diff --git a/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Client.java b/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Client.java
index 178b380..d362a94 100644
--- a/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Client.java
+++ b/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Client.java
@@ -7,19 +7,24 @@ import java.net.Socket;
 import java.net.UnknownHostException;
 
 public class Client {
-    protected String host;
-    protected int port = Protocol.DEFAULT_PORT;
-    protected Socket socket;
-    protected boolean connected = false;
-    protected Protocol protocol = new Protocol();
-    protected OutputStream outputStream;
-    protected InputStream inputStream;
+    private String host;
+    private int port = Protocol.DEFAULT_PORT;
+    private Socket socket;
+    private boolean connected = false;
+    private Protocol protocol = new Protocol();
+    private OutputStream outputStream;
+    private InputStream inputStream;
 
     public Client(String host) {
 	super();
 	this.host = host;
     }
 
+    protected Client sendCommand(String name, String... args) {
+	protocol.sendCommand(outputStream, name, args);
+	return this;
+    }
+
     public Client(String host, int port) {
 	super();
 	this.host = host;
@@ -69,4 +74,12 @@ public class Client {
 	return connected;
     }
 
+    protected String getSingleLineReply() {
+	return protocol.getSingleLineReply(inputStream);
+    }
+
+    public String getBulkReply() {
+	return protocol.getBulkReply(inputStream);
+    }
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Jedis.java b/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Jedis.java
index 6bf8881..89f3c9a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Jedis.java
+++ b/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Jedis.java
@@ -1,49 +1,21 @@
 package redis.clients.jedis;
 
-import java.io.IOException;
-
 public class Jedis extends Client {
     public Jedis(String host) {
 	super(host);
     }
 
     public String ping() {
-	// TODO: I want to be able to do the followin
-	// return protocol.runCommand(os,
-	// "PING").getSingleLineReply(inputStream);
-	// or even maybe
-	// return protocol.runCommand("PING").getSingleLineReply();
-
-	String command = protocol.buildCommand("PING");
-	try {
-	    outputStream.write(command.getBytes());
-	    return protocol.getSingleLineReply(inputStream);
-	} catch (IOException e) {
-	    // TODO Not sure what to do here
-	    return null;
-	}
+	return sendCommand("PING").getSingleLineReply();
     }
 
     public String set(String key, String value) {
-	String command = protocol.buildCommand("SET", key, value);
-	try {
-	    outputStream.write(command.getBytes());
-	    return protocol.getSingleLineReply(inputStream);
-	} catch (IOException e) {
-	    // TODO Not sure what to do here
-	    return null;
-	}
+	return sendCommand("SET", key, value).getSingleLineReply();
+
     }
 
     public String get(String key) {
-	String command = protocol.buildCommand("GET", key);
-	try {
-	    outputStream.write(command.getBytes());
-	    return protocol.getBulkReply(inputStream);
-	} catch (IOException e) {
-	    // TODO Not sure what to do here
-	    return null;
-	}
+	return sendCommand("GET", key).getBulkReply();
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Protocol.java b/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Protocol.java
index 32c3e09..8f00084 100644
--- a/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Protocol.java
+++ b/src/main/java/redis/clients/jedis/Protocol.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package redis.clients.jedis;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ public class Protocol {
     public static final byte PLUS_BYTE = PLUS.getBytes()[0];
     public static final byte COLON_BYTE = COLON.getBytes()[0];
 
-    public String buildCommand(String name, String... args) {
+    public void sendCommand(OutputStream os, String name, String... args) {
 	StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
 	builder.append(ASTERISK).append(args.length + 1).append(
 		COMMAND_DELIMITER);
@@ -28,7 +29,11 @@ public class Protocol {
 	    builder.append(DOLLAR).append(arg.length()).append(
 		    COMMAND_DELIMITER).append(arg).append(COMMAND_DELIMITER);
 	}
-	return builder.toString();
+	try {
+	    os.write(builder.toString().getBytes());
+	} catch (IOException e) {
+	    // TODO don't know what to do here!
+	}
     }
 
     public String getBulkReply(InputStream is) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/redis/clients/jedis/tests/ProtocolTest.java b/src/test/java/redis/clients/jedis/tests/ProtocolTest.java
index 33c4ed5..5098fad 100644
--- a/src/test/java/redis/clients/jedis/tests/ProtocolTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/redis/clients/jedis/tests/ProtocolTest.java
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 package redis.clients.jedis.tests;
 
+import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.PipedInputStream;
+import java.io.PipedOutputStream;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
@@ -13,13 +17,24 @@ import redis.clients.jedis.Protocol;
 
 public class ProtocolTest extends Assert {
     @Test
-    public void buildACommand() {
-	Protocol protocol = new Protocol();
-	String command = protocol.buildCommand("GET", "SOMEKEY");
+    public void buildACommand() throws IOException {
+	PipedInputStream pis = new PipedInputStream();
+	BufferedInputStream bis = new BufferedInputStream(pis);
+	PipedOutputStream pos = new PipedOutputStream(pis);
 
+	Protocol protocol = new Protocol();
+	protocol.sendCommand(pos, "GET", "SOMEKEY");
+
+	pos.close();
 	String expectedCommand = "*2\r\n$3\r\nGET\r\n$7\r\nSOMEKEY\r\n";
 
-	assertEquals(expectedCommand, command);
+	int b;
+	StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+	while ((b = bis.read()) != -1) {
+	    sb.append((char) b);
+	}
+
+	assertEquals(expectedCommand, sb.toString());
     }
 
     @Test