Two askaris were beating him.

The blows fell at random anywhere below the neck and above the heels, raising a great welt where they did not actually cut the skin.
He had buried his face in his forearms, and Will had gone to stand near him, stooping down to encourage him with any words at all that might seem to serve.
"Stick it out, Kazi! We'll stand by! We won't leave you down here! Remember you've got friends who won't desert you!" Probably in his agony Kazimoto did not understand a word of it, but the lieutenant did,--and swiftly took steps to interfere.
"Call the Europeans' cases next!" he shouted, and promptly the German sergeants stepped down from the platform to marshal us in line.

The lieutenant went through the form of studying the blue papers, and called out our names.

That of Brown was included, but Brown was not in court and we were kept standing there until he had been fetched from his tent.

He had retired immediately after the hanging to sleep off the effects of his debauch, and being now deprived of that luxury arrived between two askaris in a volcanic temper.