to believe what you tell us concerning Abdul Hakim? If your tongue lies about such a little matter as your skill at shooting, how much more must it lie when the life of your blood-brother is at stake!”

The words angered me. I answered hotly that I spoke the truth about both my skill and Abdul’s innocence.

Nir Din bent and lifted a pebble from the ground. It was round and white, and not quite as large as a hen’s egg. He held it up so that all could see it, and he asked if any man would undertake to hit that stone with a single bullet, firing at a range of four hundred yards.

There was laughter at the question. At four hundred yards the stone would appear but a tiny white speck even to a man with the eyesight of a hawk. If he hit with a single bullet it could only be by accident.

Nir Din turned to me and spoke tauntingly:

“What has Feroz Khan, who claims to be the greatest shot in the Gomal, to say about this matter?” he asked. “Surely Feroz Khan with his magic skill and his magic rifle can hit this great rock at such a short distance!”

Sahib, I was young and foolish and my blood was on fire by reason of the way they had mocked me. Although in my secret heart I felt no certainty about the matter, I answered boldly that I could hit the stone with ease.

My words were greeted by the laughter they deserved. Those were Afridis who had heard me, fighting men who had carried firearms since they could walk. They knew that my claim was but an empty boast. And they shouted to the chief that he should put me to the test.

Nir Din raised his hand to command silence. He answered in a loud voice so that all could hear:

“Against the evidence of a dozen men Feroz Khan has sworn that Abdul Hakim is innocent of the theft. Also, he has claimed that he can do the impossible with his rifle, and it is in my heart, therefore, to expose him as the liar he most assuredly is.

“I will give him a chance to fulfill his boast. Tomorrow Abdul Hakim will be tied to a post so that he cannot move, and this stone will be placed upon his head. If Feroz Khan can knock the stone off with a single bullet, without grazing the skin, I will take it as a sign from Allah that his blood-brother was innocent of the theft. If he misses the stone by aiming high or wide, Abdul Hakim will die with the strangling cord round his neck according to the custom; and if the bullet flies low and kills Abdul Hakim we will know that he was guilty and that Allah himself has dealt justice... Feroz Khan, you have heard my words. Do you agree to make the test?”

Sahib, what could I do except agree? Had I refused, my blood-brother would have lost even that poor chance of his life being saved.

So I agreed. Outwardly my face was bold, but there was no confidence in my heart. It was such a little stone, and how could I, under such a load of anxiety, shoot my best? A man must have an easy mind if he would shoot straight.

I passed the night cleaning my rifle and offering prayers to Allah that he would defend the innocent. When the sun was fully risen they took me to the place where the test was to be made. Abdul Hakim had been bound to a post so that he could not move a finger, and Nir Din himself placed the white stone upon his head.