2121731 
 
 I SULTANS RIVAL 
 
 BRADLEY OILMAN
 

 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 . Or CALl*. U*AHY. LOS
 
 " I 11 warrant that the air is fairly blue all around those two 
 lovely creatures," was Bob s facetious comment 
 
 See page 165
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 A STORY FOR BOYS 
 
 BY 
 
 BRADLEY OILMAN 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE SON OF THE DESERT," ETC. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 JOHN CASSEL 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 SMALL, MAYNARD AND COMPANY 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911 
 
 BY SMALL, MAYNARD AND COMPANY 
 (INCORPORATED) 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. 
 
 M y.dor ?;i /M( 
 
 .
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
 3513 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER ..... i 
 
 II ENTRAPPED ............ 13 
 
 III A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS ..... 24 
 
 IV THE OWNER OF THE VOICE ...... 38 
 
 V IN DANGER OF DEATH ........ 47 
 
 VI IN PERIL AT CAPE GHIR ....... 59 
 
 VII THE TIDAL WAVE ......... 72 
 
 VIII TRUMP SAVES His MASTER ...... 83 
 
 IX CAPTIVES IN THE DESERT ...... 96 
 
 X ADVANCE AND ATTACK ........ 104 
 
 XI THE MARAUDERS BEATEN OFF ..... 123 
 
 XII ESCAPE OR DEATH ........ 133 
 
 XIII A DOUBLE DUEL .......... 149 
 
 XIV A GHASTLY DISCOVERY ....... 159 
 
 XV AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY ..... 177 
 
 XVI THE REKKAH AND His MESSAGE .... 186 
 
 XVII A DESERT SCOURGE ......... 207 
 
 XVIII ENTERING THE LION S DEN ...... 219 
 
 XIX THE WILES OF THE KHEDIVE ..... 235 
 
 XX A MESSAGE CONVEYED ....... 247 
 
 XXI AN INSIDIOUS ENEMY ........ 262 
 
 XXII A BATTLE IN THE AIR ........ 275 
 
 XXIII A LIFE FOR A STAKE ........ 292 
 
 .... 303 
 
 2129739
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 " I ll warrant that the air is fairly blue all around those 
 two lovely creatures," was Bob s facetious com 
 ment Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 Bob returned the salute somewhat coldly, and uttered 
 
 a brief, " The same to you, sir " 52 
 
 "You shall swear allegiance to me here and now, 
 
 or " 106 
 
 A toothless, cruel-looking old hag now took charge of 
 
 the boys 158 
 
 Sheikh Abdul stepped outside the line of camels, and 
 
 advanced slowly toward him 214 
 
 It came to him as the voice of a djinn 274
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER 
 
 If Bob Laurie had not gone to Cadiz, in 
 Spain, the series of adventures which will be 
 set forth in this narrative would not have hap 
 pened to him. But Bob had come over to 
 Europe from Boston for a month s va 
 cation, after passing a part of his entrance ex 
 aminations for Harvard College; and a letter 
 from his friend and chum, Ted Leslie, found 
 him at the Alameda Hotel, in Madrid. This 
 letter said that Ted had returned from his dan 
 gerous journey to Fez, in Morocco, and would 
 meet Bob in Gibraltar. But when Bob reached 
 that fortress-city of the Strait, Ted had been 
 summoned to Marseilles by his anxious father ; 
 and both father and son would return to Gi 
 braltar in about a week. 
 
 i
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 This failure to meet Ted gave Bob several 
 days to fill up with sight-seeing. He " did " 
 Gibraltar, and Algeciras, and one or two out 
 lying towns in Spain; and then, one day, he 
 packed a small grip and took the steamer for 
 Cadiz, forty miles west along the Spanish 
 coast. And he is presented to the reader, soon 
 after he landed, standing on the dock at Cadiz, 
 looking about him. 
 
 Bob was a strongly-built lad of about seven 
 teen, who had known many serious adventures 
 in his time, and had borne himself bravely and 
 faithfully in them all. He was now gazing 
 intelligently and quietly about him, noting the 
 great varieties of dress and speech of the 
 people, Spanish sailors and soldiers, a few 
 Moors, and a sprinkling of English and Ameri 
 cans, when he observed two men advancing 
 along the pier from the Puerta de la Mar 
 (Sea Gate). 
 
 One of these men attracted his attention at 
 once, by his dress and manner. He was a tall, 
 gaunt man, with a beak-like nose, and with a 
 
 2
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER 
 
 huge, black moustache which he twirled con 
 tinually. A broad-brimmed hat with a tiny 
 red feather was carried rakishly on one side of 
 his head; he wore a dark velveteen suit with 
 brass buttons, and a scarlet sash showed around 
 his waist under his loose coat. A pair of long 
 cavalry boots, with spurs, completed his outfit, 
 and his appearance was out-of-date and fan 
 tastic. 
 
 He came nearer to Bob the tall, awkward- 
 looking young man with him falling back a 
 little and accosted the lad in fairly good 
 English, though with a slightly foreign accent. 
 " A pleasant day and a hearty greeting to the 
 young English gentleman." And, as he spoke, 
 he swung his right hand half way to his hat, 
 in military fashion. 
 
 Bob Laurie had seen too much of the world 
 to take up with every smooth-voiced stranger 
 who came along; and he returned the salute 
 somewhat coldly, and uttered a brief, " The 
 same to you, sir." 
 
 "A bright, pleasant day it is, to be sure," 
 3
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 continued the man, affably. " Brighter than 
 you often have in England, I know." And his 
 lips parted in a smile which had little warmth 
 in it. 
 
 Bob saw that the easy-speaking stranger had 
 mistaken him for an English lad, but he did 
 not care to correct the mistake; he merely re 
 joined, " England is a pretty good place to 
 live in, for all that." 
 
 Then the man threw back his head and 
 laughed, noisily more than mirthfully. " That s 
 right, my lad," he exclaimed. " Stand up for 
 old England ! Britannia rules the wave ! " And 
 he laid a hand on Bob s shoulder in what 
 was intended to be a friendly fashion; but 
 Bob thought it too familiar, on so short an 
 acquaintance, and moved back, out from 
 under it. 
 
 This cool reception of his advances did not 
 seem to annoy the effusive, talkative man, and 
 he continued, looking now at Bob and now 
 around upon the busy scenes of the dock : " I 
 like the English. I m not English myself, of 
 
 4
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER 
 
 course. I m I m well I m a man of the 
 world, a soldier of fortune. But I like the 
 English, you can always depend on them. 
 England expects every man to do his duty/ 
 and all that; you know Nelson s saying." 
 
 Bob eyed the man narrowly, puzzled to make 
 him out. There was a careless and confident 
 air about him, a showy, vain manner, all of 
 which our sensible young friend distrusted. 
 " He says, in a glib way, that he s a man of 
 the world," soliloquized Bob. " But I wonder 
 what his mother and father had to say about 
 it. He looks a bit like a Frenchman, yet might 
 be Spanish or Italian. Probably a mixed 
 blood and loyal to none." 
 
 Certainly the lad could not have been accused 
 of being too talkative, thus far in the interview ; 
 and his face showed plainly the distrust he 
 felt. This the noisy, showy stranger must 
 have noted : for he said next, " My name 
 is well, it is Smith. Jean Smith [he pro 
 nounced it Smeeth], at your service." And he 
 took off his military-looking hat, and swept 
 
 5
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 it in a semi-circle, as he bowed ceremoniously. 
 Then he waited for the lad to respond by 
 giving his name ; and, in most cases, Bob would 
 have done so ; but in this case he merely bowed, 
 and waited. The man puzzled him ; he seemed, 
 at one moment, honest and courteous; then, at 
 the next, his eyes rolled evasively and his voice 
 seemed merely plausible. 
 
 You come for to study this land of the 
 Spain ? " he suggested, now speaking more 
 slowly, and as if trying to please his listener. 
 " It is a beautiful land, and this a beautiful 
 and busy city; not busy as you would call it 
 in London, yet busy. And its ramparts and 
 bastions protect it against all foes. [Here he 
 swept his long arm around toward the line 
 of fortifications.] See, here on these docks, 
 how Spain stretches out her hands to the world ; 
 giving and receiving ; here are sugar and coffee 
 from the West Indies, and coal from your own 
 England, and these boxes hold cocoa, and those 
 bales contain hemp and flax and linen. Then 
 
 that steamer, there, bound for Liverpool; see 
 
 6
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER 
 
 how she swallows up her cargo, quick-silver 
 and oil and wool and wine. Ah, it is a busy 
 scene." 
 
 He spoke rapidly, and in a strange, exalted, 
 oracular tone, with much neddless emotion; 
 in fact, it seemed to Bob that he was a very 
 excitable individual. " A beautiful city, is 
 Cadiz," the singular man continued; "yet those 
 houses and stones and palaces over there are 
 not marble; not marble, as they seem to be. 
 They are only common stone and mortar, with 
 white-wash freely spread on each year." Then 
 a change came over him suddenly, and he mut 
 tered, with a gloomy air, shaking his head, 
 " Ah, you cannot always be sure that things 
 are what they seem to be: this is a world of 
 hollow shows and shams." 
 
 Bob could hardly repress a smile as he said 
 to himself, " Right you are, old chap, and you 
 yourself look like the prize sham of them all." 
 But the discreet lad gave no outward sign of 
 his train of thought, and he now made as if 
 to move off ; but this was perceived by the f an- 
 
 7
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 tastic stranger, and he renewed his attempts 
 to make himself agreeable. 
 
 " I know this region very well, excellent 
 young Englishman," he said, bowing and 
 smiling. " So that if you care to view the 
 interesting sights, I shall be most happy to - 
 to " 
 
 " No, no, I thank you," broke in Bob ; and 
 he said to himself: " Now the secret is out, the 
 man is only a professional guide. Why did n t 
 I think of that before?" Then he repeated 
 aloud, " No, I m not in need of a guide. I can 
 see all I care to, myself." 
 
 The stranger, Jean Smith, drew himself up 
 haughtily, and his voice was cold and severe 
 as he replied : " The young Englishman makes 
 himself a great mistake, he is not addressing 
 a guide; far from it; the man who offers his 
 services does it not for money; he has riches, 
 already, and power ; and will have glory ; yes, 
 great glory and fame." 
 
 His expression was stern and even fierce as 
 he spoke; and he scowled, and for a moment 
 
 8
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER 
 
 scorned Bob as if he had been a worm crawling 
 at his feet. Then, after a moment or two more 
 of rather awkward silence for Bob, the strange 
 man s face altered, and a look of secretiveness 
 and of caution came into his keen eyes, and he 
 lowered his voice, glancing around, advanced 
 a step nearer the perplexed lad, and asked; 
 Would the young Englishman like to gain 
 riches, and share in the glory and power of 
 a - here he leaned forward and brought 
 his furrowed face and piercing eyes close to 
 Bob s countenance, and closed his remarkable 
 question with the one word, uttered in a sharp 
 breath-tone " king? " 
 
 What?" The ejaculation escaped Bob s 
 lips before he could restrain it. And the mani 
 fest astonishment which showed on his frank, 
 fearless face seemed to satisfy and gratify the 
 queer man who had aroused it. 
 
 He drew himself up with great dignity, and 
 nodded silently, slowly, impressively. 
 
 Bob Laurie eyed the singular individual with 
 critical eyes. He knew that kings and emper- 
 
 9
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 ors sometimes went about disguised; but he 
 could not quite swallow the suggestion that this 
 man was any such exalted personage. 
 
 Then an idea struck him; and he wondered 
 it had not struck him before; the man must 
 be deranged; he must be an insane person; 
 harmless enough, perhaps, but really an un 
 balanced man, with a delusion; such as people 
 with minds diseased often cherish. He looked 
 the stranger over, afresh, with this theory in 
 mind; the hat and its feather, the clothes, the 
 scarlet sash, and, worst of all, the top-boots 
 with their spurs, and no sign of a horse any 
 where " Yes," Bob said to himself, " the 
 man must be a harmless lunatic." 
 
 Jean Smith certainly read his thought, for 
 he threw his head back, raised his hand and 
 forefinger impressively, and spoke as if im 
 parting valuable information. " I will reveal 
 to the excellent young Englishman " 
 
 By this time our young friend was becom 
 ing impatient, and he blurted out with little 
 ceremony: "You re wrong, there. I m not 
 
 10
 
 an Englishman ; I m from the United States. 
 I m an American, always and everywhere." 
 
 This onslaught somewhat upset the man s 
 pomp and ceremony. He coughed a dry little 
 cough and pulled nervously at his long, fero 
 cious black moustache. But he quickly gath 
 ered his poise and responded, " Yes, very good. 
 An American, then. It is much the same as an 
 Englishman ; the race is the same, and the same 
 staunch qualities run in the veins of both. 
 Very good. Now let me resume." 
 
 He was evidently about to proceed with his 
 explanation of his regal status; then he sud 
 denly changed his mind. I said A king, 
 and I repeat it, A king I am. But I will not 
 descend to unworthy explanations; I will leave 
 them to another." And he swung around and 
 beckoned the lean, tall, mild-looking young fel 
 low who had been with him. 
 
 " Approach ! " he ordered, in a grandiloquent 
 way; and the man came nearer, pulling off his 
 coster-monger cap from his head, and twitching 
 feebly at a lock of his hair, as a salute. 
 
 ii
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " Here ! I present to you, excellent young 
 Eng I mean, American, my prime minister, 
 Lankester Diggles. It is more fitting that he 
 should reveal to you my motives and mission, 
 than that I should so much condescend. Con 
 verse together. I will return to you anon." 
 With which theatrical declaration, he strode 
 away like a stage-hero, head in air and spurs 
 clanking. 
 
 12
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 ENTRAPPED 
 
 Bob Laurie stared hard at the young man 
 Lankester Diggles, and waited for him to begin. 
 That worthy person hitched from one foot to 
 the other, followed the departing " King " with 
 uneasy glance, and then broke the silence. 
 " He s not always as mealy-mouthed as you see 
 him to-day, the king s not. He 
 
 " What do you mean by calling him a king? " 
 interrupted Bob. " He does n t look the part." 
 
 " Well, you see, it s this way," resumed the 
 young man, hitching up his already short 
 trousers, and speaking in brief, broken sen 
 tences. ; He says he s King of the Sahara ; 
 and I well, I think that perhaps he is. Any 
 how, the Khedive of Morocco told me, in Lon 
 don, that he was. You see, the Khedive is the 
 younger brother of the present Sultan, and 
 ought to be on the throne, so he said ; and " 
 
 13
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " Hold on there ! One moment ! " protested 
 Bob Laurie, pushing out his hand, palm out 
 ward, as if to ward off a torrent which threat 
 ened to overwhelm him. " Really, I can t take 
 in all that stuff at a breath. King of the 
 Sahara and Khedive of Morocco and Sul 
 tan and all the rest. You talk as lightly and 
 familiarly as if you were giving a greengrocer 
 a list of goods. Do you mean to say that the 
 Khedive of Morocco was seen by you, in Lon 
 don?" 
 
 " Yes, that s what I said," was the young 
 man s somewhat dogged reply. 
 
 "Where did you see him?" asked Bob, 
 puzzled, yet struck by the rough-looking air 
 of sincerity. 
 
 The reply was given promptly and clearly. 
 " In London, I saw him." 
 
 " H m ! That s a strange place for the 
 Khedive of Morocco to be in. Still, he might 
 be there, I dare say. When did all this 
 happen? " 
 
 " About three weeks ago," answered Diggles, 
 14
 
 ENTRAPPED 
 
 readily; and he waited as if ready to give all 
 the information asked for. 
 
 " H m ! You seem to be telling a straight 
 story," commented Bob, " but it certainly is a 
 rather big one." Then he smiled and re 
 marked: " How about the Sultan himself; per 
 haps he was there, too; was he? " 
 
 " No," replied Lankester Biggies, thought 
 fully, as if speaking on oath from a witness- 
 box, and as if the Sultan might just as well 
 have been there as not, only he happened not 
 to be. 
 
 " Well, this certainly sounds like a fairy 
 tale," declared Bob. ; But you seem to believe 
 it, yourself." 
 
 " That I do," asserted the young Britisher, 
 sturdily, as if he realized that he was telling a 
 big story, but was obliged to, because it was 
 true, though strange. 
 
 " And what was that about the Khedive hav 
 ing a right to the throne ? " inquired Bob, 
 cross-questioning like a lawyer in court. 
 
 But the explanation came steadily from the
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 lips of Lankester Diggles, although he twirled 
 his cap nervously. " Yes, the Khedive is the 
 younger brother of the present Sultan, Abdul 
 II. The father, Abdul I, probably intended the 
 present Sultan to succeed him; you see, the 
 rule in Morocco does not fall to the oldest 
 son, as in Great Britain, but the Sultan, before 
 he dies, names whichever son or relative he 
 wishes to succeed him. In this case Abdul I, 
 just before he died, said to one of his slaves, 
 and others heard him, My throne is to go 
 to that son of mine who is now playing with 
 my golden-headed staff in the courtyard. So 
 the slaves ran to the door, and they saw the 
 younger of the sons [the present Khedive] 
 riding astride of the staff. You see, the old 
 Sultan had just noticed the oldest boy pass the 
 open door with the staff, and he supposed that 
 the boy still had it; but, as it happened, the 
 younger boy had just taken it away from his 
 brother; and so, by the fixed rule and custom 
 of Morocco, the younger son, this Khedive, 
 ought to be Sultan." 
 
 16
 
 ENTRAPPED 
 
 It was quite a long story for Diggles, and he 
 knit his brow and compressed his lips, as he 
 brought it out in short sentences. He now 
 paused; and Bob reflectively echoed his words, 
 " So the younger boy should be the Sultan, you 
 say." 
 
 " Yes, and he says so, himself; the Khedive 
 says that the slaves revealed nothing of this; 
 but let his brother, as the real heir, take the 
 throne; but a year ago they told the Khedive 
 the fact as it really was ; one of them was dying, 
 or something of that sort, I believe. They are 
 pretty careful how they talk in Morocco, so 
 the Khedive says." 
 
 You and the Khedive seem to be on pretty 
 intimate terms," commented Bob, sharply, yet 
 with a smile. " Anybody would think you had 
 grown up together as playmates." 
 
 Diggles shook his head with conviction. 
 " I m telling you only what he told me. He 
 said to me, he said 
 
 Well, you don t believe everything that any 
 body says, do you?" interrupted Bob, curtly;
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 he was amused and disgusted with the fellow s 
 simplicity. 
 
 Diggles, prime minister of the Sahara re 
 gion, raised his grimy hand in protest. " Now 
 don t get high ! " he remonstrated. " I know it 
 looks like a sea-yarn, but if you could have 
 seen the apartments and servants and clothes 
 and and a crown, as I saw them at the Cecil 
 Hotel on the Strand, you would " 
 
 "O pshaw!" ejaculated Bob. "You are a 
 foolish fellow, to be so taken in ! " Then his 
 curiosity revived, and as the young man shook 
 his head steadily and seemed inclined to explain 
 further, our friend listened. 
 
 You see, the Khedive has men enough in 
 Southern Morocco to get him his rights; but 
 he needs arms and leaders. And my master, 
 the King, has some money, and the Khedive 
 gave him much more; with this money he has 
 bought but there! I must not talk about 
 that. What I want to say to you is this: that 
 my master, who is partly French and partly 
 Russian, puts great confidence in the English, 
 
 18
 
 ENTRAPPED 
 
 or Americans, it s the same thing. He has 
 shipped a small crew, already, for our craft, 
 the Saucy Kate, lying at anchor out there, 
 but he does n t trust them very much ; they are 
 mostly half-breeds and not dependable; I m an 
 Englishman, myself, from Southhampton. 
 Now, he likes your looks very much indeed; 
 and as soon as he clapped eyes on you, he 
 says " 
 
 " O, never mind, never mind ! " broke in our 
 young friend; " it does n t matter what he said 
 or thought. I hope I don t look like a fellow 
 who is such a fool as to go into a wild-cat 
 adventure of this sort. Why, man, there is n t 
 a ghost of a chance for success in such a 
 scheme. And I wonder that such a sensible 
 looking Englishman as you should " 
 
 " I beg pardon, sir ! " said the long, lean fel 
 low, taking off and twirling his round cap. 
 " I ve shipped with him, and I m not one to 
 back out. Yes, and I believe in him; I do 
 indeed." 
 
 But, as he spoke, his manner did not quite 
 19
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 confirm his brave words. And Bob Laurie, 
 noting that the night was coming on, spoke 
 in a jocose tone and said: " Well, good luck to 
 you, my misguided friend. You seem a pretty 
 decent sort, but I m not caught with any such 
 chaff. Good-bye to you, and my best wishes 
 for your success." 
 
 "Just a minute, please?" pleaded the man 
 Diggles, and, as he spoke, he glanced away into 
 the gathering dusk, where Jean Smith, the 
 " King of the Sahara " had disappeared, as if 
 he feared his return in anger. " I say, now, 
 the scheme is n t half-bad, if you look at 
 it in my way. The Khedive is the rightful 
 Sultan; and if my master will help him, the 
 Khedive will give him the right to the Sahara ; 
 and " 
 
 " But, you you deluded chap," laughed 
 Bob, " don t you know that the Sahara is a vast 
 desert, with no settled inhabitants, and utterly 
 worthless, and " 
 
 " Yes, so my master, the King, says," ex 
 plained Diggles, eagerly ; " but it is lower than 
 
 20
 
 ENTRAPPED 
 
 the sea-level; and my master plans to cut a 
 canal from the Atlantic, and flood that whole 
 region and then colonize it for - 
 
 " O rubbish ! " retorted Bob, scornfully. 
 " I never heard of a wilder scheme in my life. 
 But I must not stay here any longer. As I 
 said before, you have my best wishes. So good 
 bye ! " And he gave the man a friendly grasp 
 of the hand, and left him. 
 
 But with all the simplicity of Lankester Dig- 
 gles s nature, he was a very persistent indi 
 vidual ; and now, as Bob turned away, he waited 
 a moment, then followed after him, literally 
 begging him in a childish way : " I say, you, 
 I do wish you d join us. You re the right 
 sort. You shall have my job; you shall be 
 prime minister. I like the cut of your jib 
 immensely ; and I d feel a lot better to have 
 you along with us. We re bound to win, and 
 there s big money for all. I hope ; 
 
 But his voice grew hopeless, even as he spoke 
 the word " hope," for Bob turned, now with 
 manifest annoyance. You shut up ! " he or- 
 
 21
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 dered; "I ve said No/ and that ends it." 
 Then he turned and quickened his pace, walk 
 ing along the dock among the piles of mer 
 chandise, and trying to get over the angry 
 mood into which he had been pushed. 
 
 : Well, it certainly is a queer deal," he so 
 liloquized, and stopped to laugh outright. " A 
 half crazy chap, made the tool of a sly Moor, 
 and setting out to dethrone the Sultan of Mo 
 rocco. What astounding ideas some people do 
 hatch out in their unbalanced heads." 
 
 Thus soliloquizing, he sauntered on more lei 
 surely, and casually observed the various craft 
 drawn up alongside the docks, or lying out a 
 little in the waterway leading around the penin 
 sula. By their " Colors " or their rigging or 
 their sailor-men, he could tell where most of 
 them came from ; and he grew so interested in 
 his observations that he presently forgot the 
 surprising and puzzling scene which he had 
 just shared. 
 
 When, suddenly, as he was taking a short 
 cut through an ill-lighted alley, near the Great 
 
 22
 
 ENTRAPPED 
 
 Gate, he thought he detected quick footsteps 
 close behind him ; and he turned. 
 
 Then he felt his head and shoulders envel 
 oped in some sort of coarse bag. For an instant 
 he fancied it must be a joke, played by some 
 person who had mistaken him ; but, as he strug 
 gled, and in vain, against the strong arms which 
 now closed about him, he realized that he was 
 in great peril. He tore fiercely at the tough 
 cloth, and then attempted to shout,- 
 
 His cry of " Help " rang out loudly; then he 
 heard a muttered oath in Spanish; and again 
 he raised his voice, and then then he felt a 
 shock on his head, and he became unconscious.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS 
 
 When Bob Laurie returned to consciousness 
 he knew not where he was ; he thought, at first, 
 of only two things ; one was that he was in the 
 midst of darkness; he could see not a glimmer 
 of light, natural or artificial ; and the other was 
 that he was very thirsty. He arose to con 
 sciousness out of a dream; with this dense 
 gloom all about him, his dream for a few mo 
 ments seemed more real than the waking re 
 ality. He had been dreaming that he was 
 back again on Boston Common, where he had 
 played many a time, and that he was walk 
 ing near the frog- pond; it seemed to him that 
 he had a headache, and that he wet his hand 
 kerchief in the water of the frog-pond and put 
 it to his aching head; then it seemed that the 
 fountain in the middle of the pond was turned 
 
 24
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS 
 
 on, and rose in that massive urn-like contour, 
 so familiar to Bostonians, ten feet high 
 and twenty feet wide, which he had often ob 
 served; then, in his dream, he listened to the 
 splash of the water from the fountain, and 
 began to feel thirsty; and he started to walk 
 out on the granite blocks which serve as step 
 ping-stones to the middle of the pond and foun 
 tain. Somehow he could not maintain his foot 
 ing, yet his thirst led him to keep trying; and 
 suddenly he fell off, off and awoke ; and 
 found himself somewhere, in darkness, very 
 thirsty, and his head aching, and sore in one 
 spot. 
 
 He tried to think what had happened. The 
 last that he could remember was O, yes, it 
 was that struggle on the pier at Cadiz; a bag 
 or piece of cloth was thrown over his head, 
 and then rough, strong arms bound him around, 
 and he struggled and shouted, and then all 
 was darkness. 
 
 But how long ago did that happen? And 
 where was he now? He racked his brain to 
 
 25
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 find some explanation. All at once he under 
 stood. Yes, he had been seized; a blow on his 
 head had stunned him; he felt the sore spot 
 again; it was swelled as large as half an Eng 
 lish walnut. He must have been mistaken for 
 somebody else; for he had no enemies whom 
 he knew about. Now he was in this dark 
 room, and felt dizzy and thirsty, and his head 
 ached. Perhaps robbery had been the motive 
 of his assailant ; so he felt for his money-belt, 
 and it was safe; also a large jack-knife and 
 some coins in his pockets. 
 
 But something must be done; and Bob 
 stretched out his hands and feet, groping about 
 him. At once he felt an obstacle; and, feeling 
 his way, cautiously, he made out the shape of a 
 large box, and two or three other boxes, of 
 rough deal. 
 
 This discovery, together with a sudden mo 
 tion, or swing, of the " room " where he was, 
 at once revealed to him the fact that he was 
 on some ship; it became suddenly clear to him; 
 and now he could make out, at times, the 
 
 26
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS 
 
 " swash " of waves, outside the ship; yes, that 
 was the sound which, in his dream, he had 
 thought was made by the splashing fountain 
 in the frog-pond of Boston Common. 
 
 So he was on some sort of ship ; in the hold, 
 too, judging by the boxes and barrels around 
 him; what craft was it? And where was it 
 going? And who put him on board? And 
 why? 
 
 Thus the varied questions rushed through 
 his brain, as he now more completely recovered 
 consciousness. Suddenly he remembered the 
 scene and incidents on the pier, or dock, at 
 Cadiz; he recalled his strange interview with 
 that fantastic looking man of the big, fierce 
 moustache; " Jean Smith " was his name. Also 
 he claimed to be " King of the Sahara." And 
 then there was his English companion, Diggles, 
 Lankester Diggles ; O suddenly Bob got a 
 clear idea of the whole situation. He remem 
 bered that Jean Smith had tried to enlist him 
 in his visionary scheme about Morocco, and 
 had been wrathful when Bob had declined ; and 
 
 27
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Diggles had tried to persuade him; and had 
 spoken about a ship, the Saucy Kate, lying out 
 in the stream. 
 
 Matters were taking clearer shape in Bob 
 Laurie s mind. He was now pretty close to 
 the truth of the situation. He said to himself, 
 rubbing gingerly the sore spot on his head: 
 " I see, I see ; they have seized me by a mean, 
 brutal trick, when they found they could 
 not get me in any other way. But Diggles 
 now Diggles did n t seem of quite that sort ; a 
 rather decent fellow I thought him; although 
 utterly fooled by the pompous King of the 
 Sahara/ " 
 
 Thus poor, thirsty, dizzy Bob pondered ; and 
 now, as he knew that he was aboard ship, he 
 could easily detect the motion of the vessel, as 
 she keeled slightly under what was probably a 
 fair wind or a very steady wind on the quarter. 
 Once or twice he fancied he heard faint sounds, 
 as of some person giving orders on deck. And 
 how far below deck was he? This same ques 
 tion made him hold his breath, for one instant, 
 
 28
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS 
 
 with dread. Another source of possible dan 
 ger was disclosed as Bob caught the sound of 
 something scratching or gnawing. "Rats? 
 Yes, probably." Every ship contains them. If 
 you are a passenger, comfortably berthed and 
 cared for, you give no thought to them; but 
 to be shut into the hold, and be thirsty and 
 hungry, and hear bold, vigorous rats gnawing 
 near you that is a terrible situation ; and Bob 
 Laurie felt it so. 
 
 But a sound now broke in upon the silence 
 and darkness ; it appeared to be a human voice, 
 perhaps a dozen yards away, through the mer 
 chandise. What a row ! What a row ! " said 
 the voice, as if the person were talking to him 
 self. And Bob s instant conclusion was that 
 some other unfortunate, like himself, had been 
 shut into the hold. 
 
 Again, after a pause, the exclamation was 
 repeated. " What a row ! I say, what a row ! " 
 followed by a sort of gurgle and chuckle which 
 sounded extremely uncanny, and puzzled Bob 
 and made his flesh creep nervously. Who could 
 
 29
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 it be ? Bob was on the point of calling out, but 
 hardly dared; for he knew not who his strange 
 neighbor might be; the voice was thick and 
 harsh, and might belong to some drunken 
 sailor, put below to sleep off his drunkenness. 
 " At any rate," remarked Bob, with some phi 
 losophy, "he speaks English; I m glad of 
 that, and- 
 
 At that instant the same voice began again, 
 but this time in French. " Sacre Nom ! Sacr-r-e 
 Nom ! " And the r s rolled out like a volley of 
 tiny pistol-shots. 
 
 "Well!" muttered Bob, under his breath. 
 
 That beats me. How many of them are there ? 
 
 Two at least; and with voices enough alike to 
 
 be brothers. I wonder if I wouldn t do well to 
 
 take a chance with them." 
 
 Just as he was about to put his idea into 
 action, he heard steps in the direction of the 
 voices, as of somebody running down the 
 steep steps of a ladder-stair, into a cabin; 
 and then his heart gave a bound of hope as he 
 heard a voice which was very like that of 
 
 30
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS 
 
 Lankester Biggies. " Heave away, my hearty ! 
 How are you? Mixing your languages, as 
 usual?" 
 
 There was no reply to this, and Bob was on 
 the point of calling out to Diggles for he be 
 lieved he could trust him when there came a 
 sound as of a sliding-panel, and considerable 
 light was sent streaming in upon the weak, half- 
 sick lad. Then the voice Diggles s voice, 
 Bob knew, now called out, " I say, my 
 American friend, are you there ? " 
 
 The tone was friendly, and Bob at once an 
 swered, " Yes, I m here. Is that you, Lankes 
 ter Diggles?" 
 
 The same," was the young Englishman s 
 response. You can come out this way, now. 
 The king is through with his fit." 
 
 " With his what ? " echoed the American lad, 
 astonished. 
 
 Yes, through with his fit. They take him, 
 once in a while, do the mad fits, and he rages 
 and stamps and hits out with his sword and 
 spurs jingling, and we have to keep out of his
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 path. But I say, now, come through here into 
 the cabin; over the tops of the boxes." 
 
 Bob tried to rise, and did it with difficulty. 
 When he reached a sitting posture, he sat a 
 few moments with his sore aching head in his 
 hands, and felt as if he would prefer to lie 
 down again. " I say, Diggles," he called out, 
 " would you mind bringing me a little water? 
 Have you any there ? " 
 
 " Easy enough ! " came Lankester s cheerful 
 reply. And Bob heard the trickling sound of 
 a small stream of water flowing into a metal 
 cup. O, how sweet that sound was to the thirsty 
 lad whose parched lips rubbed together, when 
 he spoke, like pieces of paper. There now ! " 
 continued the cheery Diggles. " Here I come." 
 And the sound of the trickling water ceased. 
 " In a minute. I s pose you are rather hot and 
 thirsty, after that crack on the head they said 
 they had to give you." 
 
 Nearer and nearer crawled the kind-hearted 
 English fellow, talking sociably as he came, 
 and soon he stood beside Bob. " Quick ! 
 
 32
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS 
 
 Quick!" gasped Bob, reaching out his hand 
 eagerly, yet fearing, in the half -darkness, that 
 he might knock over the little tin pannikin, 
 with its precious fluid. 
 
 A long draught, and a breath, and then an 
 other; and the pannikin (holding over a pint) 
 was empty. Bob drained it, and sighed with 
 satisfaction. It made him feel much better. 
 Then his ideas began to straighten themselves 
 out, as soon as this fierce primal instinct of 
 thirst was satisfied. Where are we? " he de 
 manded, looking up at Diggles. " And why 
 am I here? " 
 
 Lankester Diggles heaved a sigh of his own, 
 and became philosophical. " Well, it s no use 
 crying over spilt milk. You re here, on the 
 Saucy Kate, from Cadiz, bound for for 
 well, as far as I can make out, we re bound for 
 about Cape Ghir, south of Mogador, on the 
 Morocco coast." 
 
 Bob detected, or fancied that he detected, a 
 note of triumph in Diggles s tones; and his 
 indignation rose, and he himself rose. He got 
 
 33
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 to his feet, weak as he was, and demanded, 
 " Did you bring me on board? Did you dare 
 do that?" 
 
 His attitude was threatening, weak as he 
 was ; but he relaxed his muscles when Diggles 
 replied warmly: "No, I didn t; please get 
 easy in your mind about that ; I wanted to have 
 you enlist with us, and I was put about when 
 you said No to me ; but I would n t go in for 
 a nasty trick like pressing a man. That was 
 by two of our men under the king s orders." 
 
 "He wanted me badly, didn t he?" was 
 Bob s angry comment as he felt of his sore 
 head. 
 
 " Yes, he did. He banks heavily on the Eng 
 lish, or Americans, it s the same thing; 
 he thinks he can depend on them; but you and 
 I are the only two of that sort on board; the 
 others are a job lot, scrapings from all the 
 ports on the coast." 
 
 Bob s eyesight was growing accustomed to 
 the light from the cabin-slide, and he now saw 
 objects around him more closely. " What cargo 
 
 34
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS 
 
 have we ? " he asked, kicking his foot against 
 one of the boxes near him. 
 
 " Hold on ! " exclaimed Diggles. " I would n t 
 make too free with those boxes and cases, 
 and especially with those casks. There may 
 be no danger, but I always feel great respect 
 for firearms and ammunition/ 
 
 His voice expressed real alarm; and Bob re 
 plied, "What do you mean? Firearms and 
 ammunition ? " 
 
 " Exactly," was his companion s dry answer. 
 " Rifles in those long packing-cases, and car 
 tridges and some loose powder in the casks." 
 
 " Whew-w ! " came Bob s comment, ending 
 in a low whistle, as he realized what he was in 
 for. "This isn t any summer picnic, is it?" 
 Then he looked up at Lankester Diggles s dull 
 but kindly face, dim in the darkness, and said, 
 slowly and firmly, " Let me tell you, right here, 
 that I go on this expedition against my will; 
 and- 
 
 Yes, I know that," interrupted Diggles, 
 with a laugh. " Pedro and Sanchez know it, 
 
 35
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 too; they were the two that captured you. 
 They said you fought like a wild animal." 
 
 " Huh ! Well, I did n t come willingly, you 
 may be sure, on a piratical, fantastical wild 
 cat cruise like this; and I make this statement 
 to you, Diggles, and you may sometime have a 
 chance to swear to it in court; that is if we 
 ever get around to such a civilized place as a 
 real court of justice. Why, do you realize, 
 my good man, that we have cast loose from 
 all protection by any or all nations? We are 
 no better than pirates; there is a treaty be 
 tween Morocco and Great Britain. Say now, 
 where did this crazy skipper pick up this war 
 material? When did he get it on board?" 
 
 " Lisbon ! " came Diggles s somewhat sullen 
 response. 
 
 " Got it on board at night, I 11 warrant," 
 continued the American lad. 
 
 " Yes, a dark, stormy night. And them 
 Spaniards ain t over-particular about such little 
 things." 
 
 A few moments of silence followed; they 
 36
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DARKNESS 
 
 were moments of unhappy and angry reflection 
 on Bob s part. What Lankester Diggles was 
 thinking about cannot be stated; but he pres 
 ently ventured, in a soothing tone, " Well, 
 there s no use in crying over spilt milk; that s 
 what my mother used to tell me ; as long as 
 
 Here he was interrupted by the same raw, 
 thick voice which had drawn Bob s attention 
 and wonder before; it came, evidently, from 
 whatever place lay beyond the sliding-panel. 
 " Never say die ! Never say die ! " sounded the 
 strange voice, as if from some person who had 
 been listening to their conversation. 
 
 "Who s that?" demanded Bob. "Who 
 is in there ? Is that the cabin ? " 
 
 Lankester smiled and chuckled and made an 
 swer : " That s a friend of mine ; my chum, 
 he is. Yes, he s in the cabin. Come along and 
 be introduced." 
 
 37
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE OWNER OF THE VOICE 
 
 Bob followed the young English sailor 
 slowly, for he felt weak and cramped, 
 and they crawled, a dozen yards or so, over 
 bales and boxes toward the cabin-slide. Dig- 
 gles led the way through this narrow opening, 
 and Bob, close after him, soon found himself 
 in what was evidently the cabin of a small 
 sea-going craft, where the furnishings indi 
 cated a certain degree of taste ; a kind of worn 
 and faded luxury was indicated by the cabin s 
 equipment. 
 
 In fact, the Saucy Kate had once been 
 a large pleasure-craft, a yacht, in which the 
 owner had cruised nearly around the world; 
 but one night, lying off Dieppe, the owner being 
 ashore, and the crew absorbed in some French 
 brandy and Spanish lemons and West India 
 sugar, in combination, no lookout lights 
 
 38
 
 were hung, and in the darkness and fog the 
 Saucy Kate was run down and sunk by an 
 ocean-liner for Antwerp. 
 
 The owner, a very rich man, sold her, as she 
 lay, to the Channel Wrecking Company; and 
 they raised her, repaired her, and sold her, 
 of course at a reduced price; her fortunes had 
 been varied since then; and how Jean Smith, 
 the soldier of fortune and "The Khedive," 
 had acquired her was never clearly known. 
 
 Suffice it to say that she was still staunch, 
 very fast, schooner-rigged, and manned by as 
 reckless a crowd they could hardly be called 
 a " crew " as one often finds in these days, 
 among the Mediterranean ports. 
 
 Bob Laurie s gaze naturally ran over the 
 little cabin, in search of the man whose voice 
 had been heard through the darkness of the 
 hold; but he saw nobody; the four berths on 
 the port and the starboard had their curtains 
 drawn back, and were empty. Where was the 
 strange occupant of the cabin? Two small 
 lockers, half open, disclosed nothing. Then 
 
 39
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Bob s eye fell upon a gray African parrot, 
 standing on a wooden ledge built against the 
 side of the cabin, and restrained there by a 
 small chain about three feet long. 
 
 Of course the secret was out. " Allow me," 
 said Lankester Diggles, with a little show 
 of humor, " to introduce to your attention, la 
 dies and gentlemen, this remarkable bird, mas 
 ter of many languages by reason of his educa 
 tion at Oxford, and from having been a \vide 
 traveler over the face of the earth." 
 
 Bob s face lost a little of its constraint and 
 sternness as he looked at the parrot; for he 
 was very fond of pets, whether four-footed or 
 two-footed; and he forgot for a while his 
 strange and trying and perilous situation as 
 he looked at the parrot and listened to Lan 
 kester Diggles as that young man recited his 
 pet s history and attainments. 
 
 " It s all straight, what I just said about his 
 being educated at Oxford," he affirmed. You 
 see I got him from an old Oxford Don, a 
 professor, that is ; I was a Scout - a sort of 
 
 40
 
 THE OWNER OF THE VOICE 
 
 valet in Oriel College for four years. The 
 professor gave the bird to me just before he 
 resigned his professorship, because I had been 
 kind to his pet and once saved his life when a 
 student s bull-dog got after him. O, you ought 
 to have seen the old professor s study after 
 that lively pup had been chasing Trump - 
 that s the parrot s name around the room 
 for ten minutes." 
 
 "So his name is Trump, is it?" remarked 
 Bob. " Where did he get that name ? " 
 
 Well, you see, the parrot had belonged to 
 nobody knows how many masters ; they do say 
 that these birds live to a great age ; anyhow, he 
 had been at Oxford, with one owner and an 
 other, more than twenty years. And his name 
 had been passed along with him. Nobody at 
 Oxford, in my time, knew just how he got 
 the name. Anyhow, it seems to fit him." 
 
 Diggles gazed at his pet with evident admira 
 tion; and Bob, putting out his finger toward 
 the bird, asked cautiously, " Will he nip me, 
 if I stroke him?"
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Well, you wait a bit," interposed Diggles, 
 hastily. " He can bite like like old Sancho, 
 if he takes a notion ; I Ve seen him take a 
 piece of flesh right out of a fellow s finger with 
 that black beak of his. Here! Let me tell 
 him about you first." 
 
 So saying, he put up his own hand ; and the 
 parrot, in the slow guarded fashion of his spe 
 cies, stretched out one wrinkled gray foot and 
 laid hold of his master s finger ; then, reaching 
 down, he gave sundry little harmless bites at 
 it, and next advanced his other foot and stepped 
 across from his ledge. 
 
 He was a large, handsome creature, of the 
 species found near the Congo, on the West 
 coast. He was slate-colored, with little ripples 
 of lighter gray over his breast. His notched 
 beak was as black as ebony, and looked equally 
 hard ; his eyes were black, ringed with a saffron 
 tint; the only bright color in his plumage was 
 in his tail feathers, where four brilliant crimson 
 plumes shone resplendent when he spread his 
 wings. 
 
 42
 
 THE OWNER OF THE VOICE 
 
 Bob had always understood that this breed 
 of parrots was exceptionally intelligent; and 
 certainly Trump looked as if he were quite 
 up to the standard. " If he s as wise as he 
 looks," remarked the lad, " he could give odds 
 to old King Solomon ! " 
 
 Lankester Diggles shook his head with con 
 fidence. " He s even wiser than he looks. 
 Here, Trump, old chappie, this is a friend of 
 mine and so he s a friend of yours ; you can 
 trust him; he won t play any mean tricks on 
 you. He s all right, all right." And Diggles 
 put one hand on Bob s shoulder, and extended 
 the other hand, with the parrot, toward the 
 American lad. 
 
 The gray, sagacious-looking bird stared criti 
 cally at this new friend, waited a moment, then 
 repeated his master s words, " All right, all 
 right ! " and stepped across to Bob s finger. 
 Then a moment more of silence, and he sud 
 denly stretched his wings and emitted a series 
 of sounds which were precisely like those which 
 would be made by a teamster cracking his whip ; 
 
 43
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 the sounds were explosive, and half as loud 
 as a small pistol. 
 
 That settles it," interposed Lankester Dig- 
 gles with assurance. " That means that he 
 takes my word for you; he won t bite, now. 
 He must have learned that sort of sound from 
 the hostlers at the Mitre, that s the inn at 
 Oxford, and one of his masters had a room 
 overlooking the stables. When he cracks his 
 whip he s all right." 
 
 Trump now started on a tour of inspection 
 over Bob s entire frame. Using his powerful 
 black beak like a third foot, he climbed up and 
 down and around the lad s body and limbs, 
 uttering a little clicking sound at intervals. 
 He amused Bob greatly, and made him quite 
 forget his unpleasant situation on the Saucy 
 Kate. " By Jove," said the laughing lad, " he 
 acts like a newspaper reporter, and he sounds 
 as if he were taking notes in shorthand." 
 
 Lankester Diggles stood off, with his hands 
 deep in his trousers pockets, and surveyed his 
 pet with pride. " O, he s a wonder," said he. 
 
 44
 
 THE OWNER OF THE VOICE 
 
 " My, the things he can do and say and think ! 
 Why he does n t tell half he knows. And some 
 times, when you think he s not noticing, he 
 takes it all in, and keeps mum, and then a 
 week or a month later, out it comes, something 
 you d almost forgotten you said." 
 
 " How old do you suppose he is? " inquired 
 Bob, stroking the strange creature s head with 
 a finger. 
 
 That I can t say. His history was written 
 out by his last master, the Don of Oriel, as 
 far back as he could trace it, and was hung 
 up on the wall of the study. But I lost the 
 paper. The Don could credit him with over 
 fifty years, but he s very likely older than that. 
 He must have had some learned owners, for 
 he talks not only in English, but more or less in 
 several other languages; you hear all those at 
 Oxford, you know." 
 
 For a quarter of an hour Bob had almost 
 forgotten his unpleasant circumstances; he 
 could imagine himself again in Oxford, Eng 
 land, which he had once visited. But, at this 
 
 45
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 juncture, sounds on the deck of the trim 
 schooner drew his attention. Voices were 
 raised in an angry tone, and then a pistol-shot 
 was heard. 
 
 The parrot showed uneasiness at this, and 
 his master promptly transferred him to his 
 ledge; where he instantly hid himself behind 
 one of the small curtains of a bull s-eye window. 
 Then Diggles started to go up the companion 
 way. " A little trouble up there," he remarked, 
 carelessly. " I must see what it is. Will you 
 come up ? Or will you stay here ? : 
 
 Bob paused only a moment to decide. You 
 go ahead, Diggles," he said, drawing a long 
 breath. " And I 11 follow. I might as well 
 know the worst, at once." 
 
 46
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 IN DANGER OF DEATH 
 
 When Bob Laurie issued from the cabin of 
 the Saucy Kate and stood on deck, the sky 
 was clear, the afternoon sun was nearing the 
 horizon on the starboard side, and he saw what 
 he took to be the coast of Africa not more than 
 a dozen miles away. They were evidently run 
 ning down the West coast, and Lankester Dig- 
 gles s information as to their destination was 
 confirmed. 
 
 The mild air and bright sunlight were grate 
 ful to our young friend after his long durance 
 in the dark, smelly hold; but the scene imme 
 diately before him now drew his attention. 
 In the waist of the ship stood Jean Smith, the 
 self-styled " King of the Sahara," and in his 
 hand was a pistol. He was clad in the full 
 panoply of his regal office, as he understood 
 
 47
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 it. There was much gold lace on his coat, and 
 the ever-present top-boots with spurs were 
 much in evidence. Also he wore a heavy cav 
 alry-sabre, which clanked in a very gratifying 
 military fashion as its wearer moved about. 
 Near him stood two Spanish half-breeds, 
 Pedro (who had lost an eye) and Sanchez 
 (who had a stiff knee), and they likewise wore 
 more or less gold lace as evidence of their 
 official rank. Just beyond them were gathered 
 a half dozen Lascars, half clad, and sullen in 
 manner. They had run away from their ship, 
 an East Indiaman, as she lay in port, at Cadiz, 
 and had yielded to the wiles and threats of 
 Pedro and Sanchez. 
 
 The king, at this moment, was haranguing 
 them in a loud tone, and flourishing his pistol. 
 
 Lankester Diggles at once put himself loy 
 ally beside his chief, and handled a pistol which 
 he carried in his belt together with a sailor s 
 sheath-knife. 
 
 As soon as Jean Smith, King of the Sahara, 
 set eyes on Bob, his violent, noisy manner 
 
 48
 
 IN DANGER OF DEATH 
 
 changed ; he grew suddenly mild, and gave some 
 final order to the refractory crew, who scattered 
 to their duties. " Welcome, young Englishman, 
 I mean American! " he called, and advanced 
 to our friend. We have had a little up 
 rise, you call it; but not serious. I hope you 
 are feeling well." 
 
 His face and manner were those of a man 
 who wished to conciliate, yet could be severe 
 and cruel if he chose; but Bob stood his ground 
 and replied, sturdily, " If I am feeling well, 
 it is not your fault." 
 
 Then, as he spoke, his anger grew upon him, 
 his indignation at the whole high-handed pro 
 ceeding, and he continued recklessly : " What 
 is the meaning of this? Why have you seized 
 me, or ordered it done, and stowed me 
 away in that black hole like a piece of mer 
 chandise? Don t you know that you have com 
 mitted a criminal act? The law will lay hold 
 of you and make you pay dearly for this out 
 rage." 
 
 Jean Smith stroked his huge, fierce moustache 
 49
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 and smiled, and a cunning look sat in his nar 
 rowed eyes. " Ah, indeed. I don t see any 
 law, anywhere, out here; out here, my word 
 is law." Then he took on a soothing tone, 
 and added : " I hope that the excellent young 
 American will show that good sense which his 
 race is said to possess. He shall be my - 
 well, my private secretary, here on board; and 
 when we establish our court in the interior 
 [here he waved his hand in a grand manner 
 toward the continent of Africa in general], he 
 shall be my Secretary of State." 
 
 " Secretary of State ! Secretary of fiddle 
 sticks ! " burst out Bob, in wrath and scorn. 
 f( Do you think you can fool me with that talk? 
 
 Then he half regretted his outburst, for the 
 excited fanatical look which he had once before 
 noted in this strange adventurer gathered on 
 his face, and he fingered the butt of the pistol 
 which he had thrust back into his gaudy 
 sash. 
 
 Bob watched his every movement ; and Lan- 
 kester Diggles showed uneasiness, because he 
 
 50
 
 IN DANGER OF DEATH 
 
 knew his chief s violent fits of rage, and 
 dreaded what might come to the daring Amer 
 ican lad, for whom he had very friendly feel 
 ings. But the paroxysm of fury passed harm 
 lessly through the morbid brain of Jean Smith, 
 and he now spoke more quietly. " Let us walk 
 together," he suggested, as if he had been a 
 courteous host inviting an honored guest. 
 We will walk and talk; that is the way." 
 And he nodded smilingly to Bob, and led the 
 way, his sword clanking; and the two paced 
 back and forth the length of the deck, as is 
 much done by passengers on shipboard. 
 
 ; I have great great what you call it 
 a great respect toward your people, English and 
 American," began Jean Smith, in a flattering 
 tone. " And I shall be glad to have you share 
 in my glory and power, after I take possession 
 of my country." 
 
 Bob had now resolved to keep his tongue 
 under restraint ; there was danger of the worst 
 if he did not; and if he was to come out of 
 this Quixotic and reckless expedition alive he
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 must do it by discretion and patience, not by 
 force. So he nodded as his companion paused, 
 and answered shortly, " I am listening." 
 
 This milder tone of his encouraged the king, 
 and he went on more warmly and with increas 
 ing enthusiasm : " With your aid my task will 
 be easier; I can trust you, and my chief mate, 
 Lankester Diggles, who, later, will be my prime 
 minister. Or, now that I reflect - here he 
 stopped walking, and bent his head reflectively. 
 " Will it not be better to change and make him 
 secretary of state and make you prime min 
 ister ? " And again he sank into a state of deep 
 cogitation. 
 
 This sudden break in his chain of ideas Bob 
 noted again and again, as long as he was asso 
 ciated with the strange man ; it seemed a symp 
 tom of his unbalanced condition of mind; yet, 
 although Bob smiled inwardly at the foolish 
 ness of debating, at this early point in the 
 perilous game, about fine distinctions of office 
 in the Saharan Government, he said nothing, 
 and waited. 
 
 52
 
 Bob returned the salute somewhat coldly, and uttered a 
 brief " The same to you, sir " 
 
 See page
 
 IN DANGER OF DEATH 
 
 " Yes, I think we will keep it as I said first," 
 answered the king, now recovering himself, 
 and walking again. " Diggles shall be prime 
 minister, and you shall be secretary of state." 
 Then another side of the matter occurred to 
 him. " That is," he explained, somewhat un 
 easily, " if you don t mind; I hope you don t? " 
 
 " Not in the least," responded Bob, feeling 
 as if he were acting a part in a stage-comedy. 
 This calm way of offering and accepting 
 or declining secretaryships and premierships 
 amused him vastly ; but he kept his countenance. 
 
 " I am glad of that," replied his singular 
 companion, as they resumed their stroll along 
 the deck. " Because sedition is likely to arise 
 in a kingdom where there is jealousy and vain 
 ambition ; it has always been so, since the time 
 of Julius Caesar ; I have read much about such 
 seditions and revolutions." 
 
 Bob grew more and more interested in the 
 man. " Mad as a hatter ! " was the sensible 
 American lad s inner comment; but he main 
 tained an attentive outward attitude. 
 
 53
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " All we have to do," the king now went on, 
 " is to keep on our voyage to a point just south 
 of Cape Ghir. The Khedive and my loyal 
 subject Diggles has told you about him, as I 
 directed him to do the Khedive has pre 
 ceded us, coming from London by land, and 
 is now, undoubtedly, in Morocco City awaiting 
 us. Yes, he is even now, perhaps, over there," 
 and he waved his hand toward the west, and 
 again seemed inclined to sink into one of his 
 dreamy moods; but he restrained himself and 
 resumed his strange recital : " Yes, the Khedive 
 will signal us from the cliffs beyond the cape. 
 I know the place. There is a white-faced cliff 
 among the red ones ; we are to anchor off that 
 point ; the Khedive will have a hundred or more 
 faithful followers with him, and they will help 
 our men get the guns and cartridges - 
 
 This cool detailing of a scheme so contrary 
 to international law roused Bob, and he inter 
 posed : " But don t you see, sir, that you are 
 running great risks in taking arms and ammu 
 nition into the Sultan s dominions without his 
 
 54
 
 IN DANGER OF DEATH 
 
 approval? Why, it is breaking the Treaty of 
 Morocco with Spain or Great Britain, which 
 ever country you sailed from; and the penalty 
 is a long imprisonment; or, if you are caught 
 by the Sultan, he will off with your head in a 
 minute." 
 
 The infatuated " King of the Sahara " only 
 smiled indulgently, and waved away such ob 
 jections. " I was born to be a king! " he an 
 nounced, now lifting his head in a would-be 
 regal manner. " A learned astrologer of Cor 
 dova so informed my mother, after careful 
 study of the stars and several houses of the 
 heavens. So, as long as that is fated to be by 
 the stars, no power on earth can prevent it." 
 
 Bob stood, more and more amazed each mo 
 ment. The crazy conceit of the man was co 
 lossal; and he was going blindly on toward 
 what must prove disastrous. Bob s surprise 
 now gave place to the determination to make 
 one more appeal to the man s common sense. 
 : Now see here, sir ! " he exclaimed, standing 
 firmly before the hare-brained adventurer. 
 
 55
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " This expedition is foolish and criminal ; it can 
 not possibly succeed; and I must tell you, once 
 for all, that I will not join you in it." 
 
 The man s face grew serious, then it hard 
 ened. " You have already joined it," he said, 
 icily. 
 
 " I have not," contradicted sturdy Bob. " I 
 was seized, and brought on board, unconscious, 
 and was stuck into that dark, dirty hold 
 
 Jean Smith s face at once changed with 
 hope and conciliation. " I am sorry for that," 
 he interposed. We weighed anchor in a 
 hurry; there was need of haste; and I had 
 mislaid my keys, and and I apologize for the 
 carelessness." 
 
 He evidently thought he could soothe Bob s 
 feelings, and reconcile him to the expedition; 
 but he little knew the lad. " That does not 
 count, now," said Bob; "what I say is this: 
 I take no willing part in this scheme. And I 
 call Lankester Diggles to witness my decla 
 ration." 
 
 " Sorry, sir ; straight sorry to hear you 
 56
 
 IN DANGER OF DEATH 
 
 say it," responded that worthy, shaking his 
 head gloomily as Bob looked expectantly at 
 him. 
 
 But the King of the Sahara now saw that 
 there was no winning the lad over by soft 
 words and fair promises. His brow darkened 
 under the big hat, and he gave one savage pull 
 at each side of his stiff moustache and broke 
 out : " But you shall ; I say you shall join us 
 in our great campaign. You are wholly in 
 my power." Here an evil, merciless look came 
 into his deep-set eyes, and he laid his hand upon 
 his pistol. " You shall swear allegiance to me, 
 here and now r , or - 
 
 "Ahoy! Ahoy!" called Pedro, from the 
 wheel where he was serving his trick. " A 
 stranger is overhauling us." 
 
 All eyes turned instantly toward the sea 
 astern of them, and the smoke-stack and 
 upper deck of some steamer could be plainly 
 seen. 
 
 The king at once became a different man. 
 There was a promptness and bold self-reliance 
 
 57
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 in him which challenged admiration. " Fall 
 off a few points ! " he called sharply to 
 Pedro. " I will have a look at her." And he 
 went swiftly to the cabin to bring his field- 
 glass.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 IN PERIL AT CAPE GHIR 
 
 Bob felt distinct relief as the wild-eyed man 
 left him. How near Death had come to him 
 he could not say; but he was obliged to admit 
 to himself that things had looked pretty dark 
 for a few moments. 
 
 At once everybody on board the Saucy Kate 
 became alive to the needs of the situation. Jean 
 Smith, after examining the steamer carefully, 
 ordered the helm put further over, and a course 
 was steered toward the southwest, which would 
 bring them under the lee of the Canary Islands, 
 forty miles away. 
 
 At first Bob hoped that the steamer would 
 overtake them. Then it occurred to him that 
 his own position was extremely unsatisfactory;, 
 for no matter what the nationality of the pur 
 suing ship, if she overtook the Saucy Kate he 
 
 59
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 would have difficulty in explaining his presence 
 on board of her. He was, in the eye of the law, 
 a member of a piratical crew, under the pro 
 tection of no nation, and might be dealt with 
 rigorously as one of a company of freebooters 
 who could expect no leniency. 
 
 So he was not wholly displeased, as he 
 watched the on-coming steamer, to perceive that 
 the Saucy Kate, with her fair wind, was not 
 being overhauled. The distance between the 
 two craft lessened, but only slightly; and the 
 sun had now set, and darkness would cover 
 the sea in an hour or so. 
 
 This was all entirely apparent to the cunning 
 commander of the Saucy Kate; and he clanked 
 up and down the deck, rubbing his hands, and 
 smiling under his big moustache. As for Bob, 
 he leaned against the rail and watched pro 
 ceedings with keen interest. 
 
 The two ill-featured fellows Pedro and San 
 chez were able seamen, as were also Lankester 
 Diggles and the king; and every stitch of can 
 vas was spread, and the Saucy Kate showed a 
 
 60
 
 IN PERIL AT CAPE GHIR 
 
 good pair of heels to her pursuer. Bob got 
 a few words with Diggles from time to time; 
 and, once, the king, passing near the young 
 American lad, courteously offered him a look 
 through his glass. But Bob declined the offer 
 with thanks; he did not wish to take sides in 
 any way, or to appear to ; and the king tossed 
 back his head as if annoyed and resumed his 
 nervous walk. 
 
 The people on the steamer now saw that 
 they were not gaining very rapidly ; and a puff 
 of smoke rose from her, and a ball skipped 
 across the water, more than a mile astern of the 
 fleet schooner. "Try it again!" broke out 
 the excitable commander. " Perhaps you get 
 our range and perhaps you get it not." Then 
 he took a satisfied look at the darkening sky, 
 and added, " Whatever you do you must be 
 quick about it." And he laughed a dry hard 
 laugh which made Bob feel chilly. 
 
 Thus the chase went on, but, by reason of 
 the gathering darkness, with lessening chances 
 of success for the slow steamer. Diggles and 
 
 61
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 the king discussed her, openly, within Bob s 
 hearing, and they both agreed that she was 
 the old-fashioned craft which the Sultan had 
 bought from the Spanish government a few 
 months before, and had put a renegade German 
 captain in command of her. 
 
 At all events, she faded from view more and 
 more, and the Saucy Kate leaped through the 
 darkness over the white-capped waves like a 
 sea greyhound, rejoicing in her fleetness, and 
 scornful of all clumsy pursuers. 
 
 By ten o clock all anxiety was over, on board 
 the schooner, and Bob turned in, sleeping in 
 one of the four berths in the luxurious cabin, 
 two of the others there being reserved for 
 Smith and his " Premier." Trump, the gray 
 parrot, seemed to have sensed the general ex 
 citement, and sleepily demanded, once or twice, 
 " What s up? What s up, I say? " Then re 
 ceiving no answer, he clicked softly a few 
 times, as if telling himself how ill-mannered 
 everybody was. 
 
 The berth was extremely agreeable to Bob 
 62
 
 IN PERIL AT CAPE GHIR 
 
 Laurie s aching bones, contrasting favorably 
 with the hard planks and boxes whereon he had 
 recently slept ; and he did not awake until nearly 
 nine o clock; he might have slept even longer, 
 had not Trump after eyeing him critically 
 for a time suddenly broken out into a series 
 of whip-crackings; and these explosions, like 
 pistol-shots, roused Bob with a start, where 
 upon Trump, mischievous creature, went off 
 into imp-like laughter, as if he greatly enjoyed 
 the joke. 
 
 Lankester and his chief both had gone on 
 deck. Bob soon went up, also, and now saw 
 that the course of the Saucy Kate had been 
 altered, and she was again standing in toward 
 the African coast, but presumably at a point far 
 south of where she had left the steamer. 
 
 The " King of the Sahara " seemed in ex 
 cellent spirits. He promenaded the deck in 
 his full military garb, and smiled on everybody. 
 When his glance fell on Bob, it darkened for 
 a moment; he had not forgotten his unwilling 
 passenger s positive refusal and defiance of the 
 
 63
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 day before; but he had not given up hope of 
 winning the lad over; and he advanced with 
 a smile and a courteous salute. "A beautiful 
 day ! " he said, and Bob nodded, saluted, and 
 said nothing. 
 
 " All is favorable for our plans," continued 
 the strange man. " The weather is good, that 
 steamer has gone off to look for us at the 
 Canaries, and Cape Ghir, if I mistake not, is 
 over there, ten miles away." 
 
 Again he offered his field-glass to Bob, but 
 the lad declined it with thanks. 
 
 " It is entirely simple, this expedition," re 
 sumed the king; " it is what you call him 
 a a sure thing. All we do is to land our 
 goods under the lee of Cape Ghir, where the 
 Khedive will be ready for them with a hundred 
 men; with these weapons he can arm a large 
 force of his followers, and take the throne 
 away from the present Sultan; then, when 
 once established, he will back me in gaining 
 possession of the Sahara region ; and, with the 
 many loyal subjects which he will govern, he 
 
 64
 
 IN PERIL AT CAPE GHIR 
 
 can supply me with laborers to cut the canal 
 which will let in the Atlantic, and make of the 
 Sahara an inland sea, thus opening up a country 
 which is new and has great natural resources. 
 Now, is it not that that is quite clear ? " 
 
 " Yes, I understand you," rejoined Bob, to 
 whom the whole scheme seemed about the 
 wildest of all wild-cat speculations. But he had 
 decided to offer no open opposition at present. 
 It would do no good, and the man might send 
 a pistol-ball through him in a second, if his 
 violent rage were aroused. 
 
 An hour or two elapsed, which Bob used in 
 sauntering about the deck and watching the 
 men. They were not a pleasant lot to look at, 
 but they did their work well and obeyed orders 
 perhaps, in part, because their commander 
 always carried his loaded pistol in plain view 
 and easy to his hand. 
 
 Lankester Diggles was a singularly clever 
 young fellow, in all manual activity, childish as 
 he was in his mental operations. He now 
 brought Master Trump on deck for an airing, 
 
 65
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 and Bob was surprised to see that he allowed 
 the parrot his full freedom, even though 
 Trump s wings were not clipped; he flew from 
 one part of the schooner to another, and did 
 it with vigor and ease; but when called with a 
 shrill whistle by Lankester Diggles, he always 
 came to his hand. 
 
 I never saw a parrot obey as well as he 
 does," remarked Bob, stroking the parrot, who 
 seemed to like him. 
 
 " No, there never was one," replied his mas 
 ter, confidently. : His last master before me 
 - him that owned him w r hen the bull-dog 
 nearly ended him he said to me many a time, 
 Lank he said, he used to call me Lank, 
 I never heard of a parrot showing so much 
 feeling for a human being. And so it w r as, 
 and is." 
 
 Trump seemed to keep one eye on him, and 
 one on Bob ; and he pecked gently at Diggles s 
 finger in silent assent. 
 
 Attention was now directed toward the land ; 
 there was a narrow strip of shore at the base 
 
 66
 
 IN PERIL AT CAPE GHIR 
 
 of high cliffs ; and the king, Jean Smith, gave 
 full expression to his joy as he made out the 
 white patch on the reddish face of the cliff- 
 wall which had been named as the point of 
 meeting. 
 
 More than this, as the Saucy Kate now drew 
 further in, figures of men and camels could be 
 seen on the cliff-front against the clear sky; 
 and soon a few human figures were observed 
 to be descending the cliff to the edge of the 
 water. Most important of all a blue flag was 
 now descried, waved at the end of a spear 
 by a man on the cliff; and, upon that, Jean 
 Smith ordered a Lascar to run up to the fore- 
 peak a similar piece of bunting which he had 
 brought from the cabin. 
 
 Certainly everything happened on schedule 
 time, as Bob remarked to himself; but the lad 
 hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry at 
 the success thus far gained. 
 
 As the Saucy Kate drew in nearer, all hands 
 eyed the shore-line closely, to see what places 
 offered a good landing; but, at this point, dis- 
 
 67
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 appointment faced them; for the rather heavy 
 wind, blowing from the Atlantic on shore, sent 
 in great billows which broke in a roar, with 
 heavy surf; and there were but a few spots 
 along the shore which were not rocky and 
 dangerous. 
 
 The king now gave the command to anchor, 
 a half-mile off shore, and fired two shots from 
 a heavy musket, that signal having been 
 agreed upon with the Khedive. At once two 
 puffs of smoke gave answer from the men on 
 the cliff, but the sounds of the reports could 
 not be heard against the wind. 
 
 The men on the cliff could now be made out, 
 easily, with the glass and with the naked eye; 
 they were Arabs, seemingly, in part, scantily 
 clad, with a few gaily dressed Moors ; and one 
 man on a richly equipped riding-camel probably 
 was the Khedive. At least the King of the 
 Sahara was confident of this, although later 
 developments proved that he was hasty in his 
 judgment. There were also a few heavy- 
 limbed draught-camels and one or two donkeys. 
 
 68
 
 IN PERIL AT CAPE GHIR 
 
 The people on shore made signs for them to 
 come ashore, and did not seem to realize that 
 the heavy surf made this perilous. " There 
 is no use in yelling ourselves hoarse," declared 
 Lank Diggles, after he had tried this method in 
 vain. " I think we can send a message. I will 
 bunch together a raft, with a bottle fastened 
 to it, and you, King, fix up a few lines of 
 Arabic, to say that we must wait until the sea 
 goes down a little." 
 
 " A capital idea, it is, my Premier," declared 
 the king ; and he went to the cabin, and by his 
 little knowledge of Arabic and with the aid of 
 a phrase-book constructed a few sentences of 
 the right sort; and Lankester Diggles, clever 
 fingered, quickly put together some boxes, with 
 an empty soda-water bottle fastened to the top. 
 Into this the message on paper was thrust, 
 hurriedly, and the bottle corked, and the raft 
 was set afloat. 
 
 The wind bore it steadily toward the shore, 
 and all eyes on board followed it eagerly; the 
 natives on shore seemed to understand what 
 
 69
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 was being done, and several of them gathered 
 at a point where the raft appeared likely to 
 drift. 
 
 But, alas for Lankester s ingenuity, the frail 
 raft came to grief; and the watchers on the 
 Saucy Kate could estimate the force of the 
 surf; for, when the raft neared the rocks, it 
 was tossed about like a chip, and was dashed 
 into pieces and the pieces scattered, the bottle 
 doubtless being shattered. 
 
 Bob looked at Diggles, and that worthy 
 knotted his brow and pondered; he gave up 
 the raft, but was there not some other way of 
 sending the message ? 
 
 Then an idea came into Bob s brain, for he 
 had become deeply interested, despite his re 
 bellious feelings. " I say, Lank, how about 
 a kite? The wind is just right for it." 
 
 Just the thing ! " exclaimed Diggles, joy 
 fully; and he ran over the details with his com 
 mander, and that hopeful adventurer at once 
 went toward the cabin, to construct over again 
 the message to the impatient natives. 
 
 70
 
 IN PERIL AT CAPE GHIR 
 
 This plan of the kite would probably have 
 proved efficacious had not something else hap 
 pened to interfere with it. One of the Lascars, 
 looking off toward the west and the open 
 ocean, set up a tremendous yelling, and fell 
 upon his knees and began to pour out wild 
 prayers. His example was at once followed 
 by his companions. And Bob Laurie did not 
 altogether wonder at this conduct when he 
 turned his own gaze toward the open sea ; for, 
 there in the distance, about a mile away, rose 
 a great wall of water, a hundred or two hun 
 dred feet high, and it was rushing straight 
 toward the schooner. 
 
 Bob s heart nearly stood still for an instant. 
 It was a monstrous and terrifying sight. 
 " Lank," he cried, " it is a tidal wave. And it 
 is coming straight down upon us." 
 
 Lankester Diggles could not answer. He 
 stood aghast, feet apart, mouth open, eyes star 
 ing hard at the dreadful impending doom.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE TIDAL WAVE 
 
 Bob Laurie stood, as did Lankester Diggles, 
 astounded at the sight of the monstrous moun 
 tain of water sweeping toward the little 
 schooner; not so much like a mountain, it 
 seemed to the staring lad, as like the long ex 
 tended brow of a huge plateau, reaching to the 
 south as far as eye could see. 
 
 It was a terrifying sight, and our hero, for 
 a moment, stood as helpless as did poor stupefied 
 Lankester Diggles. Then his American blood 
 asserted itself, his brain cleared, and his mus 
 cles stood ready to execute his brain s com 
 mands. Bob had noted two or three cans, half- 
 emptied of kerosene, standing near the rail. 
 He shouted with all his strength at Lankester, 
 to rouse him and encourage him, " Lank ! I say, 
 Lank! Quick! Come here! We ll get out of 
 
 72
 
 THE TIDAL WAVE 
 
 this." And he seized one of the cans, unscrewed 
 the cap and began emptying it. Take that 
 one ! Quick ! " And Lank, now fully aroused, 
 imitated him. " Give it to me ! There ! Now 
 cut two pieces of rope off that coil ten feet 
 long!" 
 
 When Lank Diggles got started he was quick 
 and clever; and he did what Bob ordered in a 
 very few seconds ; and during all the time that 
 awful wall of water was coming toward them 
 with the speed of an express train. 
 
 Now the cans were empty; and Bob ejacu 
 lated " Life-preservers ! " and screwed on the 
 iron cap; and Lank did likewise. Then each 
 ran an end of his rope through the iron handles 
 and began to fasten it about him. " Come ! 
 Quick ! " cried Bob, and ran for the bow of 
 the schooner. " Our only chance ! Jump, and 
 get clear of the schooner ! " 
 
 At that moment Lankester paused, with 
 death threatening him, and sounded his shrill 
 whistle to Trump. Even in that instant the 
 stout-hearted English lad s heart was true ; and 
 
 73
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 his shrill call cut the air like a knife, rising 
 above the groans and cries of the panic-stricken 
 sailors. 
 
 Would Trump hear it? and come? 
 
 Yes ; glancing back before he took the plunge 
 which he had planned from the bow, Bob saw 
 the gray parrot flutter up over and across the 
 cabin, then take wing and come sailing toward 
 Lank and himself. Upon that, with one last 
 shout at Lank, "Come along! Follow me!" 
 the brave lad took a header, curling around the 
 empty can to hold it tight to his body ; and the 
 next moment the great wall of water struck 
 the helpless little craft and treated it like a 
 plaything, buried it far in its green depths, 
 and swept it onward toward the shore, to com 
 plete the work of destruction. 
 
 Bob Laurie had not practiced swimming in 
 the " Rollers " off Nantasket Beach, near Bos 
 ton, for nothing. He was like a fish, in the 
 water. Upside down, or rolled over and over, 
 he was master of his movements. And as 
 soon as he felt the initial lift of the mighty 
 
 74
 
 THE TIDAL WAVE 
 
 surge he swam straight for the top, holding his 
 breath and keeping his eyes open. His mind 
 was perfectly clear. " I am good for over a 
 minute," he said to himself; " I Ve done it 
 often, and I can do it now." And he swam 
 hard upward and with the water. 
 
 At first he could see nothing; all was dark; 
 then the greenish color of the water was 
 brought out by the light, and he knew he was 
 near the top ; valiantly he put forth his strength, 
 and not once lost his wits. In another second 
 or two his head emerged above the surface. 
 
 He could see nothing but water, and he felt 
 its great speed. He drew a good breath, and 
 kept on. It had not occurred to him before, in 
 the excitement of his attempt to escape death, 
 but now he remembered how numerous and 
 how fierce are the " Blue sharks " of the Afri 
 can coast. He had seen many of them from the 
 schooner s deck, as the cruise proceeded. With 
 a shiver of dread he drew his legs up under 
 him, as if thus he might save himself from 
 their cruel maw if they were near him. 
 
 75
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 This instinctive attempt at protecting him 
 self seemed to him absurd as soon as he had 
 made it, and he knew that he could do little 
 or nothing if one of the ferocious monsters of 
 the deep set upon him. But there were many 
 perils crowded into the situation; and his fear 
 of sharks quickly lost itself in the greater fear 
 of being drowned or dashed to pieces on the 
 rocks. Where was the land? Then he saw 
 the legs of some creature a camel it was 
 kicking above the surface near him. Next, the 
 heads of two or three men appeared; and, by 
 their long bushy hair, he knew they were 
 Arabs. Now the water around him lost its 
 green and blue color and became brown and 
 turbid. And, in a few seconds more, his foot 
 as he was now treading water carefully, 
 saving his strength struck against solid 
 ground. But the rush of the flood still carried 
 him on, although becoming shallower each mo 
 ment; and several bodies of men and animals 
 floated around him. 
 
 The water shallowed quickly, now, and Bob 
 76
 
 THE TIDAL WAVE 
 
 got to his feet, and braced himself, and felt that 
 he was saved. But what of Lankester Diggles ? 
 And the Saucy Kate? And all her crew ? Bob 
 shuddered as he thought upon it- 
 
 The colossal tidal wave had spent its 
 strength; it had hurled itself against the cliff, 
 overtopped it, and had run an eighth of a mile 
 inland, over the surface of the desert. A large 
 part of it ebbed away in the sand and settled 
 into hollows; a part of it resurged and went 
 pouring back to the edge of the cliff, and thun 
 dered down to the shore. Some of the men 
 and animals were carried back with it. Others, 
 like Bob, struggled to their feet, and stood 
 against it. 
 
 Bob gazed around him, hoping to discover 
 Lankester Diggles; but in vain; neither the 
 gray parrot nor his owner was to be seen. 
 And the American lad began, mechanically, to 
 unfasten the can which had indeed proved to 
 be a life-preserver. 
 
 Seeing him thus harmlessly employed, sev 
 eral Arabs, who had started toward him with 
 
 77
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 spears leveled, lowered their weapons and 
 gathered about him. Their swarthy faces were 
 savage in aspect, but they did not harm him. 
 One of them spoke to him, in Arabic as Bob 
 judged, and beckoned him to go with them back 
 to the brow of the cliff. 
 
 Gradually all that were left alive of them 
 gathered near the edge and stared at the shore 
 beneath. There Bob saw the wreck of the 
 Saucy Kate; a mass of timbers and rigging, a 
 hundred yards out among the reefs and rocks, 
 and not a sign of a living person to be seen. 
 
 The Arabs, as Bob subsequently learned, 
 were of the Souss tribe, a hardy, savage race 
 who have never been subdued by the Sultan of 
 Morocco. Among them stood a few men, who, 
 by their turbans and ampler garments, Bob 
 judged to be Moors; and one of these, by his 
 richer dress, Bob took to be the man whom the 
 King of the Sahara had declared to be the 
 Khedive. 
 
 If he really was the Khedive, then he could 
 speak and understand English; for Lankester 
 
 78
 
 THE TIDAL WAVE 
 
 had talked with him in London. So Bob tried 
 him with the direct inquiry, " Are you the 
 Khedive?" 
 
 But the man only frowned, and addressed 
 some remark in Arabic to the Moors who stood 
 near him. 
 
 " Do you speak English ? " again Bob tried 
 him. 
 
 "No! Understand no!" replied the man; 
 and from his way of pronouncing this, the lad 
 believed that he did not know any English. If 
 so, he was not the Khedive. Who was he, 
 then? And Bob Laurie felt his spirits sinking 
 lower and lower, now that the excitement of 
 his terrible struggle was over, and he realized 
 that he was alone, in the hands of a horde of 
 merciless Souss Arabs, with death or captivity 
 before him. 
 
 The Arabs gave very little attention to him, 
 except in the way of staring at him with 
 curiosity and occasionally making feints of run 
 ning spears or knives into him. One of them 
 started to take away his clothing ; but the Moor, 
 
 79
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 who was evidently their leader, ordered the man 
 away, and he obeyed, after spitting at the un 
 happy captive, to show his contempt for all 
 Nazrani (Christians). 
 
 An hour passed. Some degree of order was 
 brought out of the chaos. Only a few of the 
 Arabs had suffered harm from their submer 
 sion. Those who had been down on the shore 
 were probably drowned, as were also two or 
 three camels. 
 
 Of a sudden, as Bob sat upon the wet sand, 
 himself drenched through, but rapidly drying 
 off in the hot rays of the sun as he sat with 
 bowed head and gloomy forebodings thinking 
 of home and friends, he heard a voice cry out 
 in good English, "What s up? What s up? 
 What a mess ! What s up ? " 
 
 The voice sounded from up in the air; and 
 one quick curious glance sufficed to tell Bob its 
 source. As he raised his head he saw a large 
 bird sailing restlessly back and forth over the 
 edge of the cliff and down among the rocks; 
 and he knew, with a leap of his heart, that it 
 
 80
 
 THE TIDAL WAVE 
 
 was the gray parrot. Yes, wise, strong-winged 
 Trump had certainly saved himself when the 
 overwhelming flood struck the schooner, and 
 now was flying restlessly about, and making his 
 own sage comments upon the situation. 
 
 Yes, it was Trump; but the sight of him 
 recalled to Bob his master. Ah, where was 
 Lankester ? And Bob grew mournful as he re 
 flected upon the probable fate of his young 
 English friend; for he had come to like the 
 honest, though misguided lad. 
 
 The parrot was flying restlessly about, as if 
 not daring to come nearer these strange human 
 beings, yet not wishing to go far away. At 
 once Bob bethought himself of Lank s shrill 
 signal to his pet; and, rising, he tried to imi 
 tate it, and succeeded fairly well. The parrot 
 narrowed his circles, and came nearer, but still 
 high in air; and Bob repeatedly heard him 
 calling, " What s up? What s up? What a 
 mess ! What a mess ! " 
 
 As the parrot came nearer, having recognized 
 the call, one of the Arabs raised his long-bar- 
 
 81
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 reled musket to shoot; and Bob sprang fear 
 lessly toward the man to stop him. Then he 
 remembered that the weapon had been soaked 
 in water and could not go off. So he waited, 
 and gave the call again and again. And, what 
 was his joy, to hear Trump, now coming closer, 
 begin to crack his whip with great vigor. So 
 Bob knew that the shrewd bird had recognized 
 him. 
 
 " Come here, Trump, old boy ! Come along ! 
 Don t be afraid ! " Thus Bob called to the par 
 rot; and the sound of the English words seemed 
 to reassure him, and he fluttered nearer and 
 nearer, and finally settled on Bob s upheld fin 
 ger, and clicked and clicked, and seemed quite 
 happy, although still restless. 
 
 82
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 TRUMP SAVES HIS MASTER 
 
 The Moors and Arabs stood by, and were 
 speechless in wonder. No Arab or Moor knows 
 what kindness to dumb animals is. The com 
 mon report of the Arab s love of his horse has 
 been encouraged by delightful stories, but the 
 plain fact is that in Morocco nearly all Moors 
 and Arabs treat the lower animals with 
 cruelty. 
 
 So that these men, who stood around Bob 
 Laurie and saw him call this wild, free creature 
 to him, and saw him talking to the bird, and 
 heard the bird talking in return, found it 
 all very mysterious; and they promptly ex 
 plained it to themselves and one another in the 
 only way in which the natives of Morocco and 
 the desert explain all wonders ; namely, by be 
 lieving that the lad had magical powers; that 
 
 83
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 the feathered creature who thus obeyed him 
 was a djinn, a spirit in disguise; and they fell 
 back a little and muttered their wonder and 
 dread. 
 
 Well, Trump, old chap, * said Bob, as he 
 smoothed the parrot s somewhat ruffled plum 
 age, " you got out of it all right, I see. A 
 little excited, that s all, and I don t wonder. 
 But where, O where, is Lank? Trump, my 
 man, where is Lank? Lank? where? " 
 
 Bob pronounced these words slowly and 
 clearly, with a faint hope that the sagacious 
 bird might get his meaning. " Where is Lank? 
 Is he alive ? Go find him ! Go find him ! " 
 
 The last he spoke as one speaks to an intel 
 ligent dog ; and Trump climbed restlessly about, 
 up and down the lad s arm and around his 
 shoulders, all the time muttering in his deep 
 voice scraps of sentences varied with the creak 
 ing of a wheel-barrow and the mewing of a cat 
 and the barking of a dog. The creature was 
 much excited; and several times he half spread 
 his wings as if to take flight. 
 
 84
 
 TRUMP SAVES HIS MASTER 
 
 Finally he did rise in the air, and fluttered 
 over Bob s head, jumbling many words to 
 gether, then flying away a few yards, and then 
 returning. 
 
 Trump," exclaimed Bob, " you want me to 
 go with you. I know you do. And if these 
 lean, savage wretches will not put a spear into 
 me, I 11 follow you. O Trump, if only you 
 could show me Lank, somewhere ! " 
 
 The lad s speech to the clever creature was 
 like that to a fellow human being; and, indeed, 
 the parrot was almost a human creature in his 
 trained intelligence. 
 
 Bob started slowly after Trump, expecting 
 each minute to hear a command to halt, or to 
 feel a spear between his ribs ; but he was deter 
 mined to risk it; there was a fair chance that 
 Lank, with the buoyant can fastened to him, 
 might have escaped, when all the others had 
 perished. 
 
 The Arabs and the Moors made no opposi 
 tion whatever. They were all astonished and 
 even terrified ; their eyes were fixed on Bob and 
 
 85
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 his obedient djinn; and, at that moment, if the 
 lad had understood their harsh Arabic tongue, 
 he could have done anything he wished with 
 them; so saturated with superstition and the 
 dread of djinni (evil spirits) are these ignorant 
 Mohammedan tribes. 
 
 So Bob followed; and Trump now cracked 
 his whip vigorously, which was always a sign 
 of joy on his part ; and he led the way along the 
 cliff, a distance of fifty yards, and then fluttered 
 over the edge and down the steep, rocky side. 
 
 The wondering natives had gathered into a 
 crowd, keeping well together, instinctively, be 
 cause all of them were fearful of what harm 
 might come to them; and they now followed 
 Bob, and kept up an excited jabbering among 
 themselves. 
 
 " So it s down there, is it?" inquired the 
 anxious American lad, still talking to the parrot 
 as to a human being. "Down there, is it, 
 where you want me to go? J: 
 
 And down he clambered, yard by yard and 
 foot by foot, in considerable peril of his life, or 
 
 86
 
 TRUMP SAVES HIS MASTER 
 
 of a fall which would bring him broken bones. 
 Down he went, about twenty-five feet. And 
 he called again and again, " Lank ! Lank ! Are 
 you there ? " 
 
 Now he came to a shelving piece of ledge, 
 which jutted out from the face of the cliff; 
 and he could not climb down beyond it, because 
 the cliff hollowed in under it ; so he crept along 
 its edge a few yards, still calling "Lank! 
 Lank! " when he thought he heard a groan. 
 
 He called again, and listened. Trump had 
 disappeared; then he heard that strange crea 
 ture saying, " Come in ! Come in ! Don t knock ! 
 Come right in! " And immediately afterward 
 Bob heard a human voice feebly crying out. 
 
 The lad at once summoned all his strength 
 and courage, and let himself down over the 
 end of the ledge, while the crowd of Moors 
 and Arabs, wondering and muttering, stared 
 down from above. 
 
 Clinging with his fingers, and digging in his 
 toes, he pursued his perilous way; and a few 
 seconds sufficed to bring him to another ledge 
 
 87
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 below the first one; this ledge ran back and 
 opened up a shallow cave some ten feet deep; 
 and when Bob cast his eager glance into it he 
 cried in joy and grief, " O Lank, I ve found 
 you! " For there lay Lankester Diggles, help 
 less, bleeding, unconscious; and Trump was 
 walking nervously around him and over him, 
 and saying, " Get up ! Get up ! It s morning. 
 Time to get up ! " 
 
 Alarmed as Bob was, he could not repress a 
 smile at the queer figure cut by Trump, with 
 his restless promenade, and his remarks, half- 
 correct in their application. But he at once 
 knelt down beside the unconscious Lank, and 
 untied the kerosene can, letting it clatter down 
 the cliff, somewhat to the dismay of the fidgety 
 Arabs above, who at first thought it was some 
 evil device of the weird bird. 
 
 Then Bob tried his friend s pulse and found 
 it beating strongly; next, he tried arms and 
 legs, and they seemed uninjured; there was, 
 however, a scalp wound on the side of the 
 head, just above the left temple; and this was 
 
 88
 
 TRUMP SAVES HIS MASTER 
 
 probably the cause of Lank s unconscious 
 condition. 
 
 Bob saw what had probably happened. The 
 English lad had not got as near the crest of 
 the gigantic wave as he had, and had been 
 dashed against the cliff, being rolled in under 
 this ledge and held there. Thus the blow on 
 his head had come to him. The pressing ques 
 tion now was whether or not it was fatal. 
 
 Bob deliberated a few moments, then stepped 
 outside and beckoned to the natives ; they might 
 choose to come down and they might not. In 
 point of fact they did come, eagerly, yet cau 
 tiously ; and, with their lean, wiry bodies, brown 
 and scarred, and muscles hard as iron, they came 
 like trained athletes ; and a half dozen were soon 
 clinging around and below the narrow ledge. 
 
 Bob motioned for them to take the uncon 
 scious lad and carry him up to the level ground 
 on top of the cliff; they seemed half ready to 
 do this, yet strangely reluctant ; and they shook 
 their shaggy heads and scowled and hesitated ; 
 and finally one of them pointed at Trump, who 
 
 89
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 was still walking all over his beloved master 
 and making his uncanny remarks. 
 
 Then Bob understood. He had guessed at 
 it before, and now he felt sure; they were in 
 mortal dread of the djinn, Trump, the gray 
 parrot. " If that s all," remarked the Ameri 
 can lad; " we can fix it easily." And he took 
 Trump on his hand, then on his shoulder, and 
 started out and up the cliff. 
 
 This proceeding was quite beyond Trump s 
 grasp of intellect. He began chattering a lot 
 of sounds, and then emitted, "What s up? 
 What s up, I say ? " But he stuck fast on Bob s 
 shoulder, and the lad bore him to a point a 
 few feet above the upper ledge. At that point, 
 as Bob seated himself, Trump started to fly 
 back under the ledge ; but, on Bob s calling him, 
 he returned to the lad s shoulder, yet kept up 
 an inarticulate protest. 
 
 The Arabs now took up Lank and brought 
 him out, passing him along with ease, so strong 
 were they ; and when Trump saw them come up 
 toward him, with his master borne along, he 
 
 90
 
 TRUMP SAVES HIS MASTER 
 
 flew up into the air, and to the top of the cliff, 
 and cracked whips like a driver of a London 
 bus. 
 
 Thus Lankester Diggles was rescued by 
 Trump and Bob, to say nothing of the assisting 
 but awe-stricken and trembling Arabs. 
 
 Bob Laurie fully understood, now, the ex 
 tent and limitations of his freedom, and the 
 cause of it. As he kneeled down beside his un 
 conscious friend, to examine him more care 
 fully, the Moors and Arabs stood or sat in a 
 circle ten yards away, restless, ancl as if pre 
 pared to scatter and flee at the least sign of the 
 d jinn s advance upon them, yet scowling sav 
 agely at Bob whenever he looked toward them. 
 
 He found Lank breathing naturally: but 
 little water had entered his lungs; the blow on 
 his head had causeci the trouble; and as the 
 American lad wiped his friend s face, and 
 bound a handkerchief around his head, and 
 talked in a low soothing tone to him, the injured 
 lad opened his eyes, smiled faintly, and spoke. 
 " Good American ! Good American ! "
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " O, I m so glad," burst out poor anxious 
 Bob. " It s worth a million dollars to hear 
 your voice, Lank. How do you feel ? " 
 
 :( Better," replied Lank, and drew a long 
 breath; then he opened his eyes and laid hold 
 of Bob s hand. " Where are we? " 
 
 The question recalled Bob to a sense of their 
 
 desperate circumstances, and he shook his head 
 
 at Lank. " Never you mind," he answered. 
 
 You just hurry up and feel better and better, 
 
 as fast as you can! " 
 
 Yes I will," was Lank s feeble re 
 sponse. Then his face grew anxious, and he 
 half sat up, " Where is Trump? " he inquired- 
 
 " Come here, old chap ! " directed Bob, put 
 ting out his finger to Trump, who had been 
 gravely striding up and down, near by, like a 
 policeman on duty. 
 
 When Lankester got his pet on his hand 
 again, tears stood in the honest fellow s eyes; 
 and, as for Trump, that remarkable bird 
 chuckled, and clicked, and cracked no end of 
 whips, at which several Arabs sprang up 
 
 92
 
 TRUMP SAVES HIS MASTER 
 
 and fled, and prattled off into scraps of the 
 French and German languages, which he had 
 learned at Oxford. 
 
 The hours passed; the warm sun was good 
 for the injured and water-soaked English lad. 
 Most of the savage natives went down to the 
 beach to gather what they could from the 
 wreck, which lay half out of water on a jagged 
 reef. 
 
 Night came on, and the two lads stretched 
 themselves on the sand in the open and slept, 
 Trump nestling beside his master, and at times 
 softly talking over to himself the exciting 
 events of the day. 
 
 The Arabs were awake and busy early in the 
 morning. They knew about the arms and am 
 munition on the schooner, but could not reach 
 her by reason of the high surf. Trump found 
 himself hungry, and went off foraging for 
 food; he discovered limpets on the rocks among 
 the sea-weed, and easily crushed their shells 
 with his strong beak, and made a good break 
 fast. Later he flew out to the wreck, and 
 
 93
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 seemed to be examining it skillfully. " He s 
 trying to decide," remarked Lankester with a 
 smile, " whether it 11 be worth while to raise 
 the craft again. O, he s a wonder, that bird." 
 
 Although his head was sore, the English lad 
 felt well otherwise, and, while the parrot was 
 off on his little expeditions, the Moors and 
 Arabs came close to them, and one or two of 
 the more cruel ones threatened them with knife 
 or spear; but these rash fellows were checked 
 by others, who could not forget the djinn and 
 his obedience to those two Nazrani (Chris 
 tians). 
 
 The Moors and Arabs got into disputes over 
 the various articles which washed ashore from 
 the schooner; and, late in that afternoon, an 
 other Moor, with several Arabs, appeared, and 
 seemed to be the person of greatest authority 
 in all the company. This man, coming near the 
 lads, said, "Tangier; Tangier;" and pointed 
 toward himself. By which Bob understood 
 that the man had at some time been in that 
 town on the strait of Gibraltar. 
 
 94
 
 TRUMP SAVES HIS MASTER 
 
 Both the lads tried to make the man under 
 stand that if he would take them to Tangier 
 they could get money for him, as their ransom. 
 And he nodded and nodded, but his eyes were 
 not sincere, and his whole face was brutal and 
 cruel. 
 
 95
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 CAPTIVES IN THE DESERT 
 
 Bob Laurie sat upon the loose, dark-red sand 
 of the desert, and said to himself that he was 
 in the worst situation of his whole life. He took 
 up some of the red sand on his palm and let it 
 trickle like water (so fine and mobile it was) be 
 tween his fingers and back to the ground. His 
 action was largely mechanical; his mind was 
 absorbed in gloomy memories of home, and in 
 plans for an escape from his unhappy condition. 
 The Souss Arabs, with their long, bushy beards 
 and long, tangled hair, and naked save for a loin 
 cloth, were greedily busy gathering what frag 
 ments they could from the wreck of the Saucy 
 Kate. The Moors, with their jellebeeahs, or 
 gowns, and their turbans, and their more re 
 served and dignified manners, kept somewhat 
 by themselves, and seemed to be discussing the 
 
 96
 
 CAPTIVES IN THE DESERT 
 
 white lads who had so strangely come into 
 their country. 
 
 Lankester Diggles, now quite recovered from 
 his half-drowned state, was walking restlessly 
 about; and he went, from time to time, to the 
 brow of the cliff and scanned the shore and the 
 wreck. " Lank," asked Bob, "where is Trump? 
 I have n t seen him since yesterday." 
 
 " Exactly," was the English lad s mournful 
 reply. " No more have I. Something must 
 have happened to that bird." 
 
 Bob roused himself now from his gloomy, 
 dreamy state. " Perhaps he has gone off, Lank, 
 to look after himself. Precious little are we 
 able to do for him." 
 
 But Lank shook his head, confidently. " I 
 know Trump better than that," he declared. 
 " He would n t leave me. Depend upon it, 
 something has happened to him." 
 
 The boys gave a forlorn glance around the 
 sky as if they hoped they might discover the 
 parrot somewhere ; but in vain ; no sign of him ; 
 indeed, no sign of bird life or animal life in all 
 
 97
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 the wide expanse of glaring sky and desert 
 waste, except the human figures and their four- 
 footed animals. Hardly a scrap of vegetation 
 was visible. Near the boys lay one or two dead 
 locusts, brown and red like the sand, and nearly 
 two inches long. Bob picked up one, idly, and 
 the creature crumbled in his fingers like ashes ; 
 it had lain there dead for months; dry and 
 dead like the desert it was, and a fitting symbol 
 of the boys hopes. 
 
 " Well, Lank," remarked Bob, bitterly, after 
 a sad silence, " what do you think now of the 
 King of the Sahara and his plan of a sea- 
 canal?" 
 
 Lank reflected a few moments, and then re 
 sponded. " Well, I admit that the whole busi 
 ness has gone under, now; but accidents will 
 happen; that tidal wave smashed everything; 
 if that had n t come along we had a good 
 chance, I still believe. Timbuctoo is a big in 
 land city, lying somewhere over there, I judge." 
 And he extended his arm toward the southeast. 
 " It does a great caravan business with the sea- 
 
 98
 
 CAPTIVES IN THE DESERT 
 
 ports and Europe; if only a canal could have 
 been cut but there ! It s no use to cry over 
 spilt milk." 
 
 Bob smiled, despite his melancholy. " How 
 far away do you suppose Timbuctoo is, any 
 way?" 
 
 Lank reflected a little and answered, " O, 
 perhaps perhaps fifty miles." 
 
 "Fifty fiddlesticks!" blurted out Bob. 
 " Why, it s five hundred if it s a mile; and a 
 canal as long as that would be impossible." 
 
 " But you forget," persisted Lankester Dig- 
 gles, who was a tenacious lad. " The canal 
 needed to be dug only a short distance; the 
 entire level of the Sahara and of Timbuctoo is 
 much below the level of the Atlantic Ocean; 
 there is a deep bay somewhere along this coast; 
 and, starting in there, if the canal could be cut 
 through a few miles, the ocean would flow in 
 and make a great inland sea." 
 
 This idea seemed quite a comfort to Lan 
 kester ; but Bob pricked the bubble of his dream 
 by saying, with a smile : " A fine inland sea 
 
 99
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 you would have; you would submerge Timbuc- 
 too, and bury the whole scheme a hundred fath 
 oms under the water. But we are fools to talk 
 about it." Here he gave a sigh. " The thing 
 is, now, how can we get back to England and 
 America, alive ? " 
 
 Just so," echoed his companion, dejectedly; 
 and, coming back to realities, " how can we? " 
 
 At this point an incident occurred w r hich drew 
 the boys attention, for a time, away from their 
 gloomy thoughts. They saw several Arabs 
 gather in a circle, a half hundred yards away, 
 and in the center of the circle stood two men; 
 one was an Arab and the other was a Moor. 
 
 The boys had a fair share of curiosity in 
 their natures, and when Lank, rising and look 
 ing, suggested " Let s go over and see what s 
 up," Bob was not unwilling to join him. 
 
 They went nearer, not dismayed by the 
 scowling looks which several savage fellows 
 cast upon them, ancl they saw that the Arab 
 had been wounded on the shoulder, doubtless 
 during one of the fierce wrangles which had 
 
 100
 
 CAPTIVES IN THE DESERT 
 
 taken place over the prisoners and the wreck 
 age; and the Moor seemed to be a sort of 
 medicine-man, and was to treat him, as a 
 patient. 
 
 The Arab, a young, lean, scarred fellow, stood 
 before the Moor, raised his hands high in air, 
 and seemed to be repeating phrases of some 
 charm or incantation, which the Moorish medi 
 cine-man lined out to him. Next the Moor took 
 a reed, which had probably been cut in some 
 nearby cave along the shore, and split it length 
 wise with a long, curved dagger. Then he drew 
 from under his robe a little box, and took 
 therefrom some sort of thick juice, with which 
 he anointed both pieces of the reed. Next, the 
 Arab who seemed and probably was more 
 nervous and timid than he would have been 
 if facing an armed enemy was given the 
 split pieces to hold horizontally, about an inch 
 or two apart. Along between these pieces the 
 medicine-man now passed the dagger blade, 
 sometimes slowly, sometimes rapidly, muttering 
 mysterious words as he did so. He kept this 
 
 101
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 up nearly five minutes ; and the monotony of it 
 seemed to produce a kind of fascination, a 
 hypnotic influence, on all the spectators, and 
 doubtless on the patient. 
 
 Then the medicine-man gave vent to a loud 
 yell ; and everybody half sprang up, startled by 
 this sudden change from quiet and the drowsy 
 effect of the dagger-movement. 
 
 At once the Moor seized the two pieces of 
 reed, cut them into small pieces, struck them 
 lightly upon the wounded shoulder, and gave 
 them to his patient ; and he, carrying them care 
 fully at arm s length before him as if they had 
 been poisonous snakes, bore them away a dozen 
 paces and buried them in the sand, stamping 
 on the spot, afterward, and again lifting his 
 hands high in air. 
 
 This was the end; and all the men, Moors 
 and Arabs, arose quickly, as if uneasy, and 
 glad to get away from the scene of the incan 
 tation. 
 
 " Well," remarked Bob, with a chuckle, " I 
 hope that chap will heal up all right. I wonder 
 
 1 02
 
 CAPTIVES IN THE DESERT 
 
 how much of a doctor s bill he will have to pay. 
 A good big one, I 11 warrant. They say that 
 these magic-working fellows get a lot out of 
 the ignorance and superstition of their victims. 
 I suppose if we could have understood that 
 long rigmarole of his, we would have heard 
 a lot about djinni and such things ; Morocco is 
 full of that sort of stuff. But we must brace 
 up, Lank; see those fellows over there? They 
 have been looking at us and probably talking 
 about us ; and now they have started this way. 
 Keep a stiff upper lip, Lank, and we may pull 
 through, yet; but just how I don t quite see." 
 
 103
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 The man who was evidently the leader of 
 the Moors, and of the whole company, in fact, 
 Arabs and all, wore a jellebeeah of creamy 
 white, with gold bands woven into it; and on 
 his head was a white turban with a bright green 
 fold intertwined. This green turban was a 
 sign that he had made the pilgrimage to the holy 
 Moslem city, Mecca, and he therefore was given 
 higher honor than ordinary men. 
 
 The man advanced to the uneasy lads and 
 said, pointing to himself, " Shereef Hassan. 
 Shereef Hassan." 
 
 Bob at once grasped this easy idea ; he knew 
 that the Arabic word " Shereef " was a title 
 of honor, partly political and partly religious, 
 and was about equal to the British title Sir. 
 So he nodded, and tried to smile, and pointed 
 to himself, saying " Laurie." Then he pointed 
 
 104
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 toward Lank and said " Biggies." Whereat 
 the Shereef smiled in a plausible fashion, and 
 repeated these words after him. Then, narrow 
 ing his eyes in a keen and cunning way, he said 
 something to Bob, and repeated his words. 
 
 Bob tried hard to get hold of the man s mean 
 ing, but in vain. " What does he say, Lank? " 
 he asked. " Can you get hold of it ? I can t." 
 
 " Sounds like a question of some sort," ven 
 tured Lank, knitting his brows. " But it beats 
 me. I can t make head or tail of it." 
 
 The Shereef glanced quickly from one to the 
 other of the lads, as if he hoped they would 
 get his meaning. Then he frowned, and mut 
 tered some sort of malediction about Allah; 
 but the next moment his face brightened, and 
 he turned and addressed a few words to the 
 Moor who stood near him; and the two went 
 away together over to the hillock where their 
 camels were tethered. There they unpacked a 
 large bundle, searched through it, and came 
 rapidly back, the Shereef bearing a small book 
 or pamphlet in his hands. 
 
 105
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 He held this up before Bob s eyes, with a 
 smile of satisfaction ; and the American lad at 
 once saw that the paper-covered and much- 
 thumbed book was a phrase-book in English, 
 Spanish, and Arabic, such as every tourist in 
 Tangier sees in the shops ; the same words and 
 phrases were given in all three languages, and 
 the Arabic had a phonetic key ; because printed 
 Arabic is utterly unintelligible, in sound as well 
 as sense, to a European. In fact it looks, as 
 Lank staring over Bob s shoulder remarked, 
 " Like a lot of angle-worms cut up and strewed 
 around." 
 
 But with this phrase-book Bob and the Sher- 
 eef made great progress. Bob s first achieve 
 ment was in reading aloud, as a salutation, the 
 words " Essalam-aleikoum ! " (Peace be with 
 you!) And the Shereef s face brightened, and 
 he poured out a volume of Arabic which meant 
 no more to the boys than a heavy shower of 
 rain. 
 
 But, having made a start, Bob worked along 
 into a clumsy sort of conversation; and the 
 
 1 06
 
 " You shall swear allegiance to me here and now, 
 
 or " 
 
 See page jy
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 Shereef s purpose became clearer. He said that 
 the boys were the property of Sheikh Sidi Ab 
 dul, a powerful Souss Arab who seemed to 
 be a leader among his people. But the Shereef 
 could buy the captives and take them to Mar- 
 rakesh (Morocco City) if he felt sure of being 
 well repaid with ransom money. " Do you 
 know anybody in Marrakesh," he asked, with 
 a shrewd piercing glance, " who will ransom 
 you if I take you there? " 
 
 Bob was a bit staggered by this direct ques 
 tion ; but he felt that this was a situation which 
 opened out either into life or death; death if 
 he was carried away into the Sahara desert by 
 Sheikh Sidi Abdul, and life if he could get up 
 north to some city or town where dwelt Euro 
 peans. So he answered as steadily as he could, 
 " Yes, I know somebody in Marrakesh. I have 
 a friend there." 
 
 Then came the quick, keen inquiry, " What is 
 your friend s name? " And for a moment Bob 
 was nonplussed. 
 
 Yet on the instant the idea came to him, and 
 107
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 he replied, boldly, " Consul is my friend s name. 
 Consul." And this was at least half-true; for 
 any British or American Consul, if reached, 
 would undoubtedly ransom them, and receive 
 reimbursement from the home-government. 
 
 Shereef Hassan fell into a deep mood of re 
 flection, and went away, conversing with the 
 other Moors. " They are taking account of 
 us, like so much stock," commented Bob, ner 
 vously. : Heaven grant that they may dare to 
 invest in us." 
 
 " I think they will," rejoined Lankester, hope 
 fully. " Anyway, I d be dead already, if it 
 had n t been for you, Laurie, and - 
 
 " Make it Bob, interrupted our young 
 friend. :( Bob it is out in this horrible country, 
 and w r e the only two decent people in sight ; " 
 and he smiled, and then felt more like 
 crying. 
 
 " Well then, Bob, as you say so ; but I owe 
 my life to you, and if ever - 
 
 " There! There! " broke in Bob, generously; 
 " not to me, rather to Trump. And, by the 
 
 1 08
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 way, where can that remarkable bird be? 
 Something must have happened to him." 
 
 A turn in affairs now drove their personal 
 matters from the boys minds. Sidi Abdul came 
 striding up to them, followed by several persons, 
 two of whom were women, partly veiled, 
 who were presumably members of his fam 
 ily. In a harsh guttural tone he ordered the 
 bovs to follow him; and one of the women, 
 
 tf 
 
 grinning in a malicious fashion, gave each 
 of the lads a hard blow over the back with a 
 stick. 
 
 " Mum s the word," suggested Bob, as Lank 
 emitted some angry retort. " Our best chance 
 is in being submissive. These people don t set 
 a very high value on us, and if they get angry 
 would run us through with one of those wicked 
 looking spears about as easily as they would 
 wink." 
 
 Sidi Abdul led the way, and was followed 
 inland by a dozen or more people, leading 
 camels, a donkey or two, and a few goats. The 
 loose, reddish sand was hard for the boys to 
 
 109
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 walk in; but the Arabs made little of it; and 
 the tall, gaunt camels spread their huge, sponge- 
 like feet upon it and sank a trifle into it. A 
 mile was traveled in this way, Bob and Lank 
 looking back, at times, hoping to see the Moors 
 following. " A pretty poor show for us," said 
 Bob, despondently. That Shereef concluded 
 not to invest in us, I reckon." 
 
 But worse was yet to come; as the unfor 
 tunate lads found when they reached a small 
 encampment of tents, low, black habitations, 
 propped on a dozen sticks not eight feet high, 
 where other members of the Sheikh s family 
 were awaiting him. 
 
 One of the women, a toothless, cruel-look 
 ing old hag, but the leader of the Sheikh s 
 household, now took charge of the boys ; and 
 men, women and children gathered around, and 
 laughed and jeered as she searched the boys 
 and took away all their little possessions, and 
 then took away some of their clothes. Both 
 boys were in their stocking feet, having kicked 
 off their shoes when they left the Saucy Kate. 
 
 no
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 The old woman, Taipha, took away their stock 
 ings, but gave them some rude sandals made of 
 camel s hide. At times the children stole near 
 and pinched the captives, or stuck thorns into 
 their legs and arms, until Lank, highly wrath 
 ful, bestowed on one of them a rousing kick, 
 which landed the cruel little urchin on his face 
 in the sand several feet away. 
 
 This served simply as a diversion; the older 
 people laughed, and the discomfited boy stole 
 away, and made faces at Lank from a safe 
 distance. 
 
 The Arabs ate but two meals each day, and 
 were none too generous in the portions they 
 gave to their white captives. Water was a 
 scarce article, and on the second day of their 
 march, the boys were given only about a gill 
 apiece, from a little gourd. The Arabs were 
 very strict in observing their devotions, Sheikh 
 Abdul standing apart from the whole company, 
 and acting as leader. They washed themselves 
 with the fine, dry sand as if it had been water, 
 then bowed many times to the ground, then 
 
 in
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 raised their hands toward the sky, meanwhile 
 repeating in loud tones sentences which Bob 
 thought must be sentences from the Mohamme 
 dan holy-book, the Koran. At times the word 
 Allah or Allah Akbar (God is great) could be 
 distinguished, but most of their exclamations 
 and ejaculations were wholly unintelligible. 
 
 The boys were not confined in any way ; their 
 captors seemed to have no fear of their trying 
 to escape. They were made to help about the 
 camp, when night came on, and were sent out, 
 with one or two of the boys or women, to gather 
 fuel; this fuel, in the main, consisted of dry 
 sticks and twigs and roots, and was used most 
 sparingly, a little supply being kept on hand, 
 and carried forward each day to the next camp 
 ing-place. When Bob who tried to learn 
 what he could of the language asked the at 
 tendant old woman, as they were collecting fuel, 
 where they were directing their course, she 
 grinned but gave no reply. Then he suggested 
 the word " Tangier." And she nodded and 
 broke out into hearty laughter. 
 
 112
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 " And all the time," remarked Bob, " we 
 know she is lying. Don t we, Lank? " 
 
 " Lying like Satan himself," confirmed the 
 British lad, vigorously. " I have n t watched 
 the stars and the sun for nothing all these years. 
 And I m dead sure that we are headed about 
 southeast, instead of north." 
 
 " That means Timbuctoo, instead of Tan 
 gier, I take it," was Bob s comment, quite 
 calmly, yet his calmness was that of despair. 
 For the boys were feeling the effect of their 
 harsh treatment and their scanty diet ; and even 
 if they survived the journey, only a life of 
 slavery awaited them in the mysterious me 
 tropolis of the Sahara. 
 
 The Arabs treated them with increased rigor 
 and cruelty ; it was clear that the physical infe 
 riority of the captives aroused the scorn of their 
 hardy captors; and the children were allowed 
 to torment them, about as they chose. " Are 
 you getting discouraged? " asked Bob at times 
 of Lankester Diggles; and that stout-hearted 
 Britain always replied that he had not given
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 up hope. Then they usually fell to discussing 
 what chances of escape or rescue they had. At 
 any time there was a possibility of their meeting 
 some party or caravan that would buy them, 
 out of kindness, or hope of ransom-money, in 
 some northern city; but now that the Moorish 
 Shereef Hassan had not thought well enough 
 of them as an investment to take them, there 
 was little likelihood that anybody else would 
 do so. 
 
 The hours dragged so heavily that they felt 
 as if they had been out on the open desert many 
 days; but in reality, it was only after about 
 forty hours from the coast that an agreeable 
 surprise came to them, which cheered them and 
 aroused hope anew in their drooping hearts. 
 
 It was late afternoon, that day, when the 
 captive boys, who were plodding along side by 
 side not far behind the last camel, were aroused 
 from the dull, half -asleep state into which they 
 had fallen by the sound of an English voice; 
 at least it spoke English words ; and these words 
 were, " I say; I say; what s the matter? " 
 
 114
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 The voice dropped down to them as if from 
 the sky; and both boys stopped short in their 
 tracks and stared upward. At first they could 
 see nothing, for the twilight was gathering 
 fast. Then the voice again was wafted down 
 to them out of the dusky sky. "I say; I 
 say; what s the matter? Whatever is the 
 matter?" 
 
 In an instant Bob and Lank knew what 
 had happened. Trump, the sagacious, strong- 
 winged, clear-eyed parrot, had followed and 
 found them, and was calling to them from the 
 air above. 
 
 Now, a caravan travels on the desert with 
 very little noise, unless there is scolding or 
 wrangling going on among its human members. 
 The feet of the four-footed creatures and two- 
 footed creatures alike make hardly any sound 
 on and in the yielding sand. Occasionally a 
 dog barks; but it is at night, after camping, 
 that the dogs become noisy; and a camel at 
 times grumbles with a hollow roar not unlike 
 the roar of a lion ; but, in general, a large cara-
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 van will proceed almost noiselessly, for hours, 
 across the great ocean of sand. 
 
 So that when this sentence, this greeting, 
 came floating down from above, in that deep 
 and almost human tone which the African par 
 rot, of all parrots, possesses, then there was 
 a general movement of surprise and a pause of 
 inquiry throughout the whole Arab company. 
 
 Bob was made silent by his wonder and joy 
 at the sound; but Lank roused himself, and 
 instantly called loudly: " Trump! Trump! I say, 
 old fellow, come down here! Yes, come 
 straight down! Come Trump, don t be 
 afraid ! " And so on, reaching up his arms, 
 and pouring out a steady stream of greetings, 
 as if to some human guest who doubted his 
 hospitality. 
 
 But Trump did not doubt Lankester Diggles. 
 They were friends of too long standing. And 
 as soon as his beloved master raised his voice 
 in reply, the gray fellow came into view, wheel 
 ing in great circles fifty yards over their heads, 
 and drawing nearer with each circling. " Come 
 
 116
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 down, Trump, come down!" called Lank. 
 " Never you fear! Come straight here! " And 
 the parrot now began cracking whips, at the 
 rate of two a second, and dropped and fluttered, 
 and settled upon Lank s shoulder. 
 
 It was a touching reunion; Bob stood near, 
 with eyes a bit moist, partly perhaps because 
 he was a little weak from hunger and fa 
 tigue, and watched the two friends, master 
 and pet. Lank talked softly and tenderly to 
 Trump, and tried to caress him and scratch his 
 big, wise head, but Trump was so excited that 
 he could not stand still; and he walked and 
 climbed all over Lank s shoulders and head, 
 uttering many broken phrases in many lan 
 guages, at times leaving these off to crack 
 whips once more. 
 
 Bob and Lank exchanged remarks and 
 guesses about Trump s unexpected appearance ; 
 how had he found them? Why had he been 
 absent when they left the shore? 
 
 The conclusion which they reached was that 
 
 the active bird had gone on board the wreck 
 
 117
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 of the Saucy Kate, where everything was fa 
 miliar to him, and had entered the cabin or 
 the hold, and had been shut in by the swinging 
 of some door, as the wreck swayed upon the 
 rocks amid the breakers. 
 
 At any rate he had somehow got free, and 
 had found his master again, after perhaps 
 many miles of wide-circling search. And the 
 effect of his arrival on the savage but super 
 stitious Souss Arabs was much what Bob had 
 anticipated. They looked upon him as a spirit ; 
 probably an evil spirit; for practically all the 
 spirits, djinns or djinni, believed in by Moors 
 and Arabs, are evil ones. 
 
 The boys captors now kept a fair distance 
 away from them, and did not longer beat them, 
 although they still demanded their aid in the 
 various tasks of the camp and the journey ; and 
 wonder and fear showed itself plainly on all 
 faces whenever Trump, in flying about, came 
 anyw r here near them. 
 
 Another proof of the sagacious parrot s in 
 telligence and learning was shown in this way. 
 
 118
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 As he heard the Arabs calling to one another 
 in their native tongue, he listened attentively; 
 and soon he began to repeat softly, as par 
 rots will, in an experimental way some of 
 the words which he heard. It was therefore 
 not surprising to Bob and Lank when they 
 heard him say, " Bismillah," which means, " In 
 the name of Allah," and is used frequently by 
 Moslems; also when he pronounced the word 
 " Mektoub," which means, " It is written, it is 
 all settled, you cannot change what is fated to 
 be." But when he one day began to count 
 rapidly in Arabic, " Wahhed, etnen, telatah, 
 arbah," etc. (One, two, three, four, etc.), then 
 Bob saw that the remarkable creature was 
 drawing on some previous knowledge; he had 
 doubtless been taught a little Arabic, together 
 with phrases of other languages, in those Ox 
 ford days. O, Trump was a wise and won 
 derful creature! 
 
 In the middle of their third forenoon from 
 the seacoast, Sheikh Abdul, who rode one of 
 
 the swifter camels (a hegin, not a ghemel, 
 
 119
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 which is a camel for transportation of goods), 
 pushed his animal off toward one side, and 
 cantered to the top of a hillock of stony ground, 
 whence he could look a long distance off over 
 the billowy sands ; then he sat and peered from 
 under his raised palm at some remote object 
 or objects. 
 
 After a few moments of this sort of scru 
 tiny he hurried back to the caravan, and gave 
 some orders sharply. At once advance was 
 stayed, and everybody, except Bob and Lank, 
 knew just what to do (whether or not Trump 
 knew 7 cannot be affirmed ; that wise bird knew so 
 many things that he may have included these 
 matters). 
 
 The women and children were gathered into 
 a circle with the donkeys and sheep and goats. 
 Around them in a larger circle the camels, 
 twenty or more, were marshalled, and were 
 made to kneel with their sides toward the outer 
 and inner surface of the circle ; thus their bodies 
 would serve the greatest possible amount of 
 protection ; for, as Bob and Lank now saw, the 
 
 120
 
 ADVANCE AND ATTACK 
 
 Sheikh feared an attack ; and in a few minutes 
 the enemy appeared fully fifty Touaregs 
 (fierce fellows of the Berber race from the 
 central regions of the Sahara, who veil their 
 faces below the eyes). 
 
 These fifty Touaregs, on camels, came riding 
 rapidly up, shouting and brandishing guns and 
 spears, as their way is, to terrify their foes. 
 
 Sidi Abdul s men, about twelve in all, old 
 and young, had unslung their guns and taken 
 ofT their woolen gun-cases, which they now 
 wound about their heads. Silently, and directed 
 by their veteran Sheikh, they took their places 
 inside of, and close to, the line of camels. 
 There they waited. 
 
 Near the center of the protecting circle of 
 camels, with the women and children and the 
 flocks, crouched our two young friends, where 
 they had been ordered to put themselves. 
 What do you think of the look of things? " 
 asked Bob of Lank, who held Trump on his 
 hancl. 
 
 " A little dark, the prospect seems to me," 
 121
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 responded Lank; "though not by any means 
 wholly black. But I say, Bob, what fierce-look 
 ing fellows those Touaregs are! Is that their 
 name, * Touaregs ? " 
 
 " Yes, I ve read about them, and seen pic 
 tures of them. They attack almost anything 
 that comes in their way. If they do attack, and 
 capture us, well, that s the end, or worse." 
 
 122
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE MARAUDERS BEATEN OFF 
 
 The hardy old Sheikh, Sidi Abdul, was pre 
 senting a determined front to his fierce foes. 
 The Touaregs outnumbered the Souss greatly, 
 and could conquer and slaughter them if they 
 really set about it; but this would certainly in 
 volve the death of at least a half dozen, and 
 perhaps more, of their own number; and they 
 evidently were doubtful of the wisdom of such 
 a sacrifice. 
 
 At this point Sheikh Abdul, happening to 
 notice his two white captives, gave an order to 
 one of his women; and she quickly unearthed 
 two spare flintlock muskets from the luggage 
 and came and put them into the boys hands. 
 Then the Sheikh beckoned to them and called 
 loudly, "Talari hennah! Talah hennah!" 
 ( Come here ! Come here ! ) 
 
 Bob was beginning to get hold of the harsh, 
 123
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 gutteral Arabic language, and already knew 
 what these words meant. Even if he had not 
 known, the gestures of the Sheikh were suf 
 ficient. By Jupiter, Lank," he exclaimed, 
 " they want us on the firing line ; think we d 
 better go?" 
 
 " I m ready," assented Lank. " I wonder if 
 a bullet could do much harm after it had cut 
 through one of those camels." 
 
 " I m afraid it could," was Bob s prompt 
 reply. " But we 11 get a bullet straight from 
 that savage old Sheikh s gun if we don t obey. 
 So here goes. How will Trump enjoy it ? " 
 
 (< Not very much, I fancy. But I have him 
 tied with a bit of string; he might get nervous 
 and fly about, and then one of those evil-look 
 ing Touaregs very likely would bring him 
 down." 
 
 So the two lads, nervous, but deeply inter 
 ested and anxious, plodded across through the 
 sand and took up positions as directed. The 
 Souss Arabs, the defenders, were silent and 
 watchful and determined, whereas the Toua- 
 
 124
 
 THE MARAUDERS BEATEN OFF 
 
 regs were restless and insulting; and they 
 cantered about on their swift camels, circling 
 entirely about the besieged caravan, looking 
 for some weak point in the defense. 
 
 Five or ten minutes passed. Insulting, chal 
 lenging epithets were hurled at the Arabs by 
 the Touaregs, but did not provoke much reply. 
 Then the wicked-looking fellows, peering out 
 over the upper edges of their face-cloths, with 
 drew a hundred yards, and clustered together 
 in silence ; next, one of their number their 
 chief, probably advanced alone on his camel, 
 and spoke. He was trying, apparently, to con 
 vince Sheikh Abdul on some point; very likely 
 claiming that the Sheikh had in his possession 
 some property camels or goats, or even 
 women which belonged to the Touaregs. 
 This is usually the lame pretense made by the 
 savage, marauding bands of Morocco and the 
 Sahara, when they plunder and slaughter a 
 weaker band. 
 
 But the wily Sheikh only shook his head, and 
 replied with calmness yet firmness. 
 
 125
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Gradually the Touareg chief worked him 
 self up into a rage, and Sheikh Abdul stepped 
 outside the line of camels and advanced slowly 
 toward him; both men held their guns across 
 their arms, and in a second could have aimed 
 and fired. Bob and Lank watched proceedings 
 with absorbed interest. They forgot for a time 
 their own wretched condition, and stared in 
 fascination at the two men. 
 
 Suddenly the crowd of Touaregs in the rear 
 set up a wild whooping, and broke from their 
 group-formation. This was done partly be 
 cause they did not like their leader to risk 
 himself further, and partly to disconcert the 
 Souss chief, so that their leader might get in 
 a safe shot at him. But Sheikh Abdul had not 
 passed sixty years of troublous life on the 
 lawless desert for nothing; he kept his eyes 
 fixed on the Touareg chief, and slowly stepped 
 backward and backward, softly, like a hunting- 
 leopard, his gun all the time lying in the hollow 
 of his left arm. 
 
 Bob fairly held his breath from excitement. 
 126
 
 THE MARAUDERS BEATEN OFF 
 
 Only a straw s weight of accident or incident 
 was needed to transform the scene into one of 
 wild carnage. Just before the Sheikh stepped 
 back through the " camel-line of fortifica 
 tions," as Bob called it, the daring old fellow 
 stooped slowly, keeping his eye on his enemy, 
 picked up a handful of sand, and threw it 
 into the air. That was the customary act of 
 defiance, as Bob had read. Yes, Sheikh Abdul 
 was game to the core; and our young friends 
 could not help admiring his cool pluck in the 
 face of great odds, even though they hated him 
 for his cruel conduct toward them. 
 
 The foiled Touaregs now worked off steam 
 a little by running their camels about, in vari 
 ous directions, firing their muskets in the air, 
 while standing on the camels, to show their 
 skill, but gradually drawing away into the 
 desert. 
 
 " They give it up as a bad job," remarked 
 Bob. " But it s mighty lucky for us. We have 
 about one chance in three as we are now; but 
 if those fellows had got hold of us we would n t 
 
 127
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 have had any chance at all. I suppose, Lank, 
 that we may say that we helped to stand that 
 crowd off. Don t you think so ? " 
 
 " Quite so," was the English lad s rejoinder. 
 " At least that was the old Sheikh s idea. We 
 made two more armed defenders. But have 
 you taken a close look at your weapon, 
 Bob?" 
 
 " Well, no, to tell the truth, I have n t." And 
 the lad now held up his long Moorish musket 
 and inspected it. Then he laughed. " A noble 
 weapon, that ! See ! It s an old-timer ; a 
 smooth-bore, flint-lock muzzle-loader, and there 
 is n t any hammer on it." 
 
 " No more is there a flint on mine," re 
 sponded Lank. And the boys were amused 
 for the moment, despite their deep-down anxiety 
 as to their future. 
 
 The old woman now came and took away the 
 guns. Bob pointed out their disabled condition 
 and smiled, unconsciously, hoping for a bit of 
 sympathy and good nature; but the old crone 
 she who bore the name of Taipha would 
 
 128
 
 THE MARAUDERS BEATEN OFF 
 
 not respond, but snatched away the guns, turn 
 ing looks of threatening and hate upon the 
 lads as she did so. 
 
 The close formation for defense was now 
 broken up, but the caravan did not continue 
 its march for an hour or two. The strain of 
 the attack had been too great to be thrown off 
 in a moment. Nerves were tense, and every 
 body was cross, and several slight quarrels 
 ensued. No especial favor was shown to the 
 boys after their little contribution to the 
 common defense, except that they were in 
 cluded in the tea-drinking which now took 
 place. 
 
 Tea-making and tea-drinking among the 
 Moors and Arabs is a very formal proceeding. 
 Bob watched with curiosity to see how it was 
 all done. The caravan now arranged itself 
 probably according to some family ties or 
 groupings of kinship, or perhaps of official rank 
 about various centers, each center being a 
 little fire and a boiling kettle of water. 
 
 A handful of tea usually of the kind called 
 129
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 by English people " Gunpowder tea " was 
 thrown into the empty pot or kettle, and a small 
 quantity of boiling water was poured on this; 
 the pot was then shaken, and the liquid now 
 of a dirty-green color was poured out upon 
 the ground. This is what is called " washing " 
 the tea; and is done to rinse off the poisonous 
 effects of the copper slabs upon which the tea- 
 leaves were laid when first gathered. A large 
 lump of sugar was now put into the pot, hot 
 water was poured in, and the sugar dissolved; 
 this process of dissolving sugar was repeated 
 until the water in the pot was almost like syrup ; 
 no spoon was used, but the sugar was dissolved 
 by pouring the solution out of the pot into a 
 gourd and then back in again. Finally came 
 the drinking ; and all including our young 
 friends were given a small gourd- full; each 
 of the Arabs pronounced the word " Bismil- 
 lah " (In the name of Allah) before putting the 
 beverage to his lips ; and each smacked his lips 
 loudly after drinking, as this is considered the 
 polite thing to do. A second time each person 
 
 130
 
 THE MARAUDERS BEATEN OFF 
 
 drank a cup, and a loud smacking of lips went 
 around the circle. When the supply in the 
 kettle was used up, more sugar was added to 
 the tea-leaves already there, more hot water 
 was poured in, and the drinking was continued. 
 Three cups for each person is the polite num 
 ber; if a guest stopped with less than this 
 number he would be thought very discourteous. 
 
 After the tea-drinking was over several of 
 the men produced little pouches of goat-skin, 
 and took therefrom some kief, a kind of strong 
 native tobacco, and pipes made of red clay, with 
 reed stems ; smoking is forbidden in the Koran, 
 but many Moors and Arabs break through this 
 law, openly or in secret. 
 
 After smoking for a short time the men 
 put away their pipes, and throughout the cara 
 van Bob could see them settling themselves 
 for longer or shorter periods of sleep; and he 
 was struck by their custom in this matter. 
 They did not lie down to sleep, but sat up, 
 sometimes leaning back against a bundle of 
 goods or against a kneeling camel, and clasped
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 their hands across their knees. Their bodies 
 and arms were so lean and sinewy that they 
 seemed to find this not at all constrained and 
 difficult, but nodded and dozed and slept in 
 entire comfort. 
 
 132
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 ESCAPE OR DEATH 
 
 The darkness of the night came on, but the 
 clear sky was besprinkled with stars, and the 
 darkness was not very dense. Bob Laurie and 
 Lankester Diggles lay, silent but wakeful, side 
 by side upon the soft yielding sand of the 
 desert, and pondered upon their unhappy lot. 
 Fiery as the rays of the sun had been during 
 the day, soon after sunset a chill had come into 
 the air, and they had been obliged to find some 
 covering; which they did by pulling off the 
 outer coarse, goat s-hair blanket from a pile of 
 goods, and drawing it over them. 
 
 Bob gazed awhile at the stars, finding the 
 Great Dipper, or Ursa Major, constellation; 
 and it looked just as it had always looked when 
 he had seen it, evenings, in his far-away land 
 of the United States. Never had he supposed,
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 when looking at it there, that he would ever 
 be looking at it from such strange, perilous 
 conditions as now he was in. 
 
 Presently he broke the silence. " Lank," he 
 asked, " what do you think was the matter 
 with that Khedive ? Why did n t he turn up, 
 as he agreed to ? " 
 
 Lank answered slowly; there was no need 
 of hurry; they had the whole night to talk in, 
 and reflect upon their miserable fortunes. " I 
 don t know why he failed us. I believe he 
 meant well, when he talked about it in London." 
 
 " I suppose things are in such an unsettled 
 state in this barbarous country," suggested 
 Bob, " that he may have been found out and 
 beheaded by the Sultan. These Sultans, down 
 here, don t mind chopping off the heads of 
 brothers or parents or anybody who gets in 
 their way. But I don t feel as sure as you 
 seem to that he really meant business ; perhaps 
 he did though." 
 
 " Well, it would n t have made any great 
 difference to us, to you and me," added Lank, 
 
 134
 
 ESCAPE OR DEATH 
 
 about our being here; it was that ter 
 rible tidal wave that smashed the ship and 
 drowned everybody; there was where our 
 trouble began." 
 
 " Yes, you re right," assented Bob. " That 
 smashed the whole scheme. I was wondering, 
 Lank, whether, if we could get away from these 
 wretches and could possibly make our way up 
 to Marrakesh, we would get any protection 
 from that Khedive, and whether he would help 
 us to go farther up the country to some Euro 
 pean consul, or even merchant." 
 
 " I Ve thought that over a good deal," said 
 Lank, now whispering (the boys had been 
 talking in a low tone, but an Arab near them 
 had turned toward them and hissed out some 
 threat, which probably included a curse on them 
 for making so much noise, and on their fathers 
 and mothers, and grandfathers and grand 
 mothers. Arabs and Moors have a choice col 
 lection of curses to pour out on a person s 
 ancestors). 
 
 " I ve thought upon it," repeated the Brit-
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 ish lad, " and I m not sure that the Khedive 
 would be at all glad to see us. In fact I think 
 he would rather not see us ; we would n t be 
 any gain to him, and he would fear that we 
 might let out the secret of his plotting against 
 his elder brother, the Sultan." 
 
 " Ah, I see. Of course," was Bob s com 
 ment, also in whispers. Then, after a few 
 moments silence, he continued: " But I Ve 
 made up my mind to one thing, Lank. We Ve 
 got to brace up and get away from this crowd. 
 If we stay with them we shall be dead sooner 
 than we would like ; we are losing strength each 
 day." 
 
 The lad spoke with an accent of determina 
 tion; he knew both boys knew that their 
 situation was nearly hopeless. Lank now asked, 
 - hushing Trump, who seemed inclined to take 
 part in this new kind of whispered conversa 
 tion, " How far do you think Marrakesh is 
 away from us ? : 
 
 Bob reflected, recalling maps he had seen; 
 the phrase-book which the Moorish Shereef 
 
 136
 
 ESCAPE OR DEATH 
 
 used had a sketch-map of Morocco in it. 
 " About two hundred miles, perhaps, more or 
 less ; and the direction must be nearly nearly 
 there." And Bob raised himself and stretched 
 his arm out across the sand. 
 
 Yes," confirmed the trained sailor-lad, 
 glancing up at the stars critically, and then at 
 his companion s arm. " I make that same di 
 rection about the right one. Only I don t know 
 about the distance." 
 
 " Well, I m not sure, of course ; but I can 
 judge pretty near it." 
 
 Thus the lads conversed and encouraged 
 each other, always in whispers; and after a 
 time they fell asleep. 
 
 In the morning an Arab boy, Seid, son of 
 Taipha, roused them each with a kick; he was 
 a surly, cruel fellow, this Seid, about nineteen 
 years old; but as he wore no shoes or sandals 
 his kicks did no great harm. Still, you may be 
 sure that our spirited young Europeans re 
 sented the insult; but they roused themselves 
 and sprang up. 
 
 137
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Soon Taipha, the cross old dame, beckoned 
 them, and they were set at work grinding some 
 barley; they took turns at it; Lank seated him 
 self, as ordered, beside the two circular stones, 
 each about eighteen inches across and three 
 inches thick, placed one upon the other. A 
 wooden peg fastened into the center of the 
 lower stone fitted up into a hole which ran en 
 tirely through the upper stone; on this peg, 
 as on a pivot, the upper stone could revolve, 
 when pushed around by another peg near its 
 outer edge which served as a handle ; the barley 
 was dropped into the hole in the upper stone, 
 worked its way down between the stones, and 
 was crushed and ground and pushed out as a 
 coarse, gritty flour around the crevice between 
 the two stones. 
 
 It was the old laborious method which the 
 Arabs have used for centuries, and most primi 
 tive races have used. Lank pushed and pulled 
 the upper stone around and back again with 
 ease, but when Bob s turn came he soon found 
 that the work was not easy ; and Lank kind- 
 
 138
 
 ESCAPE OR DEATH 
 
 hearted fellow soon insisted on doing a part 
 of his friend s work for him. 
 
 After the grinding came the cooking; the 
 barley flour was mixed with water, without 
 yeast or any " raising " process, and was baked 
 into flat pancakes an inch thick, which were 
 tough and not very palatable. Bob made wry 
 faces as the bits of grit from the mill-stones got 
 between his teeth; but it was a case of that 
 bread or no bread; and the lads were bent, 
 now, quite as much upon keeping up their 
 strength as upon satisfying their appetites. 
 
 Even Trump, the parrot, had his opinion of 
 this barley bread, and evolved several kinds of 
 gutteral remarks as he tried one piece and an 
 other, but seemed eager for more. The attitude 
 of the superstitious Arabs was distinctly more 
 courteous if not more kindly toward the 
 captive boys after Trump joined them. They 
 eyed the strange creature, and seemed afraid 
 every minute lest he should bring down evil 
 or misfortune upon them. 
 
 The rough arousing by malicious Seid had
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 been at early dawn; and the morning meal, 
 which consisted of pancakes, a little honey 
 mixed with bits of comb, and a bowl of sour 
 camel s milk, was soon despatched by the lads ; 
 then came the start of the caravan, and Bob 
 and Lank on this day were allowed to ride; 
 although the privilege was a doubtful one, when 
 the difficulty and hardship of it were taken 
 into account. An Arab seated himself in front 
 of the great, shaggy hump of the huge, clumsy 
 beast, bracing himself back against it by his 
 feet held against the camel s neck. Then the 
 boys were made to sit astride, each of his camel, 
 behind the hump, and were expected to keep 
 themselves from slipping off by clinging fast 
 to the long, reddish hair with which the hump 
 was covered. 
 
 " Pretty poor way to travel ! " groaned Bob, 
 after a mile or two had been gone over. But 
 Lank encouraged him as well as he could. 
 
 " You are so mighty cheerful about every 
 thing," ejaculated Bob, gritting his teeth as 
 the pain in his chafed legs seemed impossible 
 
 140
 
 ESCAPE OR DEATH 
 
 to bear. " I don t know whether it is worth 
 while to keep up the game much longer." 
 
 " O, yes it is; certainly it is," was Lank s 
 cheery rejoinder. " Something always turns 
 up. It always has in my case." 
 
 That s all very well if you can t do any 
 better," commented Bob, groaning with pain 
 as he spoke. " But my notion is that often 
 nothing does turn up ; and in that case which 
 is this case we must turn something up." 
 
 The caravan was obliged to move very slowly, 
 because there was a number of sheep and goats 
 to be kept along, and their pace in the sand 
 was not rapid. The two boys could talk across 
 to each other in English, and no one of their 
 captors the wiser ; although some of the Arabs 
 cast watchful, distrustful glances at them from 
 time to time. " Well, Lank, you think hard 
 over the subject and let me know if you see any 
 way to get out of this." Thus Bob admonished, 
 but had not much hope of success. " I had 
 some notion that we could use their supersti 
 tious fear of Trump, but I don t quite see the 
 
 141
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 way. They are frightened to death of that bird, 
 but I can t think they would let us walk off, 
 even if we threatened them with Trump s ven 
 geance. Anyhow, let s keep our eyes open." 
 
 The opportunity for making a trial at an 
 escape came sooner than the boys expected. 
 Later on that afternoon, when the camping 
 time was approaching, they were ordered out 
 with Taipha, the savage old woman, and Seid, 
 her son, to gather fuel, grasses and sticks for 
 cooking the evening meal. 
 
 The region across which the Arabs were now 
 traveling was somewhat broken by wadys, or 
 dry water-courses, and was not far south of 
 the foot-hills of the Atlas chain of mountains. 
 Along these wadys, or gulleys, grew a goodly 
 amount of vegetation ; the lentisk, with its res 
 inous fiber, and dried oleander bushes, were ex 
 cellent material for burning; and the old woman 
 and her son, cutting out one of the camels, 
 ordered our two young friends to fall back 
 and set to work at the fuel-gathering. 
 
 The youth Seid carried a stout staff, and 
 142
 
 ESCAPE OR DEATH 
 
 amused himself by poking the captive boys with 
 it, and even threatening to strike them. All 
 four set about their task; but Seid was more 
 bent upon getting work out of his subordinates 
 than upon doing any himself. The caravan 
 had now moved slowly away across the uneven 
 surface of the country, winding among hillocks 
 of yielding sand or climbing along clayey ridges 
 among loose stones. 
 
 Bob was stiff and sore from the riding on 
 the jolting camel, and picked up the sticks me 
 chanically. Presently, as he noticed the Arabs 
 and their camels and flocks outlined against 
 the eastern sky, a mile away, the idea came 
 suddenly into his brain that now was as good 
 a chance as any to have a try at escaping. 
 
 His heart gave a leap of hope as the idea 
 came to him, and then he worked over nearer 
 to Lank, and said, " Why don t we make some 
 sort of a break now, old man? We ll never 
 have a better chance." 
 
 :( Perhaps never so good a one," was Lank s 
 laconic response. 
 
 143
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Both the boys began planning some course 
 of action on the spot. " I suppose the old 
 woman has a kooinia" (a Moorish dagger), 
 suggested Bob. " Most of them do. That 
 scoundrel, Seid, has n t one, I think ; but he is 
 particularly active with that club of his." 
 
 The two lads, now eager in the hope of es 
 cape, faint as that hope was, sought to con 
 ceal their excitement, and when they talked 
 they kept busily at work, or directed each 
 other s attention toward some remote object. 
 But cross-grained Taipha and her surly son, 
 Seid, were very distrustful of this conversa 
 tion between the boys, in an unknown language, 
 and they scolded and threatened, but did not 
 go beyond words in their abuse. In fact, they 
 were restrained greatly by the presence of the 
 uncanny bird, the dj inn, as they deemed it, who 
 hovered about his master and seemed to talk 
 with him in a mysterious way. 
 
 " There is just one thing to do," Bob said, 
 after a few minutes. ; We can t get away by 
 running; they both can beat us all out at that. 
 
 144
 
 ESCAPE OR DEATH 
 
 We must each of us take one of them and over 
 power him or her ; now which shall we take ? " 
 
 Lankester Diggles kept his eyes on the 
 ground, upon the sticks which they had gathered 
 into little bundles, as directed, and bound up with 
 withes of the green cistus, a plant shrub; he 
 now suggested : " I think I will take care of the 
 old woman. I am a bit larger and older and 
 stronger than you, and she is the stronger and 
 much quicker than her son; and besides she 
 carries that sharp curved koomia; one blow 
 with that and we re done for." 
 
 " All right," responded Bob. " Seid is a trifle 
 larger than I am, but I did n t do quarter-back 
 work for nothing on our school-team. If I can 
 get an even hold with him on that club, I think 
 I can put up a stiff game. Then, there is the 
 camel ; I ve watched those hobbles put on and 
 taken off the camels so often that I am sure I 
 can manage this one. But, Lank, we must 
 face one hard fact." 
 
 " Yes, go ahead ; what is it? " 
 
 " We may be able to get the better of these
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 savage creatures without seriously injuring 
 them; but if if worst comes to worst, 
 Lank " 
 
 " Well, I ve thought of all that. And I ve 
 settled it in my own mind. If it comes to 
 a choice between their lives and mine, or 
 yours, Bob, well, I know what will happen. 
 They would n t hesitate long on their side of 
 that problem." 
 
 Bob shuddered a little at the impending pos 
 sibility of taking human life; but he shut his 
 teeth strongly as he reflected on his desperate 
 situation. " Self-preservation is the first law of 
 nature," he quoted, remembering that he had 
 once seen that sentence on an advertisement in 
 Boston. And he simply said, " Without blood 
 shed, if possible, Lank ; but but we must try 
 to save our own lives." Then he began work 
 ing over toward Seid, who was idly tossing up 
 and catching some pebbles Arab boys play 
 at " Jack-stones " a great deal. 
 
 Bob was anxious to know exactly what plan 
 Lank would follow; but he could not safely 
 
 146
 
 ESCAPE OR DEATH 
 
 give that individual any open attention, for 
 such action on his part would be noticed by 
 their watchful guards. No, he must trust to 
 Lank s good British pluck and sound sense, and 
 see to it that his own part was carried out. He 
 realized that if either he or Lank proved un 
 successful in his attack, and was killed or ren 
 dered helpless, that would set free one antag 
 onist to go to the support of the other; and 
 against such odds neither he nor Lank could 
 expect to win. 
 
 Bob picked up and bound his fagots, moving, 
 nearer and nearer unsuspecting Seid, who 
 yawned and hummed and occasionally threw 
 out a threat or a complicated curse toward our 
 young friend. Bob did not move in a straight 
 line, but zigzagged nearer and nearer, keeping 
 himself turned sidewise, in a careless fashion, 
 toward the young Arab, but noting, under his 
 eyelids, every movement that he made. 
 
 Bob was terribly anxious about Lank and 
 his attack; for if it came before he himself 
 was close up to Seid, then he must make a dash
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 and take chances. Still, he had the conviction 
 that Lank would give him the first show, and 
 was waiting for him to begin. 
 
 Just as Bob was about to close with his enemy 
 who had laid his club down upon the sand 
 beside him the camel, fifty yards away, gave 
 a great roar, which made Bob start violently, 
 so tense were his nerves under this trying 
 ordeal. 
 
 But the great, gaunt creature was only heav 
 ing a huge sigh of regret at being separated 
 from his companions, and soon resumed his 
 feeding upon the twigs of gum-cistus, tearing 
 off and devouring sticks as thick as a man s 
 little finger. 
 
 At last the moment for the daring attempt 
 had come. Bob was within ten feet of the 
 Arab lad, who now seemed to suspect some 
 thing; for he motioned the lad away, yet, luckily, 
 without laying hold of his club. Bob noted his 
 uneasiness, and drew a long breath. Now or 
 never it must be; the moment for the struggle 
 had come. 
 
 148
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A DOUBLE DUEL 
 
 When once Bob Laurie felt sure that the one 
 thing for him to do was to leap at that nearly 
 naked, swarthy youth, idly tossing the pebbles 
 on the palm and back of his hand, then all his 
 hesitation left him. His heart beat strangely 
 and his muscles tightened, and from his eyes 
 darted gleams of fierce determination. Drop 
 ping the bundle of sticks which he held, he 
 sprang at the young Arab, and before that care 
 less scoundrel knew what had happened Bob 
 had a grip on his shoulders and bore him to 
 the ground; but the very force and fury of 
 the American lad s attack carried him heels over 
 head beyond the Arab; and both of them lay 
 for a moment in a shapeless grapple ; but Seid 
 roused from his stupor of surprise and realized 
 that the patient, passive captive lad had at last 
 
 149
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 turned into a fierce foe. And the two, now 
 head to head upon the ground, wound their 
 arms around each other, each trying to climb 
 upon the other and resisting that same plan 
 of attack upon himself. 
 
 Bob was the younger but the heavier of the 
 two; and he sought to bring this greater weight 
 of his into play. He knew, moreover, that the 
 Arab s staying power was probably the greater, 
 accustomed as he was to the scanty fare and the 
 hardship which had been wasting Bob s 
 strength for several days. 
 
 Seid was thin and wiry, and he coiled up on 
 Bob like a snake; but Bob s strength was al 
 most doubled by the fierce craving of his soul 
 for freedom, and he gripped his antagonist 
 powerfully, and they rolled over the ground, 
 first one above, then the other, and neither of 
 them getting his foe really and firmly under 
 him. 
 
 Bob kept his lips compressed, saving every 
 ounce of strength for this supreme struggle for 
 life, as he felt it to be. Whereas the Arab 
 
 150
 
 A DOUBLE DUEL 
 
 emitted his breath in gasps and curses, and oc 
 casionally in calls to his savage mother for 
 assistance. 
 
 Just what was the condition of that fierce 
 old dame Bob knew not, but he could make 
 out, now, shrill cries which must come from one 
 source only. Lank and Taipha were engaged 
 in a struggle equally desperate; and the whip- 
 like sinews and muscles of the ferocious old 
 beldam were serving her well. 
 
 It would have been a perplexing sight to any 
 casual onlooker ; but none such there was, unless 
 we except Trump, who fluttered in little circles 
 above the heads of Lank and Taipha, and gave 
 expression to remarks and protests in several 
 languages. 
 
 At this stage of the game much the same 
 thing happened to both pairs of combatants. 
 The woman had instinctively reached for her 
 dagger as Lank sprang at her, but he had 
 knocked it from her hand, yet without being 
 able to seize it. Where it had fallen he knew 
 not; so that each of the four combatants was
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 struggling for the upper hand, and unarmed, 
 yet each knowing that near by was a weapon - 
 in one case a dagger, in the other a stout club - 
 which, if it could be laid hold of, would turn 
 the tables in his favor. 
 
 By a fortunate twist Seid now turned Bob 
 over upon his back, and for a moment was really 
 on top, but for a moment only; the Arab s 
 weight was not great, and he could not hold 
 Bob down. Bob instantly drew up both knees 
 violently and hurled his antagonist backward 
 over his head, breaking his hold, and in a 
 second more both lads were on their feet, like 
 lithe cats, and eyeing each other keenly. 
 
 Then Bob tried a trick which he had once 
 seen worked in a circus, in a mock battle be 
 tween two clowns. He pushed both hands and 
 arms suddenly up into the air. 
 
 His enemy, who was watching him. and was 
 nervously ready to meet action with action, un 
 consciously put up his own hands, to ward off 
 this expected attack from above, but it was only 
 a feint on Bob s part. The next instant he had 
 
 152
 
 A DOUBLE DUEL 
 
 dropped down, caught the young Arab around 
 the knees in a first-rate " tackle," as a foot 
 ball player would have called it, and lifted 
 and threw the young fellow several feet back 
 over his head. 
 
 The instant Bob felt his enemy leave his 
 grip he swept his eager glance around for the 
 club, and he discovered it some twenty feet 
 away. 
 
 With a leap or two he reached the weapon, 
 caught it up, and was back at the confused 
 Arab, who was picking himself up from the 
 sand, where he had landed in a heap. 
 
 There was only one thing to do, and Bob 
 Laurie did it; no squeamishness, no girlish 
 hesitation over a hard blow that needed to be 
 dealt. He raised the club and brought it down 
 on the shaggy crown of his foe with as much 
 force as he could summon; and the Arab sank 
 motionless on the sand. 
 
 Then Bob gave a rapid turn toward Lank 
 and his vigorous foe. Bob knew not what had 
 been the stages of their struggle, up to this 
 
 153
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 moment, but Lank narrated them later ; the old 
 woman had scratched him and bitten into his 
 cheek and had gotten three of his fingers into 
 her mouth, lacerating them considerably; al 
 though, as she was nearly toothless, that at 
 tack of hers was not as severe as it might have 
 been. Then she had got him by the throat, he 
 being on top most of the time, yet not quite 
 liking to pound her and to try to strangle her, 
 as he would have tried with a man. 
 
 She was possessed of remarkable strength, 
 and was shutting off the British youth s supply 
 of wind pretty effectually, just as Bob turned 
 to learn how they were getting on. Then Bob 
 saw Trump, who had been wheeling restlessly 
 over the head of his master, drop down into 
 the fight. Trump cracked no whips now, but 
 his Arab recollections came to the fore; and 
 crying out with the force of his lungs, " Bis- 
 millah! Bismillah! " (In the name of Allah!), 
 he went at the savage old woman, if not with 
 tooth and nail, at least with beak and claws. 
 
 Only two seconds were needed for him to
 
 A DOUBLE DUEL 
 
 put his strong, black beak, hard as ebony, 
 through Taipha s long pointed nose; and then 
 the beak went through one of her cheeks; the 
 short claws meantime, like steel needles, sink 
 ing into the flesh of the other cheek. Only 
 two seconds were needed for Trump to accom 
 plish a great deal. And his next attack fol 
 lowed his racial instinct. He struck for one of 
 the savage old woman s eyes. 
 
 Either the pain of the lacerations or the fear 
 of this bird of evil omen, was enough to render 
 nearly frantic the wiry, vengeful old creature. 
 She instantly withdrew her hands from Lank s 
 throat and protected her own face and eyes, 
 although she was seriously wounded already. 
 
 All this happened inside two or three seconds, 
 and Bob was a witness of it. He was starting 
 to run over and rescue Lank from the old 
 woman s suffocating grip, but he paused as he 
 saw Trump turn the scales of the conflict, and 
 he glanced back uneasily at Seid, who lay mo 
 tionless upon the sand. 
 
 Then the thought flashed through his mind, 
 155
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " Can I leave that fellow? How long before 
 he will be on his feet again? I know I only 
 stunned him." But the minute he saw that 
 Lank and Trump had got the upper hand of 
 the old fury, he darted back to Seid and began 
 tying his hands behind his back with a hand 
 kerchief. 
 
 " How are you off for handkerchiefs ? " he 
 called excitedly, yet humorously, to Lankester 
 Diggles, for he was tremendously wrought up, 
 yet extremely elated withal. 
 
 For an answer Lank whipped out a red ban 
 dana handkerchief from his pocket, and began 
 tying his prisoner s hands behind her back; she 
 screaming and cursing and resisting as well 
 as she could. Meanwhile Trump, much pleased 
 with himself, was wheeling about in the air, 
 and cracking whips in rapid succession, occa 
 sionally varying this Jehu-like pastime by call 
 ing out, " Bismillah ! Bismillah ! " 
 
 The first thing that Lank did when he got 
 his tough old enemy firmly tied was to look 
 for the knife. He could not feel safe until 
 
 156
 
 A DOUBLE DUEL 
 
 that was secured; and, by pushing about the 
 loose sand, over which he and Taipha had rolled 
 in their fierce struggle, he soon discovered the 
 weapon and thrust it into his belt. 
 
 Now for the first time the two lads felt 
 comparatively safe; the camel, hobbled, was 
 not far away, and gave them no attention. 
 Seid was regaining consciousness, and fixed his 
 eyes on Bob with a sullen hatred, which showed 
 how little mercy Bob would have received from 
 him had the struggle resulted differently. 
 
 " Will you two come over here, or shall we 
 two go over there?" asked Bob. "We must 
 decide what we will do next." 
 
 Lank, for an answer, arose and motioned to 
 his prisoner that she was to stand up and come 
 with him. The blood was trickling from her 
 lacerated face and she must have been suffer 
 ing more or less pain; but she was as fierce 
 as ever. She looked up at him from her sitting 
 posture and spat at him. That was her only 
 answer. 
 
 " She s game, and no mistake," commented 
 157
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Bob, who was looking across; they were a 
 dozen yards and more apart. " If she d got 
 you under, your life would n t have been worth 
 a flouss." (A Moorish coin worth about a fifth 
 of a cent.) 
 
 " But she did n t," was Lank s laconic reply, 
 as he rubbed his throat, now quite sore from 
 the hard pressure it had undergone. " Thanks 
 to that dear old boy up there," he added, and 
 pointed to Trump still wheeling overhead and 
 chanting a paean of victory. 
 
 158
 
 A toothless, cruel-looking old hag now took charge of 
 
 the boys 
 
 See page no
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A GHASTLY DISCOVERY 
 
 The two lads found themselves a bit 
 " winded " after their severe struggle. " I m 
 half-ashamed to say how used up I feel," puffed 
 Bob. " But for several days we have n t been 
 living on the fat of the land." 
 
 The fat of this land is a pretty poor qual 
 ity," added Lank. These Arabs are brought 
 up in this kind of life and can thrive on al 
 most as thin a diet as can a camel. But the 
 question now before us is what shall we do 
 with these two? We must settle on something 
 pretty quickly. That fierce old Sheikh Abdul 
 may be here at any moment looking for them ; 
 there is only about a half hour more of day 
 light." 
 
 1 Well, what shall we do with them ? " echoed 
 Bob, pondering. " We can t kill them, that s 
 certain."
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " No, we can t. They would have been 
 glad of an excuse for killing us and getting 
 a high seat in their Moslem heaven by doing 
 so; but we can t possibly drop as low as 
 that." 
 
 " Then how about taking them with us ? 
 For we must push off toward the northwest 
 as soon and as fast as possible." 
 
 Lank shook his head. " No, they would hold 
 back and balk us, and besides we don t feel 
 very eager for their society." 
 
 " I have it. This is the way," exclaimed 
 Bob ; and he went over to the camel, taking the 
 captured knife with him, and cut off some strips 
 from a coarse, strongly-woven cloth which was 
 tied on the camel s back. Here is the thing," 
 he continued, coming back; "we will tie them 
 and hobble them. We can t turn them loose, 
 and we must n t tie them so that they will be 
 wholly helpless, for the jackals would get at 
 them in the night. No, we will hobble them, 
 and tie their hands behind their backs. See, 
 in this way." And he carefully tied Seid with 
 
 1 60
 
 A GHASTLY DISCOVERY 
 
 the strip of cloth, despite that youth s mutter 
 ing, and took back his own handkerchief. 
 
 " Capital idea ! " exclaimed Lank, and set 
 about aiding him. They tied the hands of each 
 captive behind the back, and then tied each 
 captive s feet tightly together. 
 
 "There! Now they are all right," declared 
 Bob, looking at his work with some satisfac 
 tion. " Now this is what will happen. We 
 will start away at once with the camel; these 
 two will either begin to hop back toward the 
 caravan, now more than a mile away, probably, 
 and camping for the night, or they will set 
 about gnawing each other free." 
 
 " In that case," commented Lank, examin 
 ing his lacerated fingers, " although the old 
 lady got in some good work on my hand, 
 she will do well to set her dutiful son at the 
 job." 
 
 " Probably," was Bob s reply. " And, in 
 that case, Seid cannot gnaw through his dear 
 ma s bonds in less than twenty minutes; when 
 he has done it she can untie all the other knots. 
 
 161
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 So that is the way I figure it, Lank; and now 
 let s be off, as fast as we can." 
 
 There was no need of calling Trump. That 
 clever bird had circled about joyously to his 
 heart s content, and now had perched on the 
 camel, who was the largest object visible 
 upon the scene, and was gravely walking 
 about over that stolid quadruped, as if he were 
 a possible purchaser examining an animal of 
 fered for sale. 
 
 Seid and his mother had relapsed into sullen 
 silence, or nearly that, merely exchanging at 
 short intervals some remark in a low tone. 
 They were shrewd enough to see what their 
 former captives now their captors were 
 planning. They were now apparently submis 
 sive, but the relentless old hag s cruel, watchful 
 eyes sought frequently her knife, now in 
 Lank s belt, and the boys knew that at the 
 slightest chance given her she would attack 
 them and try to slay them. 
 
 " Now for the camel," cried Bob, and ran 
 toward that great, gaunt beast who was crop- 
 
 162
 
 A GHASTLY DISCOVERY 
 
 ping twigs from a low growth of gum-cistus 
 shrubs. " But, I say, Lank. How in the 
 dickens do you make him kneel down so that 
 we can mount ? Do you remember the words ? " 
 
 " I m blessed if I do," responded the young 
 British sailor, in some perplexity. " I know a 
 bit about reefing and splicing, and I can box 
 the compass ; but camels although I believe 
 they are called * Ships of the desert - have n t 
 been very much in my line ; at least not until re 
 cently." And the good-natured, hopeful fellow 
 laughed at his own joke, and Bob was quite 
 ready to join, for his hope of escape was rising. 
 
 What is more," he added, " I am a little 
 afraid if we throw off that hobble that the 
 big beast might take a notion to start back for 
 the caravan; and then what could we do? I 
 say, Lank, I 11 tell you how to manage it. Of 
 course we must keep the camel, in partial 
 payment for the Saucy Kate; he can get us 
 along over the sandy parts of our route much 
 faster than we could foot it. Now you give 
 me a lift up on to the camel s back; and, mark 
 
 163
 
 you, Lank [here Bob s face expanded again], 
 I m going to have a front seat this time, no 
 hanging on like grim death, behind that shaggy 
 old hump. Now you boost me up, Lank, and 
 I 11 hold that leading-rope until you take off 
 the hobble ; then I 11 give you the rope and 
 keep the stick; and I rather guess as we 
 Yankees say that we can get up a good rate 
 of speed." 
 
 " Enough said," replied Lank. " You re 
 skipper. I m first mate. Up you go ! Hang 
 on, now! Brace your feet against his neck! 
 Are you all right? " 
 
 The tough old camel, accustomed as he was 
 to blows and overloading, gave little heed to 
 the movements of the boys. Bob seated him 
 self, and Lank unfastened the crudely twisted 
 straw-rope which bound the camel s right hind- 
 foot to his right fore-foot. Then he took the 
 end of the leading-rope and started ahead, and 
 the camel followed, snatching at a final mouth 
 ful of herbage as he left the spot. 
 
 Lank trudged along over the sand much as 
 164
 
 he had been doing during the past few weeks, 
 not making very great speed ; but the difference 
 in his feeling now was that he was anxious to 
 get ahead as fast as possible; whereas, in the 
 journey from the coast straight toward Tim- 
 buctoo and hopeless slavery, he had been not 
 at all eager to hasten. 
 
 Naturally they glanced back as soon as they 
 were well started to see how their two pris 
 oners conducted themselves ; and they were not 
 surprised to see them do exactly as Bob had 
 predicted. Only a few moments did cunning 
 old Taipha sit on the sand and watch the de 
 parting fugitives. She rose quickly to her feet 
 and, with her surly son, went hopping and 
 hopping straight back in the direction whence 
 they had come, as they searched for the fag 
 ots for fuel. 
 
 Evidently the effort was considerable, even 
 for their tough frames and hardened muscles; 
 for they paused every few minutes and rested, 
 and looked back at the diminishing figures 
 of their former victims. " I 11 warrant that 
 
 165
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 the air is fairly blue all around those two 
 lovely creatures, with first-class Mohammedan 
 oaths," was Bob s facetious comment, as he 
 looked back. " And it s all about our fathers 
 and mothers and grandfathers and grand 
 mothers, and so on back. I ve heard them 
 before." 
 
 He now became silent for a moment, then 
 he exclaimed : " I say, Lank, they ve learned 
 their little hop-toad lesson; they are making 
 too slow headway to get back and summon aid 
 to recapture us, and the old lady has seated 
 herself while her son is lying down with his 
 head behind her; of course he is chewing away 
 at those strips of cloth; I hope they taste bet 
 ter than they looked ; I 11 wager a cent though 
 that if he happened to swallow some of the 
 material he could digest it and grow fat on it; 
 these Arabs beat ostriches all out in the way 
 of digestion." 
 
 Lank was so urgent to keep on as rapidly as 
 possible that he would not stop even to watch 
 the Arab woman and her son; he left it to 
 
 1 66
 
 A GHASTLY DISCOVERY 
 
 Bob to watch and report. And that American 
 lad kept up a running comment for Lank s 
 benefit. " Seid is still at it. As I remember 
 he had a pretty good set of teeth, and all his 
 own. I think he may get through his job 
 sooner By Jove, he has gotten through it 
 already. Lank, Lank, you must take one 
 glance! " 
 
 As Lank turned and gazed, the lads saw 
 the old woman jump to her feet with great alac 
 rity; for only a moment she rubbed her be 
 numbed hands and fingers; then she set about 
 untying her son; this was accomplished in a 
 very few moments ; less than two or three min 
 utes, feet as well as hands; then her own feet 
 were freed by Seid, and off they ran, twice as 
 fast as Lank could make progress, over the 
 loose, red sand, straight in the direction which 
 must bring them, in due time, to their caravan. 
 
 Bob drew a long breath now of slightly in 
 creased anxiety, and Lank said : " We need to 
 get along as fast as possible ; this camel is only 
 a baggage camel and when those two appear in 
 
 167
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL- 
 
 camp old Sheikh Abdul will start out for us 
 on a swift riding-camel and he will bring along 
 his gun, too. Suppose we steer this big ship 
 of the desert a bit more to the west; I think 
 that is our direction; how does it strike 
 you? " 
 
 " You re right, I think," was Bob s reply. 
 And the line of march was slightly altered. 
 Neither boy said anything for several minutes. 
 They were anxious; each was silently calcu 
 lating how long it would take the hardy Arab 
 woman and her equally hardy son to reach the 
 caravan, and then what the chances were of 
 pursuit and recapture. 
 
 Yet, even while they exulted in their newly 
 earned liberty, Bob at least was conscious of 
 a certain amount of depression of spirit, as 
 his glance swept around over the vast, sandy 
 waste, broken here and there by clayey ridges, 
 and a wady or two, now dry, with the rugged 
 chain of the Atlas mountains far in the distance 
 toward the north. The setting sun was spread 
 ing lavishly its ruddy glow over the great 
 
 1 68
 
 A GHASTLY DISCOVERY 
 
 tawny tract, burnishing it into gleaming bronze, 
 which dazzled the eye with its metallic luster. 
 
 Even though Taipha and Seid had been mer 
 ciless taskmasters, they were human beings and 
 there was a sort of companionship in being 
 near them. Now the two lads felt the oppres 
 sive weight of the desert silence as they had 
 not before. The camel counted for little as a 
 companion; he was like a great, awkward ma 
 chine, dumb and unresponsive, striding along 
 upon his broad, spongy feet and with nose in 
 the air. But Trump it must be said to his 
 credit did his best to enliven the hurried, 
 anxious journey. He distributed his attentions 
 quite impartially between Bob and Lank, and 
 seemed to feel that his most cheerful remarks 
 were much needed. 
 
 The sun had now set and darkness was com 
 ing on apace, but the stars gave considerable 
 light and the boys agreed that they must not 
 stop, but put as much space as possible be 
 tween themselves and their probable pursuers. 
 
 Another source of anxiety had now crept 
 169
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 into the boys minds ; and Bob showed what he 
 had been thinking about when he exclaimed, 
 with a tone of relief and joy: " I say, Lank, I 
 find some water in this goatskin bottle here on 
 the camel s saddle, and some barley cakes and 
 a few dates." 
 
 "Is that so?" responded Lank, also with 
 evident satisfaction. That relieves my mind 
 a little. How much water do you judge, and 
 how much food? " 
 
 Bob weighed and shook the skin-bottle 
 thoughtfully and took another look at the pouch 
 which held the bread and dates. " I think that 
 with care," he replied slowly, " we can keep on 
 for two days; we might even make it last 
 longer." 
 
 ; Hm-m ! " was Lank s comment, and he 
 pondered a few moments. Then he said : " The 
 question back of that question is how long 
 could we keep going, after we had eaten and 
 drunk all our supply ? I suppose, well, two 
 or three days. Sailors on a raft or in a boat 
 have gone much longer than that." 
 
 170
 
 A GHASTLY DISCOVERY 
 
 " It somewhat depends, I suppose," said Bob, 
 "on how much exertion we are making; if 
 we did nothing but sit still or lie still we could 
 last longer than if we were making physical 
 effort." Then an idea struck the generous lad, 
 and he spoke out abruptly. " In that case, 
 Lank, old boy, you are using yourself up much 
 faster than I am. Now, I say, Lank, you take 
 a turn up here and let me try that jog; I must 
 do my share; I can give you a lift I think so 
 that you can climb up." 
 
 He was about to suit his action to his words 
 and slide down to the earth ; but Lank now 
 spoke with more of a tone of command than 
 he usually assumed. " No, no, Bob ! I will not 
 have it so. I am stronger than you and taller, 
 and I can get over this loose sand faster than 
 you could. Moreover, I have been thinking of 
 a little plan. We must manage to make better 
 time than we are doing. Sheikh Abdul, on a 
 swift riding-camel, can make twice the speed 
 we can; yes, and he probably is on his way 
 after us now. If he catches us up you know 
 
 171
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 what will happen ; he does n t set a very high 
 value on us ; he will take back his camel that 
 is valuable property; but two uncertain pieces 
 of property like ourselves well, he won t 
 bother to try and carry us back; but you 
 know the rest." 
 
 Bob shuddered; he knew that this was a 
 true view of the situation; and he remained 
 silent as Lank continued : " Now let s pull up 
 for a few moments and I 11 show you a little 
 thing; I think I ve a little plan which will work." 
 
 Bob Laurie was quite in accord, and Lank 
 and he managed to check the camel even with 
 out the use of the Arabic " Ukaf ! " (Stop!) 
 Then Lank, with that manual dexterity which 
 was quite marked in him, passed up the leading- 
 rope to Bob, shortening it up at the same time 
 and cutting off about six or eight feet of it. 
 
 There ! That four feet of rope is long 
 enough for you to steer him by," he said. " He 
 seems pretty tractable. And the longer piece 
 I will put to good use ! " So speaking, he 
 stepped back behind the camel and tied one 
 
 172
 
 A GHASTLY DISCOVERY 
 
 end of the rope to the creature s tail. " I saw 
 one of the Arab children doing it," he explained. 
 " Now, Bob, you start up the big fellow, and 
 use your stick on him pretty freely. He s 
 tough as a boiled owl, and tougher; any little 
 whacks you may give him will be trifles com 
 pared with what he has had all his life, poor 
 chap. I know he has got twice the speed in 
 him that we have been getting out. Don t 
 worry about me; he can pull me along a lot 
 faster than I can go alone; and we need speed 
 greatly." 
 
 Bob could not wholly restrain a laugh, 
 gloomy as was the situation. Then he kicked 
 at the camel s sides and plied his stick, and for 
 ward the great, clumsy creature went, now at a 
 much quicker pace, and along behind trotted 
 Lank, greatly aided in his progress by his in 
 genious device of the towing-line. 
 
 Trump had been seated quietly on Bob s 
 shoulders during the past few minutes; but 
 now he journeyed down, by beak and claws, 
 over the lad s back, and over the camel, and 
 
 173
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 surveyed his master with a critical eye. Then 
 he commented : "What a mess ! What a mess ! " 
 and went off into the Arabic numerals, " Wa- 
 hed, etnen, telatah " (One, two, three), and so 
 on up to ten. 
 
 The new pace was just as easy for our 
 young friends as the old one had been, and 
 they were moving forward at least twice as 
 fast. Their spirits rose, and they even joked. 
 Afterward they began to feel the fatigue of the 
 journey, and relapsed into a grim, dogged si 
 lence, but forward, always forward, toward the 
 northwest and civilization. 
 
 It was about two o clock in the morning - 
 as near as they could judge when Bob 
 caught sight of some object moving across their 
 line of march, ahead of them, and perhaps two 
 hundred yards away. 
 
 " I say, Lank," he callecl back to his compan 
 ion, in a whisper, " I see something alive and 
 moving, ahead." And he instinctively pulled in 
 on the camel, and the obedient creature stopped. 
 
 They could hear no sound, but they knew 
 74
 
 A GHASTLY DISCOVERY 
 
 that they themselves had made little or no 
 sound in the soft, yielding sand. Lank came 
 to the front and both boys stared hard. :e It 
 is moving," said Lank. " Slowly, and it looks 
 like a horse or a donkey; just one animal. 
 What shall we do?" 
 
 After a few moments Bob advised : " What 
 ever it is, Lank, it is moving on a slant away 
 from us. If it were coming toward us, or even 
 standing still, we might feel more alarm. I 
 say, let s follow on a bit, and see what it is." 
 
 So they started up their camel, Lank walking 
 at his head, and they slowly drew up on the 
 strange object. Yes, it s a donkey. Sure 
 enough," said Bob. " And loaded with bag 
 gage, I judge. I say, Lank, it s a donkey that 
 has strayed from some caravan, and may have 
 goods loaded on him which will be worth every 
 thing to us in the way of food and drink; gold 
 and gems w^ould n t cut any figure with us, 
 but if it s food and water, they will be w r orth 
 their weight in gold to us." 
 
 The dim object became clearer and clearer,
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 now ; and Lank, whose eyes were trained by his 
 sea-life, gave a cautious " hist ! " And added, 
 with excitement : " I believe that it is a human 
 being on the beast. But but Bob, I - - I 
 can see that he is hanging with his head down, 
 and with his feet tied to the animal s neck." 
 
 It was a ghastly suggestion, fraught with 
 horrible fancies; but the boys slowly drew 
 nearer and nearer. 
 
 176
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY 
 
 It is an uncanny experience, when you are 
 in the midst of a hostile country, to come sud 
 denly upon a strange human being who may 
 prove to be an enemy and may attack you. 
 But when that human being is fastened, head 
 down, on a donkey, you feel your nerves ris 
 ing into " Creeps," and becoming hard to 
 control. 
 
 Lank insisted on taking the lead, although 
 he pretended to look to Bob Laurie as " Cap 
 tain ; " yet whenever there was any hardship 
 to be undergone or any danger to be faced, 
 the big-hearted fellow at once " Mutinied " 
 and took the lead. So now, with knife in 
 hand, he led the way toward the strange ob 
 ject or objects. 
 
 The donkey, of a gray color, made no at- 
 177
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 tempt to evade them, and they came up to 
 him and laid hold of what was left of a 
 straw halter around the animal s neck. It had 
 been cut off close to the neck, which indicated 
 that somebody had done it hastily and waste- 
 fully, probably to set him adrift. 
 
 Then Lank guardedly lifted the human fig 
 ure a bit, spoke to the man, and received no 
 answer. " He s alive, though," was his com 
 ment, as he touched the man s face and hands 
 and put his ear down to his lips. " Alive and 
 breathing; but there is blood on his face and 
 arms, and well, the first thing is to get him 
 righted up." And he cut the knot which fas 
 tened the man s feet at the donkey s neck, and 
 likewise a braided hair rope which ran around 
 the animal s body and held the man a few 
 inches from the ground. 
 
 Bob was doubtful about leaving the camel; 
 and Lank directed : " Just take that hobble 
 from the saddle where I hung it ; I 11 lay 
 this poor chap down a minute and we will 
 hobble the camel." 
 
 178
 
 AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY 
 
 This they managed to do, both of them 
 working together; then they returned to the 
 donkey, who showed no disposition to wan 
 der, and seemed to be as nearly as they 
 could make out in the dim starlight a 
 broken-down and much-abused creature. 
 
 Lank knelt down beside the unconscious 
 man, who was nearly naked, his loose clothes 
 having been torn off or jolted off by his un 
 natural posture; the man s hands and arms 
 were lacerated where they had dragged across 
 the sand, and there was a wound on his face. 
 
 What shall we do ? " asked Lank, as they 
 waited. " Whether he is badly hurt or not 
 I can t say. At any rate we have n t any 
 medicine, and " Then he bethought him 
 of the water in the skin-bottle. " I say, Bob, 
 we must try him with a little of that water." 
 
 That s so," responded Bob at once. 
 " Come and give me a lift and I will untie it 
 from the horn of the saddle." And while the 
 two were doing this, he kept thinking: "We 
 
 have mighty little water, anyway, and not a 
 
 179
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 drop to spare; but we must, we must give 
 that poor chap at least a sip." 
 
 This likewise was in Lank s mind, as he 
 afterward admitted; but neither boy said a 
 word about it at the time. So the water was 
 brought, Lank lifted the man s head, and Bob 
 poured a little, carefully, into the man s mouth. 
 
 Yes, he swallows it all right," cried Bob, 
 and poured in more. " Yes, he swallows 
 that, too." Then some more; then the man 
 heaved a great sigh, and muttered something. 
 " Moiyeh ! Moiyeh ! " (Water ! Water !) 
 
 Yes, I remember the word," exclaimed 
 Bob; "that means water. And he gave 
 the man one or two full swallows, at which 
 Lank groaned; for on that slight supply of 
 water all their lives might be depending. 
 
 " There ! There ! That is enough, I know," 
 interposed Lank ; " for the present, at least. 
 Now let s wait a bit." And they waited. Al 
 though they felt extremely anxious about re 
 lentless old Sheikh Abdul, they risked the delay 
 
 in order to serve the need of a fellow being. 
 
 1 80
 
 AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY 
 
 Soon the man regained consciousness, and 
 he opened his eyes and stared at them; then 
 he spoke to them, as they judged, in Arabic, 
 but they shook their heads hopelessly; then 
 Bob spoke to him in English, and what was 
 the boys surprise and joy when the man an 
 swered, although with effort, in the same 
 tongue. 
 
 "You English?" he asked. 
 
 "Yes," replied Bob; "English he and 
 American I." 
 
 " Good ! I speak English little. Tangier, 
 Algiers." Then he shut his eyes and sighed, 
 and remained silent. Soon he roused, and sat 
 up. Then he told them his story, brokenly 
 but intelligibly. He said that he was a Jewish 
 merchant, Sabah by name, from Mogador, 
 and had been set upon by Arabs while carry 
 ing goods across to Tafilet, and plundered, and 
 tied on this old donkey, and turned adrift. 
 
 " Were you alone ? " asked Bob, sympatheti 
 cally. 
 
 Sabah shook his head, mournfully : " No ; 
 181
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 brother and and two others ; they help 
 brother and me." 
 
 "Where are they now?" asked Bob. 
 
 The unhappy man paused a moment, and 
 then answered: "Dead, I think, dead," and 
 he drew his finger across his throat in a sig 
 nificant fashion. 
 
 " When did the Arabs do this ? " continued 
 Bob. " How long have you been on this 
 animal ? " 
 
 " I not know where, and I not know how 
 long," replied the man. " Noon when I was 
 struck here [and he put his hand to his 
 wounded head], and when I was put there." 
 
 There were no means of knowing just how 
 long the poor fellow had been borne about 
 over the dreary waste. It might have been 
 for a few hours, or for two or three days. 
 But he seemed an intelligent, honest sort of 
 man, and was very grateful for his rescue. 
 " Nazrani [Christians] good people," he said. 
 
 Lank now broke in, saying : " We must not 
 waste any more time. We have lost nearly 
 
 182
 
 AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY 
 
 an hour, Bob. What shall we do about this 
 chap? He seems not so badly off; he prob 
 ably can travel; the only thing to do is to 
 take him along with us, as it seems to me." 
 
 " I agree," responded Bob; " and he may be 
 able to help us to find our way." So they 
 told Sabah, in a few words, that they were 
 escaping from some Souss Arabs, and were 
 trying to get to the city of Marrakesh, where 
 they hoped to find some Europeans. " Is 
 Marrakesh near? " 
 
 Where are we, I know not ; I am not 
 sure," was Sabah s answer. " How far I 
 travel on him, I not know." 
 
 Bob eyed the lean, weak donkey and re 
 plied, " Not far, not a long distance, I am 
 sure." 
 
 " He not my donkey," continued Sabah, 
 with a gesture of scorn. :< I own I own 
 once many donkeys, good ones; he not good. 
 But I think I think (here he arose, 
 leaning on Lank, and looked up at the stars 
 a few moments) "I think Marrakesh there; 
 
 183
 
 and I think Mogador, my home there ; 
 but longer journey." 
 
 Very good ! very good ! " interrupted Lank, 
 restlessly. " We go to Marrakesh; you know 
 the way? " 
 
 Yes, I know. I make many journeys. 
 Water, have you water? And food?" 
 
 That s the rub," said Bob, shaking his 
 head, and holding up the half -empty leather 
 bottle. 
 
 Whereupon Sabah grew thoughtful and anx 
 ious. " Must have water," he remarked. 
 
 In a few moments the three were on their 
 journey again; Sabah upright on the donkey, 
 Bob on the camel with Trump (now sleepy), 
 and Lank footing it resolutely through the 
 loose sand. 
 
 Another fatiguing hour, and Sabah said: 
 " Must rest. Rest now, and I find water. I 
 know right road now; my head better." 
 
 Lank and Bob decided that they would risk 
 a short delay ; they were dead tired, and knew 
 
 they must not utterly exhaust themselves. So 
 
 184
 
 AN ADDITION TO THE PARTY 
 
 they pulled up, and hobbled the camel, and 
 stretched themselves out upon the sand, each 
 scooping out a hollow in which to lie, for the 
 night air was chill when they ceased their 
 exertions. 
 
 Bob gave out two or three dates apiece and 
 a bit of the bread, and, slowly chewing these 
 dry morsels, all then fell asleep. 
 
 185
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 Soon after sunrise Lank awoke and promptly 
 aroused his companions. Trump, the parrot, 
 was already awake, and was taking short 
 flights of exploration out over the barren 
 desert, but seemed to find little that was sat 
 isfactory. "What a mess! What a mess!" 
 he cried, as he came back to Lank s shoulder. 
 Then he called loudly for water; and, after 
 he had been given a little, he evidently thought 
 better of the dry, red plain of sand, and cracked 
 his whip a few times, and went off a short 
 distance looking for insects; and he found 
 some, a few beetles, black with yellow spots, 
 and a strayed locust or two. 
 
 Sabah awoke, much stronger in body and 
 more hopeful in spirit. After munching a few 
 dates and morsels of the barley bannock, and 
 
 1 86
 
 each taking a small drink of the precious water, 
 Sabah said, " I lead. You say yes ? " And 
 Bob and Lank both said " yes," promptly; for 
 the young Jew (he seemed to be not much over 
 twenty) had an intelligent and sincere face, 
 and he seemed to know what to do. 
 
 " I find water, I think," he said. " On road 
 to Marrakesh, too. Come on! Come on! 
 Long journey, but find water. I know I 
 know- and he completed his sentence by 
 sweeping his arm out over the region before 
 them. Very likely he had traveled across it 
 many times in his vocation as a trader among 
 the scattered towns and villages. 
 
 Sabah s attitude toward Trump, the parrot, 
 was amusing. The Jewish youth was intelli 
 gent and had seen many kinds of people ; had 
 traveled even into Spain; but he had never 
 seen a feathered creature who could express, 
 in human speech, such sage ideas as could 
 Trump; and, although Sabah had but little of 
 the gross superstition about djinns which so 
 saturated the minds of Arabs and Moors, he 
 
 187
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 could not quite feel comfortable in company 
 with such a weird creature. 
 
 Somehow Trump, by his singular powers of 
 perception, seemed to understand Sabah s fear 
 of him, and he hugely enjoyed annoying him, 
 either by hovering close over his head and 
 uttering some sage remark in English or 
 French or Arabic, or by sitting for a brief 
 moment on Sabah s head. 
 
 However, the little party a very forlorn 
 and anxious party, too got along extremely 
 well; and they covered considerable ground 
 during the next five hours. Then Sabah, who 
 had taken the responsibility of their direction, 
 brought them to a wady or water-course (now, 
 alas, dry as the sandy desert) which had steep 
 sides; it was a gulley, cut like a gash into the 
 earth, which was of a clayey texture with 
 loose pebbles scattered over it. 
 
 " Here," said he, with satisfaction, " we 
 rest two four hours, perhaps. Then we go 
 more. Not good go with sun high up there; 
 better go when clown there." 
 
 1 88
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 The clever fellow knew what he was about, 
 and our young friends trusted him more and 
 more; he seemed grateful to them for saving 
 his life, and to trust them wholly. He led the 
 party, by a sloping descent, down into the 
 gulley, and found a spot where the bank was 
 especially steep, affording a shadow from the 
 burning rays of the sun. Here you lie 
 down," he said, " and rest ; and I go to 
 watch, up there," and he pointed to the top 
 of the bank. " Sheikh Abdul fierce men those 
 Souss Arabs may follow. I see him if 
 come." 
 
 Saying this, the faithful fellow took the 
 cloth from the camel, climbed up the bank, 
 and seated himself near the edge, drawing the 
 cloth loosely over his head to shut out the sun. 
 
 As it turned out, this precaution was un 
 necessary; but Bob was glad to see how cau 
 tious their new friend was, and he and Lank 
 stretched themselves out on the ground, and 
 gave themselves up to deep, refreshing sleep. 
 
 Sheikh Abdul did not appear, and, as Bob 
 189
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 remarked, " Doubtless his feelings could be 
 better imagined than described." The lad 
 chuckled not a little, despite the gloomy situa 
 tion, as he pictured the impotent wrath of the 
 tyrannical, ferocious Souss Arab at the loss 
 of his camel and his white captives. 
 
 At four o clock they started again on their 
 journey. All three felt the pangs of thirst 
 gaining in strength; and now, by common 
 consent, they divided equally and drank nearly 
 all the water remaining in the leather bottle. 
 A very little they reserved for any unknown 
 emergency. 
 
 Hour after hour they marched onward. 
 The sun dipped below the western horizon, 
 and Bob remarked, gloomily, " I wish I could 
 see the continent and the country which that 
 sun is now looking down upon." 
 
 Lank caught his idea at once, and, after a 
 moment s reflection, he said : " Yes, it is about 
 sunrise in the United States now. But, cheer 
 up, Bob, you will see that country again, 
 all right." 
 
 190
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 " Think so ? " asked Bob, shaking his head 
 doubtfully. 
 
 " I certainly do. I Ve been in some hard 
 places in my time, but I pulled through. Why, 
 just recall that tidal wave, Bob ! What did you 
 think when you saw that coming? My, but 
 that was a rusher. I Ve seen two of them 
 before, but never such a big pne. Once, when 
 I was on a White Star Liner to Boston " 
 
 " What ! Do you mean that you ever saw 
 Boston ? " exclaimed Bob, excitedly. 
 
 " Nothing less," was the British lad s cool 
 reply. " I sailed into the port of Boston twice, 
 both times on a White Star; good, staunch 
 boats, those, and always with a good, clear 
 head and steady hand in command, too. If 
 we had n t had such, on my first trip across, 
 we would have gone to smash; that wave 
 was n t as big as ours off this coast." 
 
 From this remark Lank went on, ingeni 
 ously spinning yarns about his voyages and 
 adventures; and he succeeded in what he 
 aimed at, he lifted Bob out of his gloomy 
 
 191
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 forebodings, and made him forget his thirst 
 and fatigue. 
 
 On they went; straight on through the 
 night. They must have presented a humorous 
 sight to any wild creatures who might have 
 scented or seen them. " Funny enough to make 
 a laughing-hyena laugh himself to death!" 
 as Bob remarked. For our two English 
 friends insisted on Sabah s taking his place 
 on the camel, because he was weak, and be 
 cause he could there better direct their course 
 and keep a good lookout. 
 
 Then Lank fell in behind, with his tow-line 
 tied to the stout camel s tail, and he had made 
 another tow-line for Bob, which he fastened 
 around his own waist; so that the two lads 
 formecl what Bob called " The bobs of the 
 kite." "Three bobs in all," he declared. 
 " I m a Bob by name and one by occupation ; 
 and then you, Lank, are a third," at which 
 they laughed a bit, and felt better; but Bob 
 said he would not try to explain his little 
 joke to Sabah ; " the meager vocabulary of 
 
 192
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 words between the two would not bear the 
 strain." 
 
 The donkey, singularly enough, and yet 
 not so strange it was, needed not to be driven 
 or even led. The clever little beast seemed to 
 realize that his hope of life lay in keeping with 
 these two-legged companions, and he walked or 
 trotted closely after them; but his sharp little 
 hoofs were not fitted for desert travel, and he 
 breathed heavily, but kept pluckily on. 
 
 With the exception of two rests, of a half 
 hour each, the little party, tired, anxious, al 
 most in despair, plodded on and on through 
 the dim, starlit night. They had not seen a 
 human being nor any wild animal. Once or 
 twice in the daytime a vulture, soaring and 
 sailing on his broad pinions, had come into the 
 circle of their vision, as he floated high in air ; 
 and doubtless he had sighted them from a 
 much greater distance than they had sighted 
 him. At such times Bob shook his fist at the 
 great, carnivorous scavenger-bird, and called 
 out, in grim fun : " Not yet, old fellow ! You re
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 early! Come around later, and it may be 
 worth your while. But there s life left in us 
 yet." 
 
 Early on this particular morning Sabah 
 seemed unusually alert and eager. As the sun 
 rose, off at the right, he scanned the desert on 
 every side, as if searching for something, and 
 Bob asked him, presently, if he was looking for 
 some particular object. 
 
 Yes, yes," was the young man s reply, not 
 relaxing his watchful attitude ; " I seek track - 
 track of caravans from inland for Moga- 
 dor ; Mogador, you call it ; we call it, in 
 Arabic, Suira, the beautiful. And still the 
 young fellow kept his gaze sweeping the field 
 of vision around him. 
 
 This finding the caravan track was harder 
 than the reader might suppose, because, across 
 the desert, the caravans do not travel in close 
 marching order like troops on a highway, but 
 they spread out, usually, one place being about 
 as good as another. Thus no plainly trodden 
 track is left by them, and, besides, the sand 
 
 194
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 drifts easily, in the wind, and soon covers 
 whatever footprints are made. 
 
 But Sabah s eager scrutiny was now re 
 warded. He discovered faint footprints ahead, 
 and, after careful examination, said he was 
 sure about the caravan track. As soon as he 
 had settled this point he climbed back upon the 
 camel, and stood upright, thus looking off 
 toward the northeast, where the surface of the 
 country rose into low hills and was more 
 broken. " Where? Where? " he muttered, in 
 Arabic, to himself. Then he exclaimed in Eng 
 lish : " Ah, there ! I see, I see," and he pointed 
 joyfully toward some objects far away. " Yes, 
 the the Koubah, we say it. The Koubah, 
 the the tomb of the Saint Sidi Ben Yazeed 
 [The Lord, the son of Yazeed] ; now we find 
 water soon ; you have much thirst ? " 
 
 This last kind-hearted inquiry he directed 
 to the boys, whose lips, dry and hard, indi 
 cated the terrible thirst with which they were 
 struggling. 
 
 " Yes, I rather think we have a good, big 
 195
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 thirst," replied Bob; and his speech, despite 
 his humorous way of putting it, was thick and 
 almost unintelligible, so dry was his tongue. 
 
 " Come, come fast," was Sabah s earnest in 
 junction. And he led the way, now on foot, 
 with eager energy, looking back at times to 
 assure himself that his two friends had not 
 given out. 
 
 " Never fear, we re after you," called Bob, 
 thickly. " I d give just one million dollars for 
 a quart of no, for two quarts of water." He 
 corrected himself, looking at Lank. " One 
 quart would do for me, for a while, and you 
 should have the other, Lank, old man." 
 
 " Shall we find water at this Koubah? " asked 
 Lankester, presently; and his speech likewise 
 showed the parched condition of his lips and 
 tongue. 
 
 " No, not there," replied Sabah; " but but 
 I show, I show you." 
 
 His actions now puzzled the lads, who were 
 watching him closely; they knew that their 
 
 lives depended on him. He was leading them 
 
 196
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 toward the Koubah, but he was scanning the 
 country, off at the right, shading his eyes at 
 times with his hand. The boys wondered, and 
 exchanged comments, but could not see what 
 he was about. They were nearing the Koubah, 
 whose white dome lifted itself above a clump 
 of oleanders which were fully ten feet high. 
 
 An exclamation of satisfaction now escaped 
 Sabah s lips, and he bade them stay where they 
 were. Wait," he said, " and watch me." 
 Whereupon he started off, alone, carrying with 
 him the stout staff which Bob had taken from 
 Seid, and walked rapidly toward the southeast, 
 nearly a quarter of a mile. There he began to 
 proceed more cautiously, and repeatedly glanced 
 toward the boys and toward some mark on 
 the low line of hills beyond him. 
 
 :t What in the world is he up to? " exclaimed 
 Bob. " O, I think I see, now." 
 
 And Lank added: "Yes, he is getting his 
 bearings, as we sailormen say. He s all right ; 
 we need n t worry." 
 
 Sabah was now moving very slowly, and was 
 197
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 striking the heavy staff sharply upon the 
 ground, in one place and another. Suddenly he 
 waved it aloft, and shouted, "Come! I find 
 him." 
 
 They were still somewhat mystified, but they 
 hurried over toward him, and when they 
 reached the spot the clever, faithful Jewish 
 lad had gotten the mouth of a well cleared 
 away. The boys understood it all, now. The 
 ground here was more clayey and firmer; a 
 well had been dug, perhaps a century before, 
 and its mouth was covered by several stout 
 poles overlaid with a large camel-hide; this, 
 in turn, being covered with a foot or two of 
 loose sand. 
 
 Bob s interest in the clever device was great, 
 but his craving for water was far greater ; and 
 he clutched the gourd which Sabah had ready 
 for him, and swallowed the water with a wild 
 eagerness. A pint or more he poured down his 
 parched throat, then bethought him of faithful, 
 patient Lankester Diggles, and passed the half- 
 emptied gourd at once to him. 
 
 198
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 " I see the whole thing, now," said Bob, after 
 he had taken a good, long drink from another 
 gourd-full. " This well is known to only a few 
 persons, and, luckily for us, our good friend, 
 Sabah, is one of them. See that rope! And 
 this gourd! The whole outfit left in good 
 condition by the last users for the next comers. 
 Each person in the secret knows the Bear 
 ings of the Koubah and some other marks, 
 probably that rock over there on that hill." 
 
 Sabah, who had not yet slaked his own 
 thirst, now drank a whole gourd-full himself. 
 Then he set about quenching the thirst of the 
 camel and donkey, by pouring water into a 
 fold of the thickly-woven cloth which had been 
 borne on the camel s back; it leaked a little, 
 but Sabah managed to make it serve as a 
 trough, and he toiled faithfully, nearly a half 
 hour, while Bob and Lank, who had offered 
 in vain to help, lay and rested upon the ground. 
 A few drops from Lank s palm had sufficed 
 for Trump, and he now strode about, showing 
 off his linguistic attainments, or flew about 
 
 199
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Sabah s head, cawing like a real English rook, 
 whereat Sabah was made somewhat uneasy. 
 
 Finally the animals were satisfied, or nearly 
 so, the leather bottle was filled, and Sabah 
 allowed the boys to help him put back the in 
 genious cover of the well. The water was not 
 of the best quality, but it was water, and had 
 seemed especially, the first few swallows - 
 the purest and sweetest Bob had ever tasted. 
 After this Sabah called upon them to take up 
 again their march. " We must not stay here," 
 he said; "this region is is danger. Wild 
 people come to Saint s Tomb; tear hair, and 
 cut arms and legs, and - 
 
 " He means some of those Moslem fanatics, I 
 understand," interrupted Bob. " There are 
 bands of them all over the country. And, when 
 they are worked up into a fury, they kill any 
 Nazrani [Christians] or Jews that they meet." 
 
 Yes; Nazrani," eagerly confirmed Sabah, 
 who heard the word. " You Nazrani, I Jew of 
 Suira; they kill both when they tear hair and 
 cut flesh." 
 
 200
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 " That s perfectly clear to us," assented Bob, 
 now smiling at the young man s form of speech ; 
 " and we are with you for the city of Marra- 
 kesh [Morocco] as fast as possible." 
 
 " You know where we are, now," said Lan- 
 kester Diggles, as the party set out again on 
 the wearisome tramp. " Do you know how far 
 Marrakesh is from here? 
 
 Sabah replied without hesitation : " Yes ; it 
 is what you call miles ; well, about miles one 
 hundred." 
 
 Then we need to get over the ground as 
 fast as we can; that is evident," was Lank s 
 comment, and they all felt this to be true. So 
 they bent to their task with grim determination. 
 
 At noon they did not halt. There was no 
 shady spot to be found, and the full supply of 
 water which each had drunk had much re 
 freshed him. Over the hot, powdery desert 
 they strode, and each was resolved that he 
 would hold out to the bitter end. Their scant 
 supply of food was gone, and they were taking 
 serious chances as to finding more. Lank and 
 
 20 1
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Bob did not know it at the time, but Sabah 
 told them, later, that he had one resource left 
 which he had not mentioned. He said that he 
 had intended, in case they found nothing, to 
 take the donkey some distance away, that night, 
 and kill him, and offer them raw donkey-steak 
 in the morning. 
 
 But this unpleasant resource proved not to 
 be necessary, for something happened; some 
 thing which was ghastly indeed, when con 
 sidered alone, but favorable to them, in part. 
 
 It was about four o clock in the afternoon; 
 they were making good time, and they were in 
 fairly good marching condition, although Bob s 
 feet were getting chafed and sore. Suddenly 
 Lank, w 7 ith his keen eyesight, saw some dark 
 object against the reddish field of color offered 
 by the sand-surface more than a mile away at 
 their left. He paused and shaded his eyes with 
 his hand, for the sun was low in the sky and 
 very blinding. " Do you see that that thing, 
 over there? See, Bob! What do you make of 
 
 it?" 
 
 202
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 Bob looked, for a moment. " Do you suppose 
 it is a piece of rock jutting up through the 
 sand ? " he asked, in turn. " No, it does n t 
 look like it. Sabah, look! What is that? " 
 
 After a few seconds of conjecture, Bob sug 
 gested : " Let s go over and have a look at it. 
 It seems to me more like some creature ; a 
 a well, a man, perhaps." 
 
 So with some caution and a little dread they 
 turned aside and went nearer. Nobody spoke; 
 but, as they came closer, the dreadful truth 
 was forced upon each of them. At length 
 they were standing in silence around the almost 
 naked body of a man. One glance at the fixed, 
 strained face was enough to show that the man 
 was dead. " Not long dead," remarked Sabah ; 
 and, glancing around the heated blue of the 
 heavens, he pointed out two vultures flying 
 rapidly toward them; and, by listening, the 
 boys could make out the shrill, whistling cries 
 which the African vulture utters. " Not come 
 yet," Sabah added. 
 
 The man who lay motionless before them 
 203
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 was naked except for a loin-cloth ; and a leather 
 wallet hung by a cord slung around his neck. 
 Beside him lay a stout staff about six feet long. 
 His form was thin and sinewy, and his hands 
 were clenched. 
 
 " What do you think? " asked Bob of Sabah, 
 and pointed at the prostrate body. 
 
 Sabah replied readily : " He rekkah; a a 
 courier ; Sultan, Khedive, great men, chiefs - 
 all have rekkahs; they carry news across hills 
 and plains. He no more carry news." 
 
 " Hm-m ! " mused Bob, sadly ; then he 
 asked, " But how did he die ? What think you, 
 Sabah? Arabs kill him?" 
 
 Sabah shook his head, reflectively. He was 
 looking critically at the man. Now he kneeled 
 down and moved the body about. " Ah ! I now 
 know," he exclaimed. " His leg broken. He 
 drag hisself day and night." He pointed out 
 the trail, now easily discernible, which the dis 
 abled man had made as he had dragged him 
 self along. 
 
 " Yes, he break leg, back somewhere back 
 204
 
 THE REKKAH AND HIS MESSAGE 
 
 there; many mile back, perhaps. He crawl 
 and crawl, and he have thirst, much thirst; 
 and he die." 
 
 Bob shuddered. Death by thirst. He and 
 Lank could understand what that was like. 
 " Poor fellow! " he ejaculated. " How I wish 
 we had reached him sooner. But what is in his 
 wallet, Sabah?" 
 
 The wallet they now unfastened and opened. 
 It proved to contain plenty of bread and figs 
 and dates ; also some cakes of chocolate, which 
 these Moroccan rekkahs or couriers use as 
 a condensed and portable food. "So he did 
 not die from hunger," was Lank s comment. 
 "Probably Sabah is right; thirst was the 
 cause." 
 
 Sabah now took out of the wallet a little 
 roll of cloth, and, opening it, he disclosed a 
 strip of parchment ; and both boys started with 
 surprise and renewed interest as the Jewish lad 
 pointed to a seal or stamp, in red ink, on this 
 strip of parchment. It was a black circle inside 
 of a red square. :< It is the seal of the 
 
 205
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Khedive," he declared. " I know it. The Sul 
 tan s seal, it is red square with a crescent inside 
 it. This is message very important." 
 
 " Is that so ? " exclaimed Bob, and then gave 
 a long, low whistle. Well, we are interested 
 to hear anything about the Khedive, are n t 
 we, Lank? " and he gave his friend a tiny bit 
 of a nudge in the side. 
 
 206
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 A DESERT SCOURGE 
 
 The Moroccan rekkahs, or couriers, are a 
 hardy and dauntless race. With only a waist- 
 cloth for clothing, and with a staff, a leather 
 wallet and a small leather water-bottle, they 
 traverse the country in all directions, braving 
 all dangers, imperiled by hunger and thirst, 
 and bearing messages of great importance. 
 Their pay is slight, only an amount equal to 
 five or ten cents a day, and they wear them 
 selves out at an early age. 
 
 This rekkaJi or courier of the Khedive bore 
 no water-bottle, probably having cast it aside 
 when it was empty. The poor fellow perhaps 
 had dragged himself many miles, but could not 
 reach any water, and had finally perished. 
 
 The little strip of parchment with its red 
 square and black circle inside it now lay un- 
 
 207
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 rolled in Sabah s hand. It was written in 
 Arabic, which Sabah could read and speak 
 easily. He read it over to himself, then read it 
 a second time. 
 
 Bob and Lank waited impatiently. " Well, 
 what does it say? " at length Bob interjected, 
 when Sabah seemed inclined to give the docu 
 ment a third reading (as Bob remarked, just 
 as if it were a bill before the Massachusetts 
 legislature) ; " I say, Sabah, give it out to 
 us." 
 
 So Sabah read it, translating it as best 
 he could. 
 
 From Sidi Mohammed Amara, Sheikh of the 
 Souss, by grace of his Sultan, to the Ineffable, the 
 Khedive: The land rejoices under his protection. 
 Sun, moon, and stars are united for its prosperity. 
 The Sultan, the All Glorious, spreads his mantle of 
 guardianship over all the faithful ones. The sheep 
 and goats have been sent to you, and may they be 
 graciously received. The blessing of Allah rest upon 
 you. Be watchful to aid the Sultan against his 
 enemies .... 
 
 There were several more phrases of this 
 rambling sort, highly sonorous and richly col- 
 
 208
 
 A DESERT SCOURGE 
 
 ored, but not conveying much information. 
 Then, at the end, Sabah read these words: 
 
 The rekkah s staff, being planted, has rooted and 
 borne fruit; may its successor be equally fruitful. 
 
 " That is all," commented Sabah, turning the 
 letter over and scanning it carefully. 
 
 " Hm-m ! " mused Bob, and Lank knitted 
 his brows in vain. 
 
 " A queer message, that," at length Bob re 
 marked. It hardly seems worth while to make 
 this poor rekkah risk his life, and now lose it, 
 - just to carry that high-falutin stuff from a 
 Souss Sheikh to that traitorous Khedive." 
 
 " It beats us," added Lank. " I don t see 
 much sense in it. But we must not waste time. 
 This poor chap s body must be buried. Here, 
 Bob, I wish you would follow back on his track, 
 a half a mile or so, we can have you in sight as 
 far as that, and see if you find any clue which 
 will explain matters." 
 
 Thanks, Lank ! " replied Bob, understand 
 ing at once that his generous friend wished to 
 
 209
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 save him the unpleasant sensations aroused by 
 disposing of the lifeless body. " Lank, old 
 man, there s nothing mean about you. I 11 have 
 a look at the trail," and he started away, easily 
 following the terrible and tragic track which the 
 injured rekkah had made in the sand. 
 
 On he went, nearly a mile; and there he 
 found the man s empty water-bottle. Still on 
 he followed the trail, and he found where the 
 rekkah had probably broken his leg; it was 
 at a wady or dry water-course, where the edge 
 had recently caved in; the soil was freshly 
 upturned. " I see, I see," was Bob s soliloquy, 
 as he paused there, sadly, for a moment. He 
 accidentally broke off the edge of the bank; he 
 was probably very thirsty, and was in haste, 
 and he fell with it ; and one of those rocks fell on 
 his leg. So that was death to him ; death a little 
 delayed," and the kind-hearted American lad 
 turned sadly and retraced his steps to where 
 Lank and the Jewish youth were awaiting him. 
 
 There was no trace of the unfortunate rek 
 kah to be seen, except that Sabah bore his wal- 
 
 210
 
 A DESERT SCOURGE 
 
 let and his staff. " Thanks again to you," said 
 Bob, laying his hand on Lank s shoulder a mo 
 ment, where Master Trump made a great 
 show of attacking it, but not with much alarm 
 to Bob, who was now on warmest terms of 
 friendship with the wise, weird bird. 
 
 At once they resumed their journey, Bob 
 briefly explaining as they proceeded. The hours 
 wore away, and the little party gradually passed, 
 in thought, from the woes of the unhappy rek- 
 kaJi now beyond all pain and sorrow to 
 their own needs and dangers. They had left 
 the foothills of the lower Atlas range far on 
 their right and now behind them; the surface 
 over which they were passing had lost something 
 of its restless, waving, desert appearance, and 
 was firmer, with ridges of rock protruding their 
 backs here and there, and with patches of fairly 
 arable soil, where hardy shrubs and rather 
 juiceless grasses found a foothold. 
 
 That night they camped under the lee of a 
 large ledge, which served to shelter them some 
 what from a chilly wind which swept down to 
 
 211
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 the sea, after midnight, from the loftier Atlas 
 ranges. 
 
 The next morning saw them starting early; 
 and during the forenoon several human figures 
 and a few camels were seen, far away, singly or 
 in twos, but our friends were not molested. 
 We are getting up to within a twenty miles 
 of Marrakesh " said Sabah; and the good fel 
 low s face showed that he was now much more 
 hopeful. But they were still in the midst of 
 perils of various kinds, as was attested when 
 they paused at noon, near some arar trees, to 
 rest. 
 
 They had settled down and quenched their 
 thirst, and began nibbling at the fragments 
 taken from the rekkah s wallet. Trump was 
 prancing about, picking up a few tidbits here 
 and there, and occasionally coming back to his 
 friends, to pick a little at Lank s scanty portion 
 of food. 
 
 The three lads were talking about the obscure 
 message borne by the rekkah. Each had been 
 pondering upon it, by himself. :< I can t think 
 
 212
 
 A DESERT SCOURGE 
 
 why that poor fellow was sent on so dangerous 
 a journey," remarked Bob. That message to 
 the Khedive amounted to so little. Perhaps the 
 message which he took from the Khedive to 
 that Sheikh Amara may have been more im 
 portant ; it might . . . 
 
 At this point in his soliloquy the American lad 
 suddenly paused, and Lankester Diggles looked 
 at him in wonder, for Bob s face showed every 
 possible mark of fear and horror; he seemed 
 to be staring in terror at some object back of 
 Lank whom he sat facing. At the next mo 
 ment, Sabah, who was seated ten feet away, 
 near the donkey, began to stare likewise, and 
 mutter unintelligible words in Arabic, and then 
 began to creep backwards away from his two 
 companions. 
 
 Lank was mystified, and addressed some in 
 quiry to Bob, then turned his own face and gaze 
 backward, in the direction in which Bob and 
 Sabah seemed to be staring, in that horror- 
 stricken manner. 
 
 One glance over his own shoulder, and his 
 213
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 very blood seemed to freeze in his veins. For he 
 found himself facing and not over five feet 
 separated them a huge snake, raised as for 
 striking, and with red, forked tongue nickering 
 out and in between his thin, cruel lips, like a 
 tiny flame. 
 
 " Buskah! Buskah! " gasped Sabah, and cov 
 ered his eyes with his hands as if to shut out a 
 dreadful sight. 
 
 It was the hooded viper, the Buskah, of the 
 desert, which now threatened the British lad 
 with a horrible death. The venomous reptile 
 was nearly black in color, and fully seven feet 
 long, and, in his largest part, four inches 
 through. He was in coil, and his head was 
 raised above the coil about three feet. It was 
 his head which presented the most fearsome as 
 pect ; for this deadly reptile, when angered and 
 about to strike, swells its neck and head to quite 
 twice their natural size; and this distortion 
 gives it, in appearance, what it has in reality, a 
 quality of demonic energy and fury. 
 
 Into the eyes of this serpent Lankester 
 214
 
 Sheikh Abdul stepped outside the line of camels, and 
 advanced slowly toward him 
 
 See page 126
 
 A DESERT SCOURGE 
 
 Diggles found himself gazing ; his sitting po 
 sition brought his own face and eyes just level 
 with the reptile s. The sturdy British lad had 
 good nerves, but he gasped in silent horror, as 
 he saw what threatened him. He had heard of 
 this species of reptile; Sabah had related one 
 or two stories about it, as the three journeyed 
 along; and now the Jewish lad s evident terror 
 confirmed what he had said about the deadly 
 nature of the creature. 
 
 It was like a tableau ; for one or two seconds 
 the three lads scarcely moved; Lankester, in 
 deed, moved not a fraction of an inch ; he knew 
 that only some slightest act on his part was 
 needed to act like a hair-trigger on the situa 
 tion; by the mere turn of a hair that black 
 demon with his swollen head and baleful eyes 
 would be led to launch himself like a flash across 
 the slight space, and fasten his deadly fangs on 
 head or neck of his victim, and then . . . 
 
 In that instant of impending, terrifying peril 
 Bob Laurie learned how much he cared for 
 uncouth, faithful Lank; he would have thrown 
 
 215
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 himself into the circle of danger willingly, but 
 any movement, even by him, might simply has 
 ten the thrust of that horrid, shapeless, swaying 
 head. 
 
 But a rescuer was at hand; nay, shall T not 
 say above and around them ? They heard a rustle 
 of wings, and Bob knew what that meant ; then 
 a dark gray mass of feathers and beak and 
 claws hurled itself across Bob s field of vision, 
 and, in one instant more, claws of steel were 
 fastened in the inflated neck of the deadly 
 buskah, and a black beak which was like iron 
 struck again and again at the top of that mon 
 strous head. 
 
 Probably Trump had never learned, with all 
 his Oxford education, the best method of at 
 tacking a large, venomous serpent, but he may 
 have inherited some instincts from ancestors 
 who struggled for existence in the dense forests 
 of the Congo, and he may have evolved some 
 of the methods in his own clever mind. At any 
 rate he had done the one thing which was safest 
 and surest. Seeing his master in peril, he had 
 
 216
 
 A DESERT SCOURGE 
 
 struck at the danger-point, but had struck with 
 wisdom. 
 
 " O Trump ! " burst out Bob, leaping to his 
 feet, as the parrot bowled over the serpent 
 by his fierce attack. " O Trump ! You are a 
 trump ! " 
 
 The two combatants rolled in the sand, stir 
 ring it into a miniature sand-storm. The buskah 
 was thrown out of coil, and now lashed about, 
 vainly trying to bite his foe, and vainly trying 
 to throw coils about him. But Trump held on, 
 now being above and now under the horrid 
 head, but always holding fast with those keen, 
 steel claws, and most industriously digging 
 away with that iron beak. 
 
 The lads were now all on their feet; and 
 Lank stood with the camel-stick upraised, and 
 Bob stood with the rekkah s long staff likewise 
 upraised. Each was waiting for an opening; 
 and it came a moment later, as the buskah, for 
 an instant, straightened out his seven feet of 
 horrid body. Whack! Whack! came the 
 blows from the two clubs. And yet again they 
 
 217
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 crashed down, and the deadly reptile lay help 
 less; and Trump, with a shrill and unusual 
 cry, showing how wildly excited he had been, 
 wheeled upward into the air, circled about, 
 then cracked whips at a tremendous rate. 
 
 218
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 ENTERING THE LION S DEN 
 
 The danger was over. Death had been 
 warded off. The venomous buskah, the hooded 
 viper, " Scourge of the desert," had been re 
 duced to a mass of shapeless, quivering flesh. 
 And the three lads now breathed freely, and 
 were glad that so awful a fate had been averted. 
 
 " Well, Bob, you must have the strength of 
 a giant," laughed Lankester. You have actu 
 ally smashed that heavy staff." 
 
 Bob did not reply. He was engaged in ex 
 amining the rekkatis staff. " By all the saints," 
 he exclaimed, " the thing is n t solid, like your 
 stick; it s hollow at this end. What! Why 
 Lank, it was made hollow on purpose, and here 
 is a scrap of paper, hidden away inside." 
 
 Needless to say, all three young fellows were 
 alert with curiosity. Bob drew out the scrap of 
 
 219
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 paper, and unrolled it. " It is the Khedive s! " 
 exclaimed Sabah. " See the seal with its black 
 circle inside a red square." 
 
 "It looks like it," confirmed Bob. "That 
 Khedive of yours, Lank, your friend the 
 Khedive, sends a message on his own sealed 
 paper, ancl also carefully sends a blank paper 
 for an answer, so it seems. But here, Sabah, 
 what does it say? " 
 
 Sabah took the paper and read, twice over, 
 its brief statements ; then he translated aloud : 
 
 From Sidi Mohammed Amara, Sheikh of the 
 Souss, to the Ineffable, the Khedive, the rightful 
 Sultan, greeting! Guns recovered from the wreck; 
 no powder good; but five hundred armed men will 
 wait one mile outside Bab-el- Aghmot [the southeast 
 ern gate], on the night of the Khamis [fifth] market- 
 day. 
 
 Bob looked at Lank, and both then looked in 
 quiringly at Sabah; they both felt that they 
 must rely upon him ; and well they might ; for, 
 in every respect, Sabah proved himself a true 
 and grateful friend. " When will that come? " 
 asked Bob. "That market-day?" 
 
 220
 
 ENTERING THE LION S DEN 
 
 " I am not sure," was Sabah s reply, as he 
 pondered. "I have not keep time; much 
 happened." 
 
 " Right you are," declared Bob, vigorously. 
 " A great deal has happened." 
 
 Yes, much happened," went on the young 
 Jew. But Khamis not yet, I think. Rekkah 
 not dead long time; see? We march quickly. 
 Khamis market-day come, I think, in week, 
 perhaps, or half week." 
 
 " That seems rather likely," assented Lank. 
 " Anyway, Sabah, we must get along to Marra- 
 kesh [Morocco City] as fast as we can. We 
 can tell about the days and market-days when 
 we arrive there." 
 
 " Yes, your friend the Khedive will probably 
 give us plenty of information," chuckled Bob. 
 " I wish I felt surer than I do," he added more 
 seriously, " of the sort of reception he will give 
 us. It looks as though things were near an 
 over-turn; but perhaps it will be an under- 
 turn, with well the Khedive underneath." 
 
 The little caravan with its three human 
 221
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 beings and a camel, a donkey, and Trump 
 who was in a class by himself now set itself 
 in motion. Sabah knew his whereabouts per 
 fectly well. And, in an hour more, as our 
 friends topped a small ridge, which lay in their 
 path, Sabah paused and pointed out to them 
 the white-walled city of Morocco, called Marra- 
 kesh by Moors and Arabs. The city, as they 
 could now make out, was flanked on one side 
 by great groves of date-palms, and the slopes 
 of the lower Atlas chain came down almost to 
 the gates. The most obvious feature of the 
 scene, as they advanced, was the Koutoubia, 
 the Mosque of the Book-Sellers, with its rec 
 tangular tower over two hundred feet high, 
 surmounted by a gilded globe which flashed in 
 the sunlight. 
 
 Their spirits had risen rapidly, as they came 
 out more and more from the dismal, deadly soli 
 tude of the red desert. They were uncertain 
 about the sort of reception they would meet 
 at the Khedive s hands, and uneasy about the 
 revolt against his brother the Sultan, but at 
 
 222
 
 ENTERING THE LION S DEN 
 
 least they would find human habitations, with 
 dwellers therein, and the terror of the limitless 
 desert would be left behind. 
 
 The character of the soil beneath their feet 
 had now changed greatly and became more 
 loam-like in texture. One or two villages, 
 douars, were now within their circle of vision, 
 and to one of these Sabah betook himself, alone, 
 carrying a solitary silver piece, a Spanish coin, 
 which Bob had found in the lining of his coat. 
 " I go, self," explained the faithful fellow, " and 
 buy things. You wait here." 
 
 It turned out that he knew the Sheikh of this 
 village, and he was able to bring back to the 
 two boys what seemed to them the most de 
 licious food they had ever eaten, so piquant a 
 sauce is hunger. He brought some milk in a 
 leather bottle, some pieces of boiled mutton, and 
 some boiled wheat. Not a luxurious repast, 
 when judged by Boston or London standards, 
 but luscious indeed to the nearly famished young 
 fellows, who eagerly and tremblingly seized 
 
 and devoured it. 
 
 223
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Then, after a slight rest, on they plodded 
 toward the city. Soon they reached the river 
 Neffys, which is born high among the snows 
 of the Atlas peaks, and here the poor donkey 
 quenched a thirst which had parched his insides 
 for days. The camel also could replenish his 
 inner cistern that wonderful provision of 
 nature for a dry, desert life. 
 
 Bob s spirits were returning, and he cracked 
 jokes right and left, in which respect he was 
 rivaled by Trump, who, sometimes on one and 
 sometimes on another of the bipeds and quad 
 rupeds of the company, and often in the air, 
 - fairly exhausted all his resources, linguistic 
 and histrionic, always interspersing freely the 
 cracking of whips which he had learned from 
 the stable-boys at the Mitre Inn, at Oxford. 
 
 It was at this point in their journey that the 
 two boys saw, for the first time, the famous 
 argan trees with which every traveler along 
 the west coast of Morocco is familiar. Lank 
 was the first to notice them. " See there ! " he 
 cried to Bob. " Look at those trees, over there. 
 
 224
 
 ENTERING THE LION S DEN 
 
 What in the dickens are those things moving 
 about in the branches ? " 
 
 AncI Bob looked, and could see some sort 
 of creatures up among the branches. " What 
 are they, Sabah?" he inquired. You are 
 showing off this benighted region, I believe, 
 to us visitors." 
 
 " Argan trees and goats," replied the older 
 lad, readily. We go nearer, then you see." 
 And they did see, more clearly, soon. The 
 argan trees from which the argan nut is 
 obtained, and hence argan oil, used lavishly in 
 all Moroccan cookery were sturdy growths, 
 looking like oak trees, and with lower branches 
 sweeping the ground. The goats, sure-footed 
 creatures, readily climb upon the limbs and 
 make their way quite high up into the trees, 
 eating the nuts, and afterward nimbly de 
 scending to the ground. 
 
 The sight of these large, four-footed 
 creatures, ten and twenty feet high, among 
 branches and foliage, was amusing to our 
 two friends, and was puzzling to Trump, who 
 
 225
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 hovered about the tree, making remarks of a 
 distrustful character. 
 
 Although Bob and Lankester felt distinctly 
 hopeful, now, as to their ultimate deliverance 
 from their perils, and their faces showed this 
 altered state of mind, Sabah, on the contrary, 
 seemed depressed; and Bob now asked him 
 about this. " I say, Sabah, what s on your 
 mind? Are you sorry to get away from that 
 Sea of Red Sand [as the Moors call it] ? " 
 
 Sabah shook his head, and smiled. " Ah, 
 no," was his reply; "I rejoice, but I dread. 
 Listen!" 
 
 And the two lads waited, with some wonder, 
 to hear what their friend had to offer. 
 
 " I go not with you into Marrakesh. Not 
 safe for me. Two year past Moor nearly kill 
 me there. Say will kill if sees me. He cheat 
 me, and threaten to stab, and I complain to 
 Consul. Then Moor try kill me. If I go in, 
 he try kill again." 
 
 Bob Laurie was accustomed to believe that 
 it took two to make a quarrel, and that there 
 
 226
 
 ENTERING THE LION S DEN 
 
 was usually blame on both sides of any con 
 troversy or fight. So he asked : " But did n t 
 you try to cheat him, Sabah, first ? " 
 
 At this pointed question Sabah hesitated. 
 Then he replied, doggedly: "In Morocco you 
 must cheat or die, starve. Moor cruel, and 
 kill or put in prison. Jew cheat Moor, but not 
 cheat Jew or friend." 
 
 " There you have it, Lank," said Bob. " A 
 strange standard of morals. I m glad I don t 
 have to decide such fine questions. These 
 Moors, though, as I saw in Tangier, are dread 
 fully harsh and cruel to all Jews ; yet the Jews, 
 by their shrewdness, keep ahead of the game, 
 and gather wealth. But we must listen further 
 to Sabah." 
 
 " I go not into the city," continued the young 
 Jew ; " but I send message to my friend Abra 
 ham Chergis, in the city. A Jew he is ; he my 
 friend, you my friends, so he your friend." 
 
 That s easy arithmetic," remarked Bob. 
 " It sounds like the rule Things equal to the 
 same thing are equal to each other. 
 
 227
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Then Lankester interposed gravely, " But 
 who will take your message? " 
 
 " A man there," responded Sabah, swinging 
 his hand over toward a rather large village, a 
 mile or two away. " I know men there. Have 
 trade with them. Very good. Now you listen. 
 I go there and see man and give message; I 
 buy also Moorish clothes for you; better go 
 into the city like Moors; city partly kind, 
 friendly, partly cruel to Nasrani [Christians]. 
 You put on clothing of Moghreb al Acksa 
 [Morocco] and I go to gate with you." 
 
 " Yes, that sounds well," rejoined Bob, feel 
 ing carefully in his pockets and linings. : But 
 where s the money to pay for these things. 
 Got some concealed in your clothing, Sabah ? 
 
 This sally was a trifle humorous, as poor 
 Sabah had on only a much-torn jellebeeah; but 
 he knew what he was talking about, for he 
 turned and pointed toward the camel and the 
 donkey. " There your money," said he, and 
 paused. 
 
 " O, I see," was Bob s surprised comment. 
 228
 
 ENTERING THE LION S DEN 
 
 " I think he s about right, Lank. I believe 
 that the camel belongs to us. Sheikh Abdul is 
 not likely to call for it, and even if he did, we 
 could offset his claim with a pretty good one 
 of our own. But, I say, Sabah, if the camel 
 is ours, then the donkey is yours ; how s that ? " 
 
 " If you say so," replied Sabah. Truly the 
 donkey and Sabah both belong to you two ; you 
 saved them, and " 
 
 " O, pshaw ! " broke in Bob, impulsively. 
 You have saved us just as much as we saved 
 you. Anyhow, the donkey is yours ; is n t he, 
 Lank?" 
 
 " He certainly is," affirmed Lank, heartily. 
 " But I say, let s send Sabah straight away on 
 the errand he describes. We must get to 
 the city as soon as possible." 
 
 So, all being agreed, Sabah hastened away 
 with the camel, and Bob felt a touch of regret 
 at seeing the sturdy old quadruped marching 
 stolidly away from them just as he had marched 
 with them through the long, tedious days and 
 
 nights. 
 
 229
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 The donkey Sabah left with them, having 
 planned to use the patient little beast in his later 
 journeying. And the two lads, with Trump, 
 and the donkey, settled down under the shade 
 of a clump of luxuriant oleanders and rested, 
 which was the best thing they could have 
 done under the circumstances. That is to say 
 all except Trump, who never seemed to need 
 rest, mentally or physically. 
 
 Sabah was gone nearly five hours. Trades 
 and all kinds of negotiations proceed very 
 slowly in Morocco, as Bob knew; and he 
 could fancy the long exchange of offers and 
 refusals and " beating down " in price, which 
 was going on between the shrewd, young Jew 
 ish lad and would-be purchasers. 
 
 At last he returned, and he had been suc 
 cessful. He had sold the camel at a good 
 price, and had brought back two full suits of 
 Moorish garments, and a sum of money, and 
 a knife. " Each of you have knife, now," he 
 remarked, coolly. " Good to have knife, in 
 
 Marrakesh." 
 
 230
 
 ENTERING THE LION S DEN 
 
 As he was handing over the money, about 
 twenty dollars, left from the sale of the camel 
 after the amounts for the clothing had been 
 subtracted, Bob suddenly stopped, and ex 
 claimed : " But, I say, Sabah, why in the 
 world did n t you buy a good new suit for 
 yourself? " 
 
 " Money not mine," was the lad s concise 
 reply. "How could?" 
 
 Bob burst into a laugh, and laid his hand 
 on Sabah s shoulder. " Well now, I say, if 
 that s all, we can settle that. Here ! Take 
 five of these Spanish dollars and stock yourself 
 up! Really, your appearance [here the high- 
 spirited young American boy put on an expres 
 sion of much solemnity and protest] is not 
 quite respectable." 
 
 The three laughed, and Lank said that Bob 
 would be wishing to get the donkey and even 
 Trump into costumes, if he kept on. Then 
 the new clothing was put on, and Lank and 
 Bob paraded up and down, laughing at each 
 other, and trying the Arabic salutations, 
 
 231
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Salaam Aleikoum and Bismillah, with gruff 
 tones and as much of the harsh, Arabic, gut- 
 teral sounds as they could command. 
 
 One piece of advice Sabah gave to them. 
 You go as Moors, partly," he said, " and 
 partly perhaps not. Anyhow, talk little; give 
 salutations, then mumble, mumble, some so," 
 and the clever lad emitted a series of mum 
 bling sounds, as an illustration. " Your faces 
 and hands now dark enough. You go like 
 Moors perhaps." 
 
 " All right," cried Bob, now a bit impatient. 
 " Off we go. School is closed." And they set 
 out, walking more rapidly over the firmer 
 ground, and approached the city. People of 
 various races and shades of color were in 
 creasingly numerous around them now; but 
 the boys seemed to be quite secure in their 
 disguise, chiefly because they avoided any near 
 approach to all whom they met. 
 
 I have been wondering a bit," remarked 
 Bob, as they proceeded, " about that genuine 
 message of the rekkah s. I have it in my 
 
 232
 
 ENTERING THE LION S DEN 
 
 pocket, and the Khedive is probably uneasy 
 about it. He can keep on being uneasy, for all 
 I care. But how about that band of Arabs 
 under Sheikh Mohammed Amara? I suppose 
 those may be the very hills, over there [point 
 ing to a range, on the southeastern side of the 
 city], behind which he will await a signal from 
 the Khedive. Well, they can both wait ; much 
 good will it do them." 
 
 " Not wait long/ was Sabah s wise com 
 ment. " Sheikh Mohammed not wait long." 
 
 " What else will he do? " asked Bob. 
 
 " He turn about, and * eat up villages, one, 
 two, more, and carry off plunder to Souss 
 land." 
 
 " Eat up ? What do you mean ? " asked Bob, 
 curiously. 
 
 " Say Eat up in Morocco," explained Sa- 
 bah, "when kill and burn all, men, women, 
 houses; carry off sheep and goats and camels." 
 
 " It is a charming country," was Bob s face 
 tious comment. " So peaceful, and favorable 
 for a long, happy life. I think I 11 come here and 
 
 233
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 become a citizen. But here we are, nearing the 
 city. I suppose that gate is the one where we 
 ought to enter." 
 
 Yes, over there," Sabah pointed out; 
 and a few minutes later he stopped them 
 and took his leave of them, with a warm hand- 
 grasp to each, after the European fashion, with 
 tears in his eyes, and with a half-choking bles 
 sing invoked upon them, in Hebrew. 
 
 Whereupon Lank and Bob with Trump 
 partly concealed in a fold of his master s haik, 
 the flowing, sheet-like, outer Moorish garment 
 - walked on, very slowly, as Moors and Arabs 
 always move, entered the lofty arched gate 
 way, and found themselves amid new and not 
 very promising surroundings. It was near the 
 time of sunset, and the great, iron-bound gate 
 was closed by a black-skinned porter just after 
 they entered. " I don t half like this," remarked 
 Bob, glancing about him at the staring and 
 often scowling faces. " It seems too much like 
 walking straight into the lion s den." 
 
 234
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE WILES OF THE KHEDIVE 
 
 Well might our young friends, Bob Laurie 
 and Lankester Diggles, feel as if, with the clos 
 ing of that great gate, they were shut in, some 
 how, from the free open country, and were 
 within prison walls. The city wall of Marra- 
 kesh is twenty-three feet high and over four 
 feet thick. Like the houses the walls are built 
 of tabbia, which means " mud," in Arabic, 
 and is a mixture, in equal parts, of lime, clay, 
 and pebbles, rammed into wooden molds, and 
 dried, the molds then being raised higher, for 
 a new deposit of the tabbia. 
 
 The boys walked on through the streets, mov 
 ing slowly, but really with great nervousness 
 and anxiety. Sabah had told them how to 
 reach the mellah, or Jewish quarter of the 
 city, where his friend Abraham Chergis 
 
 235
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 lived. But, in fact, they wished most to find 
 some house or public building which was the 
 office or dwelling of a consul; whether Ameri 
 can or British, or even French or German mat 
 tered little. 
 
 " It seems to me that these streets are about 
 the filthiest places I have ever seen," remarked 
 Bob, as he jumped over a pool of scum-covered 
 water, where floated some carrot tops and a 
 dead rat. He nearly lost off his new slippers, 
 as he executed this jump, for he had not be 
 come used to them. 
 
 At an open place, just beyond, where three 
 narrow streets met, a wild looking Arab was 
 playing a shrill flute, and naked children were 
 dancing and chanting. Sabah had warned them 
 to avoid crowds, and wisely so, as all travelers 
 in barbaric Morocco well understand. So 
 they turned into one of these narrow streets 
 and went on. 
 
 As the noise of the flute-playing and singing 
 became fainter behind them they noticed singu 
 lar sounds up in the air, like the striking of two 
 
 236
 
 THE WILES OF THE KHEDIVE 
 
 pieces of wood together ; and in a few moments 
 they made out the cause of these sounds. They 
 saw that they came from the storks, which are 
 very numerous in Marrakesh ; and they sit upon 
 the housetops and seem to converse with one 
 another by clapping their two large, long mandi 
 bles together. These storks act as scavengers, 
 in fact, and are held as sacred by the Moors. 
 
 The progress of our young friends down this 
 street, or lane, was now barred by a gate. Many 
 of the narrow streets are closed, at the ends, at 
 nightfall, by gates, so that no general rioting 
 may take place throughout the whole of this tur 
 bulent city. "No further in this direction!" 
 remarked Lank, cheerfully, as always. " Well, 
 we will try another." So back they went, keep 
 ing in the middle of the street, lest some stealthy 
 blow should be dealt them from a doorway. 
 They had no time to use in looking into the tiny 
 shops which lined some of the streets. They 
 must find some Consul or European merchant, 
 before the full darkness of night came down 
 upon them. 
 
 237
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Presently Bob suggested, " I think I will ask 
 that tall, well-dressed Moor just over there. 
 It s our only way. What was that word, Lank, 
 that Sabah told us ? The word O, Basha- 
 dor, that s it. It s short for Embassador, 
 he said, and has got itself fixed in Moorish par 
 lance for any European official." 
 
 Then he walked up to the dignified, well- 
 garbed Moor, and gave the Salaam Aleikoum, 
 and then asked " Bashador fane [where] ? " 
 
 The man addressed smiled under his low- 
 hanging turban, and made some unintelligible 
 reply, then beckoned them to follow. They 
 complied, and he led them through street after 
 street; and now the darkness had come, and 
 everything took on a strange and threatening 
 aspect; they felt their utter helplessness, and 
 almost regretted that they had come in off the 
 wide, quiet ranges of the red desert. 
 
 At this point Trump pushed his head out 
 from beneath the folds of Lank s haik and made 
 a remark, in English, in his deepest and most 
 solemn tones; whereupon their guide seemed 
 
 238
 
 THE WILES OF THE KHEDIVE 
 
 startled, looked around, stared about him, then 
 pushed ahead more rapidly than before. 
 
 At last the man entered an especially narrow 
 and filthy lane, and paused before a plain wall 
 of tabbia, in which was one small door. It was 
 the wall of a house, without windows toward 
 the street, but opening on a hollow square in 
 the middle called a patio, from the Spanish 
 language. 
 
 " Tala hennah ! " said their guide, opening 
 the door and entering a long, dark passage 
 way ; and there was nothing else to do but fol 
 low him. 
 
 Up some stone steps they stumbled, and then 
 on into a long, square room with a grated 
 square opening above, in the ceiling, and with 
 small rooms opening out from it. The ceiling 
 and walls were grayish in color, with ara 
 besques in green and gold; several doorways 
 led from this central room, and one of them 
 had, in addition to the door, a portiere of car 
 peting, beautifully designed, extending nearly 
 but not quite to the top of the doorway. There 
 
 239
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 were glazed tiles let into the floor, a table or 
 two, a desk, and some divans or couches 
 against the walls, and a few rugs on the stone 
 floor. 
 
 No sooner had our young friends set foot 
 in the room than their turbaned guide backed 
 out through the door where they had entered, 
 and the boys heard the ominous sounds of bolts 
 being shot across that door. " By St. George 
 and the dragon," exclaimed Bob, under his 
 breath ; " I believe we ve been totally and tee- 
 totally fooled. Did you hear those bolts, Lank ? 
 We re captives again, only in a different way." 
 
 Lank took a good look around him, by the 
 light of two oil lamps which hung above. 
 " This does n t look like the house of a consul, 
 of any European consul." 
 
 At one corner of the room a narrow and al 
 most vertical staircase rose up to a sort of sky 
 light in the roof; and Bob at once started to 
 investigate: Lank followed, and they issued 
 upon the roof and could look over the city and 
 down into a garden behind the house. But 
 
 240
 
 THE WILES OF THE KHEDIVE 
 
 what struck Bob was that this house was one 
 of a group, and all were shut off from other 
 houses, either by a high wall, or by the side- 
 walls of the houses themselves. " I tell you 
 what," exclaimed Bob, " we are in the Kasbah 
 [castle or citadel] of either the Khedive or the 
 Sultan. Lank, we re caught, and no mistake. 
 I never " 
 
 A noise in the room below interrupted him, 
 and they both went back down the staircase 
 and found somebody awaiting them. 
 
 It was a man, garbed like a Moor, dark 
 skinned, but speaking English readily. He 
 rubbed his hands together and bowed, in an 
 obsequious way, and said, " I am Alvo, Sefior 
 Alvo, at your service. In the Khedive s absence 
 I welcome you. Will you have food? Yes, I 
 know you will." And, without waiting for a 
 reply, he vanished through one of the doors. 
 
 Instantly Bob sprang to the door and tried 
 it; it was fast; not an inch could he open it. 
 " I thought I heard a spring-lock snap," said 
 Lank, coolly. " Well, we re here, for the pres- 
 
 241
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 ent." Then he took Trump out from under 
 his haik and, opening a rather deep drawer in 
 one of the tables, put the bird in, telling him to 
 go to sleep. 
 
 " I don t half like that Alvo, that Spanish 
 chap half Spanish and half Moor, or Arab, 
 probably " said Bob. " He is too glib and 
 too humble. When a man gives his hands so 
 much dry-washing unless he s out on the 
 desert I suspect him of fraud." 
 
 After a moment or two of wandering about 
 the spacious apartment Bob continued : " It 
 strikes me that we were expected here; that is 
 to say, everything seems so ready for us that 
 I think the Khedive or some minion of his 
 spotted us as soon as we entered the city, and 
 this little plot was fixed up. Think so, Lank? " 
 
 " It looks like it. But sh - - ! This chap, and 
 perhaps others, can understand English; we 
 must be more careful than when among Souss 
 Arabs." 
 
 The door opened, and Alvo as he called 
 himself entered, followed by two black ser- 
 
 242
 
 THE WILES OF THE KHEDIVE 
 
 vants, or slaves, probably the latter, who 
 bore wicker stands, and trays containing food 
 and drink. There was the ever-present tea, 
 still simmering over a little charcoal fire; and 
 then some " forced-meat," a kind of minced 
 fowl s flesh which had been molded around 
 some slender sticks and baked. Also some pi 
 geons, fairly floating in argan oil, and a few 
 sweet potatoes. 
 
 The boys had not fully annihilated their pro 
 longed desert fast; and they seated themselves 
 upon the cushions which the black slaves piled 
 up beside the wicker stands, and attacked the 
 food vigorously, despite their anxiety. As soon 
 as they were fairly at work upon their very 
 agreeable task the Spanish-Moorish fellow 
 who remained after the slaves had gone out 
 tried to engage them in conversation. You 
 are travelers here? " he asked, with his elusive 
 smile, and with much rubbing of his hands to 
 gether. " You came to see the country of Mor 
 occo? " Then, as neither of the boys replied, 
 for each was inwardly debating what tack 
 
 243
 
 to take with the man, he went on, smoothly, 
 glibly, insinuatingly, " You have come over 
 from Mogador, or Saffi, perhaps? And you 
 seek the English Consul? " 
 
 His smooth plausible tones angered Bob 
 Laurie. Just like argan oil, and rancid at 
 that! " he remarked afterward, to Lank. But 
 at this point he turned toward the man and 
 spoke out, impulsively, angrily : " See here - 
 Alvo, you call yourself! What s the use of 
 your going on in that fashion, asking questions 
 which you can answer perfectly well yourself? 
 You know who we are and how we came here. 
 Your master, the Khedive, told you to watch for 
 us. Now let s understand each other. You ve 
 got us caged up here; we want to get out and 
 find a consul. When are you going to let us 
 out?" 
 
 If impulsive, outspoken Bob had supposed 
 that the Spanish-Moor would meet him frankly, 
 he had quite mistaken him. Alvo raised his 
 hands and upturned his eyes in protest of his 
 innocence and ignorance. He declared that the 
 
 244
 
 THE WILES OF THE KHEDIVE 
 
 young English gentleman (he thought Bob was 
 English) had greatly misjudged the situation. 
 You have found these doors locked, it is true," 
 he admitted; "but that is only for your own 
 safety. And to-morrow, after a good sleep, 
 you shall both go out into the city again." 
 
 It was a clever rejoinder, and quite closed 
 Bob s lips; although both the lads distrusted 
 him as much as ever. Presently he took his 
 leave, most politely, and they were left for the 
 night. 
 
 They fed Trump, as soon as they were alone, 
 and then made themselves very comfortable 
 among the divans and rugs, finding it all most 
 delightfully luxurious after their deprivations 
 and distresses upon the desert. 
 
 Sometime in the middle of the night Bob 
 awakened. He lay still and listened; then he 
 quietly reached for Lank s hand, and pressed 
 it ; the pressure was returned. Then, in a mo 
 ment or two, they heard as they had heard 
 before a rustling sound not far from them. 
 The lamps had burned down, and the apart- 
 
 245
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 ment was very dim, though not absolutely black. 
 Again that ominous rustling sound, and the 
 boys clinched their hands together and each 
 felt for his knife. Then came a squeak like 
 some animal; a mouse perhaps, in pain. 
 
 At this, Lank, not only anxious for Bob and 
 himself, but for Trump also, shut into the table, 
 a sort of desk or cabinet it was, beautifully 
 carved, Lank sprang to his feet, watchful 
 and defiant. 
 
 As he did so he saw a gliding, snake-like ob 
 ject pass into the area of light on the floor which 
 lay just below the iron-grated aperture in the 
 roof. The creature entered this tract of dim 
 light and disappeared down through a hole in 
 the center of it, which had been made there to 
 carry off rain from above, and water when the 
 room was cleansed. 
 
 246
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 A MESSAGE CONVEYED 
 
 Lank came back to where Bob lay, and sat 
 down. "Did you see what that was?" Lank 
 asked, in whispers. 
 
 " Yes, I did. A snake. A pretty good sizeH 
 one." 
 
 " Fully six feet long, I would say," was 
 Lank s further remark. " And that squeak 
 Hold on ! Let me have a look at Trump ! " 
 And he leaped to his feet and went over to the 
 desk or table and opened the drawer. 
 
 "Time to get up! What a mess!" came 
 Trump s voice, in a sleepy tone. And to the 
 boys the sound was like sweet music; for they 
 had been seized by a sudden fear lest . . . 
 
 " Wahhed, etnen, telatah [One, two, three, 
 in Arabic]," went on Trump, mixing his 
 languages dreadfully. Then " Scratch ! 
 
 247
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Scratch Trump ! " and the clever chap pushed 
 up his gray head and waited for this attention. 
 
 After a little, Lank returned to his divan 
 beside Bob, and the two conversed in low tones. 
 They were both wide awake, and their nerves 
 had been shaken up greatly. That was a 
 snake of good size," said Lank; " and he made 
 way with some poor mouse who was foraging 
 among the remains of our supper. That s the 
 way I figure it." 
 
 " Well, let s be thankful he did n t take 
 Trump, or one of us," was Bob s rejoinder. 
 ;< Do you suppose he was poisonous, like that 
 Buskah, that terrible viper, the Scourge of 
 the Desert ? " 
 
 There s no saying. Anyhow, he has gone 
 now; that mouse or rat will occupy him for a 
 while. But what do you think of our situation, 
 in general ? " 
 
 To this inquiry Bob made reply : " It strikes 
 me like this. Where the Sultan is we don t 
 know. Where the Khedive is we also don t 
 know ; what the relations are, just now, between 
 
 248
 
 A MESSAGE CONVEYED 
 
 | 
 those two, we don t know. Whether or not 
 
 the Khedive is aware of the aid offered him by 
 the Souss Sheikh Mohammed Amara, we don t 
 know; so you see the things we don t know 
 would fill a volume; then, as to probabilities, 
 I think the Khedive knows about the wreck of 
 the Saucy Kate, and the failure of that expe 
 dition; very likely he learned about our transfer 
 to Sheikh Abdul, and has guessed at our es 
 cape, and is fairly sure who we are. The one 
 point where he is uncertain is regarding our 
 knowledge of him and his conspiracy against 
 his older brother, the Sultan. Also he is anxious 
 as to whether we will Tell on him/ as chil 
 dren say. If he thought he had reason to fear 
 what we might say or do, he would bow-string 
 us in a jiffy. At the same time he would rather 
 not put us to death, because he might be called 
 upon to explain our sudden disappearance ; for 
 we have been seen, here in the city, by a good 
 number of people, any one of whom might re 
 port about our presence here to some official 
 or some European. So that s about the way 
 
 249
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 I figure the thing out, Lank. How does all 
 that strike you ? " 
 
 " I believe you ve got close to the truth of 
 the situation," was Lank s comment. " The 
 Khedive is in a state of uncertainty. He s on 
 the fence, as you Americans say." 
 
 " Yes, he does n t know which way to jump," 
 added Bob, with a quiet chuckle. " That s the 
 rest of the saying." 
 
 " Quite so," continued the English lad. " I m 
 not sure whether or not I would recognize him 
 if I saw him; or whether he would know me. 
 That point might make some difference in his 
 action toward us. But let s try to go to sleep ; 
 we need to ; you sleep and I 11 stand watch, 
 as we say on board ship; or, if you are not 
 in the least sleepy I think I can get forty 
 winks, and by that time you may feel more 
 like it." 
 
 So they divided into " Port " and " Star 
 board " watches. Bob took the first watch, 
 an hour long, or as near to it as he could guess ; 
 and Lankester, with his more seasoned nerves, 
 
 250
 
 A MESSAGE CONVEYED 
 
 was soon fast asleep. Bob was very wakeful. 
 The sight of that gliding sinuous creature, so 
 silent yet perhaps so venomous, had got on his 
 nerves. 
 
 The night wore away; and, in the morning, 
 when Alvo came with the slaves and some kous- 
 kous (boiled fowl and boiled wheat), Bob at 
 once informed him about their ugly midnight 
 visitor; whereupon that Spanish-Moorish in 
 dividual burst into a laugh ; not a hearty, whole 
 some laugh, he never laughed in that way, - 
 but into a noiseless grimace, with a shutting of 
 his secretive eyes which made him look more 
 plausible than ever. " O, that was only Sjit," he 
 explained. You have not him to fear. Sjit 
 is our house-snake. He catch rats and mice. 
 All houses in Marrakesh have house-snakes; 
 quite same as house-cat in England." 
 
 Bob eyed him suspiciously as he spoke; he 
 instinctively distrusted whatever the glib fellow 
 said ; but, in this case, our young friend inclined 
 to think he was telling the truth ; and he recol 
 lected hearing the consul in Gibraltar once 
 
 251
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 say something about this queer Moroccan 
 custom. 
 
 After breakfast Alvo, who seemed devoting 
 himself to their welfare, announced that they 
 were free to go out and see the city. " You 
 shall understand," he remarked, in an injured 
 tone which was only feigned, "that you are 
 not captives ; you are only under the protection 
 of the Khedive, my master. Shall we go out 
 now?" 
 
 Impulsive Bob was on the point of exclaim 
 ing, "Yes, for goodness sake, do let s get 
 out of this prison," but Lank cut in ahead; and, 
 to Bob s mystification, said that in a half-hour 
 they would go out. 
 
 As soon as Alvo had departed, Bob turned 
 to his friend for an explanation. And Lank, 
 glancing about, cautiously, at the several doors 
 around the apartment, went to the desk and 
 took out Trump. He s why I did n t want to 
 go out at this very minute. I think that even 
 keen-eyed Alvo does n t know he is here ; and 
 if we left him here alone you may rest assured 
 
 252
 
 A MESSAGE CONVEYED 
 
 it would be known in ten minutes after we went 
 out. This room, furniture, divans and all, will 
 be searched." 
 
 So speaking, he tore off a strip from under 
 his haik and skillfully fashioned a little hood 
 for Trump s head. " We 11 give him a quieter ; 
 like a falcon I once saw in Devonshire; he 
 does n t talk much, you know, when he is in the 
 dark. There, Mister Trump, you will be quite 
 easy in that ; but we shan t be obliged to listen 
 to too many speeches from you." 
 
 Bob now took from a pocket in his shirt 
 the scrap of paper which contained the real 
 message of the Souss Sheikh to the Khedive. 
 " It strikes me," said the American lad, " that 
 it would be just as well if this were not found 
 on us, in case we were searched. At any time 
 we may be put in chains and treated brutally, 
 and of course, searched, in place of being 
 treated, as we are now, with caution and cun 
 ning. In fact, I think that the Khedive is away, 
 and this smooth Spanish-Moor is simply killing 
 time with us, until his master returns." Thus 
 
 253
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 speaking, Bob tore up the paper into the finest 
 possible fragments, even chewing some of them 
 to a pulp, and carefully dropped them down 
 the hole into which the snake had glided. 
 
 So, a little later, when Alvo re-entered, and 
 again invited them, they were quite ready, and 
 Trump was silent and content under the folds 
 of his master s voluminous garment. 
 
 It was a relief for the lads to find themselves 
 in the open streets once more. Alvo walked 
 with them, and was very attentive, showing 
 them the sights and explaining fully whatever 
 they asked about. In an open square near the 
 lofty Koutoubia they saw some boys playing a 
 game of foot-ball; but the ball was not air- 
 filled; it was heavy, was stuffed with a light 
 grass which grows outside the walls, and was 
 kicked and punched without much organized 
 team-play. 
 
 In a market-place not far within the Bab 
 Aghmat (Southeastern gate), they stopped 
 and watched some of the showmen who were to 
 be seen there. Most of all they watched a wild- 
 
 254
 
 A MESSAGE CONVEYED 
 
 looking fellow who was a snake-charmer. There 
 was a long prelude of shrill, discordant noise 
 from a sort of tambourine and a reed instru 
 ment, and the fakir invoked Allah and Sidi Ben 
 Ai ssa (the patron saint of serpents) to make 
 the onlookers generous in their contributions. 
 Finally he drew from a large leather bag two 
 snakes, about three feet long, and went through 
 the usual program of twining them about his 
 neck, and he even goaded one of them to bite 
 him on his thrust-out tongue. 
 
 It was disgusting rather than exciting, and 
 Bob tired of it soon. So they indicated to Alvo 
 that they would like to move on, and he was 
 not unwilling, for he seemed decidedly restless 
 and nervous, turning his gaze constantly in 
 various directions. 
 
 As for Bob and Lank, they too were restless, 
 and they too turned their gaze ceaselessly in 
 one and another direction. The fact was that 
 Alvo and our young friends were all looking 
 for the same thing; only the boys looked for it 
 with eagerness and hope, and their guardian 
 
 255
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 looked for it with dread ; that is, all three knew 
 that if they happened to meet a European mer 
 chant of high standing, or some consul, that 
 meeting would change the situation of the lads 
 very materially. 
 
 Then, too, Bob and Lank were both glancing 
 around them hoping to see Abraham Chergis, 
 the friend of Sabah. " Don t forget the sign," 
 was Lank s injunction. And at that very mo 
 ment he saw it. 
 
 They had stopped for a moment in front of 
 a shop where several men were working upon 
 the famous Morocco leather, which is known the 
 world over, and emits such a pungent and pleas 
 ant odor ; when Bob, looking back of a man who 
 was pounding vigorously, saw an old, bearded 
 man, in the blue caftan which most Jews wear 
 in Morocco, and this man suddenly laid his fore 
 finger alongside his nose ; first on one side of the 
 nose then on the other. 
 
 That gave Bob quite a start; for it was the 
 signal agreed on with Sabah. This, therefore, 
 must be his friend Abraham Chergis. At once 
 
 256
 
 A MESSAGE CONVEYED 
 
 Bob imitated the signal, but in a casual way, 
 scrutinizing as he did so the shoes and satchels 
 of leather which were in the front of the 
 shop. 
 
 Then our party moved on, and continued their 
 tour of the picturesque city; but the boys had 
 little interest in the strange sights, for they 
 were wildly anxious to get into close touch with 
 their recent ally. Still, they tried not to disclose 
 any evidence of being suddenly excited, and 
 they felt that they must leave to Abraham the 
 decision as to the best means of communication. 
 
 At times Bob glanced back, in their saunter 
 ing, and he saw the graybearded Jew following 
 them; but he saw, also, that the clever Alvo 
 had two other men as his aids, and these two, 
 while appearing to be interested only in their 
 own affairs, really were keeping always not 
 very far from Alvo and his charges. 
 
 Twice the Jew tried to get near them. " He 
 probably will seek to pass some slip of paper 
 to us," conjectured Bob. But he was warned 
 away by Alvo, who would allow nobody to get 
 
 257
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 near the boys, although many Moors and 
 Arabs and Negroes from the South stared and 
 even spit at them. 
 
 This promenade was not highly enjoyed by 
 Bob and Lank. But they kept up a brave show 
 of unconcern, and even asked questions of Alvo. 
 When they entered the gate which opens into 
 the niellah or Jewish quarter of the city, there 
 was less ill-will shown them, but, all the time, 
 they were burning to get into communication 
 with Abraham Chergis. 
 
 At this point, Bob partly because he \vas 
 interested in it, and partly to keep up a pre 
 tense of indifference stopped before one of 
 the singular paper placards, a few inches square, 
 which may be seen on most of the dwellings 
 in the mcllah of Morocco City. Alvo explained 
 this notice to them, even translating the Hebrew 
 in which it was written ; for the Spanish-Moor 
 was an adept at languages. 
 
 " Marrakesh," he said; " it is a place of scor 
 pions. Many here. You have them seen ?" 
 
 " Plenty of them," responded Bob. " Run-
 
 A MESSAGE CONVEYED 
 
 ning around like French toys that wind up; 
 with their tails curled over their backs." 
 
 Yes," resumed Alvo, " and you know they 
 poison. These Jews, they make charm against 
 the scorpions. The high-priest, he make them. 
 Draw picture of scorpion, not good picture, but 
 picture, and write under it so." Here he 
 pointed at the paper before which they three 
 were standing. It ran like this, 
 
 Epicoros V Apretata 
 
 Picoros ^i Pretata 
 
 Icoros ^IN Retata 
 
 Coros BPI Etata 
 
 Oros BIUJO Tata 
 
 Ros pnSl Ata 
 
 Os B I u I^n Ta 
 
 S eraiSijg; A 
 
 And the translation of this magical charm for 
 the confounding of evil-minded scorpions was 
 this : " O scorpion, daughter of a scorpion, be 
 thou accursed by the strength of every power 
 that exists, so that you may not enter this house 
 nor do harm to any child of Israel ! " 
 
 Bob listened, as Alvo read and explained; 
 259
 
 then he asked, " Do you think it keeps the 
 scorpions away, Alvo? " 
 
 But Alvo was too clever to put much con 
 fidence in that sort of thing; he merely laughed, 
 and shrugged his shoulders, as Frenchmen do. 
 But the colloquy was here cut short by the 
 noise and confusion of a street row which sev 
 eral people suddenly engaged in, a rod or two 
 away. 
 
 There was a general mix-up, by three men, 
 with much cursing and some blows. Our young 
 friends gave their full attention to the fighting, 
 as did Alvo also; then, in a moment, Bob saw 
 him give a signal, and the two men who were 
 really acting as a guard for the boys, rushed 
 upon the noisy fighters, and dealt them hard 
 blows with the sticks which they carried. 
 
 At this instant Bob felt some hand touch his, 
 and a slip of paper was thrust into his grasp. 
 
 Like a flash it all became clear to him; the 
 quarrel and fighting had been gotten up to dis 
 tract Alvo s attention and that of the guards; 
 and Abraham or some assistant of his 
 
 260
 
 A MESSAGE CONVEYED 
 
 had found the chance to put a slip of paper into 
 Rob s hand. 
 
 Bob instantly secreted the paper inside his 
 loose dress, and gave no sign of excitement ; he 
 did not even try to communicate to Lank the 
 news of this incident. But he did begin to 
 complain of being tired; and soon suggested 
 that they return to the Kasbah, where was their 
 apartment. 
 
 As soon as the lads were left alone in the 
 apartment, Bob, in a low tone, revealed what 
 had happened. Lank had not perceived it, so 
 swiftly and smoothly it had been done. But, 
 of course, both the lads were tremendously eager 
 to learn what was the message on the scrap of 
 paper. It was their one hope of escape, so far 
 as they could judge. What had Abraham 
 Chergis, faithful friend of their faithful friend 
 Sabah, to say to them ? 
 
 261
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 AN INSIDIOUS ENEMY 
 
 The slip of paper which had been placed so 
 adroitly in Bob Laurie s hand, contained the 
 following brief message, in labored English 
 script : 
 
 "Friends of my friend, be of good cheer. The 
 Sultan is in Fez. He will not be here in Marrakesh 
 until many months. The Khedive is away on ex 
 pedition; he may return soon. No consul except 
 English here has office; he is now in Saffi, since one 
 week. I have to him sent messenger. Be of good 
 cheer. One week; perhaps but half week." 
 
 There was no name signed to this brief letter, 
 but our young friends did not distrust its gen 
 uineness on that account. They knew that the 
 omission of a signature was simply a sensible 
 precaution on the writer s part. There could 
 be no reasonable doubt but that the wise, reso 
 lute old Jew who had given them the sign, and 
 
 262
 
 AN INSIDIOUS ENEMY 
 
 had also conveyed to them the letter, was Abra 
 ham Chergis, friend of Sabah, and was bent 
 on doing them a service. 
 
 That seems to be the only explanation," re 
 marked Bob. There is nobody else in this bar 
 barous city who would concern himself with us." 
 
 He says that is, the note says " added 
 Lank, looking the slip of paper over carefully, 
 " that perhaps a week may be needed to get the 
 consul here. I take for granted that he has 
 asked the consul to come; and he will come 
 if " 
 
 "If " echoed Bob, "if he is in Saffi. I 
 hope, with all my heart, that he is there. Things 
 may happen here at any time. I don t believe 
 that Alvo would shrink, one atom, from giving 
 an order for our beheading, or from putting a 
 knife into us, himself." 
 
 " Yes, I m afraid that is about the whole 
 of it," was Lank s gloomy comment. "He is 
 plainly waiting for something; he is killing 
 time, so to speak, instead of killing us. I 
 
 never " 
 
 263
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 At this point the British lad s voice suddenly 
 faltered and his face became strangely pale; 
 then he seemed to gather himself, holding his 
 voice to its path, and setting his features as 
 if in a vise. 
 
 He was facing Bob, and facing also one of 
 the doors, the one which had a rug-portiere 
 hanging over it, in part. The two lads had 
 been talking in very low tones, and Lank now 
 continued, as if finishing his sentence; but he 
 said, instead : " There is a man behind that 
 portiere. The door has opened. I think the 
 man is the Khedive. He is watching us. Do 
 not turn your head. Talk! talk! Let us keep 
 on talking, and more and more loudly, about 
 everything in general. Tell me about your 
 country; Boston, let us say." 
 
 Bob was conscious that his muscles had be 
 come tense, under this startling communica 
 tion, but he took his cue, and began, at first 
 in a low tone, then gradually speaking more 
 loudly: " You see, Boston is one of the oldest 
 cities in the United States; it is situated, as 
 
 264
 
 AN INSIDIOUS ENEMY 
 
 you know, on the seacoast, and it contains 
 many scenes and objects of interest, like Boston 
 Common, the Public Garden, the State House, 
 the Shaw Monument, and Faneuil Hall. When 
 I was a small boy I often coasted on Boston 
 Common and I skated " 
 
 There ! That s enough," interrupted Lank, 
 heaving a sigh of relief. " The door has closed. 
 But I feel pretty sure that it was the Khedive s 
 face I saw. I remember him fairly well. I 
 only wonder if he remembers me, or thinks 
 I remember him." 
 
 He paused and reflected, and Bob said, forc 
 ing a smile : " It s rather important, that is. It 
 will probably be a matter of life or death for 
 us." 
 
 " Perhaps so," assented Lank, who never 
 was quite so ready as was his impulsive com 
 panion to give up hope. : I think that the 
 man behind the rug-curtain did not suspect 
 that I saw him. You took up the talk extremely 
 well." 
 
 Alvo from time to time came in, but he was 
 265
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 so false in his conduct, so plausible in his man 
 ner, that our young friends preferred, usually, 
 to be left alone in their imprisonment; for such 
 they felt it to be. 
 
 The next day Alvo entered, rubbing his hands 
 with more than usual rapidity, and said : " We 
 rejoice. Sidi, our glorious Khedive, has to-day 
 returned from a journey. He will see his 
 his young guests." 
 
 "Guests!" echoed Bob, scornfully, in an 
 undertone. " Better say captives." But they 
 awaited with no little anxiety what the near 
 future would bring to them. They felt sure 
 that now something, good or bad for them, 
 would be done. 
 
 Alvo glided in and out of their apartment 
 several times in preparing and presenting 
 their food. " Sly, treacherous, close-mouthed 
 wretch ! " muttered Bob, and then he added : 
 " I m going to see if I can startle him even 
 one little bit, Lank, out of that smooth self- 
 control of his." 
 
 So, when the soft-footed Spanish-Moor came 
 266
 
 AN INSIDIOUS ENEMY 
 
 again into their presence, our young friend 
 turned to him, and said, " Alvo ! " 
 
 The man turned and looked at him ; the two 
 stood face to face. Then Bob asked suddenly: 
 " Do you know where Sheikh Mohammed 
 Amara is? " 
 
 There was just the slightest possible narrow 
 ing of the eyes no other sign of surprise 
 and Alvo s voice came back in supple cadences. 
 " I know not such a man. Who is he ? " 
 
 Bob, with his frank, outspoken nature, could 
 only marvel at the fellow s self-control. Du 
 plicity was so ingrained in him, deceit was so 
 habitual with him, that nobody could catch 
 him much off his guard. And the American 
 lad merely replied : You beat me. I m not 
 in your class." 
 
 Alvo, with a bland and blank look on his 
 face, turned to his duties, but when his face 
 was averted, a gleam in his eye and a smile 
 of satisfaction showed that he respected and 
 enjoyed his own cleverness. 
 
 After leaving them to themselves for a few 
 267
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 hours, Alvo came in, and announced that the 
 Khedive wished to see his " Guests." At 
 which Bob Laurie sniffed audibly and scorn 
 fully. But they followed him through one of 
 the doors, as he directed, and along several 
 narrow passages. This structure, the Kasbah 
 or castle, evidently was a building of consider 
 able extent. 
 
 At length they merged into a court which 
 was paved with green and red, and had a 
 colonnade around it supported by white pilasters 
 with arches, colored in green and gold. In the 
 middle of the court a fountain of perfumed 
 water sent up a jet ceaselessly, and the odor 
 permeated the entire court. There were 
 framed inscriptions in gold from the Koran 
 on the walls, and Bob noticed a heavy leather 
 whip of braided thongs fastened to one of the 
 pilasters. He could easily guess its use. A 
 number of white mattresses lay about on the 
 tessellated floor, and on one of these, with gaily 
 colored cushions around him, and several 
 black slaves about him, sat a man of perhaps 
 
 268
 
 AN INSIDIOUS ENEMY 
 
 fifty years, full-bearded, turbaned, stout, keen- 
 eyed, and with a crafty expression of features. 
 He was clothed in one great enveloping gar 
 ment of gold-embroidered silk, and his bare 
 feet showed plainly, his embroidered leather 
 slippers standing not far away. At one side, 
 near at hand, where the Khedive had just set it, 
 was a chessboard with chessmen. Evidently 
 he was a lover of the game. For one instant 
 Bob wondered, the chessmen looked so familiar, 
 white and red. Then he remembered how a 
 friend in Gibraltar had explained to him that 
 chess was much played among Arabs, and that 
 the very word " Check-mate " was an altered 
 form of the Arabic words, " Sheikh mat," 
 meaning " the Sheikh is dead." 
 
 Our young friends advanced slowly, and 
 stood in silence a few moments, as the Khedive 
 scrutinized them. The scrutiny was especially 
 trying for Lankester Diggles because he did 
 really recognize the Khedive, yet he knew how 
 important it was that he should not give any 
 sign of this. 
 
 269
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 After a moment or two Bob grew impatient 
 of this Oriental slowness of pace, and broke 
 out : " If you understand English, sir, I wish to 
 ask why my friend and I are detained in this 
 castle." 
 
 A smile slowly spread over the dark, oily 
 visage of the Khedive. " As my honored 
 guests," he replied in excellent English, and 
 bowed. 
 
 I beg your pardon," was Bob s bold en 
 counter, " but we are prisoners, not guests." 
 
 The black eyes searched the lad s face with 
 interest and amusement. He rather liked the 
 spirit of the lad. It was so different from the 
 cringing servility with which he was usually 
 met. Things are not always what they seem, 
 in Moghreb al Acksa " (Moorish name of Mo 
 rocco), he made answer, as if giving out an 
 enigma. Then he added : " Can my young 
 friends cure the sick, or make gunpowder ? : 
 
 For a second Bob and Lank were nonplussed ; 
 but Bob, being an intelligent and well-read lad, 
 quickly framed an explanation in his own mind. 
 
 270
 
 AN INSIDIOUS ENEMY 
 
 All Europeans, as believers in Jesus, who is 
 held by Moslems to have been a great physician, 
 are thought to possess power over diseases. 
 And, as to the gunpowder, there was no doubt 
 but the Khedive, with his ambitious designs for 
 the throne, and perhaps with guns from the 
 wrecked yacht, the Saucy Kate, was much 
 in need of gunpowder. 
 
 Lank glanced at Bob, and left to him the an 
 swering of this double question. And our 
 honest, fearless, young friend did not hesitate. 
 " We can do neither of these things," he re 
 plied. " At least nothing as to the making of 
 gunpowder; and as to curing the sick, we can 
 do only a little." 
 
 A look of disappointment showed itself in the 
 Khedive s face. He rocked slowly backward 
 and forward with his eyes now bent down, and 
 seemed to be pondering some question. Then 
 he abruptly gave a signal to Alvo, and that at 
 tentive and obedient individual motioned the 
 lads to follow him. 
 
 Bob started to protest. " I wish you to 
 271
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 know " But the Khedive raised his palm 
 in command and gave him a savage look which 
 augured ill, and the American lad felt that 
 further talk was useless. 
 
 Back they trailed, in silence, through the nar 
 row, dark stone passages, and presently stood 
 again in their apartment. After a period of 
 silence Bob thought of going up upon the roof, 
 ascending by the little staircase; but he re 
 membered that the door at the top had been 
 fastened, after that first day. 
 
 The boys paced the room and talked, and en 
 couraged each other. Trump, being set free, 
 flew about the place, and joined in the conver 
 sation. Presently the hour drew near when food 
 was usually brought to them, and Lank con 
 cealed his pet in the deep drawer of the desk. 
 Whether or not Trump s presence had escaped 
 the ferret eyes of Alvo, the boys were not sure. 
 It would be Alvo s way, even if he had dis 
 covered the parrot s presence, to conceal his own 
 knowledge of that fact. 
 
 In due time the slaves, led by Alvo, brought 
 272
 
 AN INSIDIOUS ENEMY 
 
 in the food. The boys could not complain of 
 the fare ; it was rich and abundant, but always 
 flavored so strangely of argan oil that they re 
 volted at it, more and more. 
 
 Chickens and pigeons, roasted and boiled, 
 with coarse barley bread and sweetmeats and 
 oranges, this was about the usual menu. As 
 soon as their attendants went out the boys be 
 gan eating, yet not with zest ; each was wrapped 
 in his own gloomy forebodings; even hopeful 
 Lank could not see much that was encouraging 
 in their situation. They nibbled and ate, in an 
 absent-minded way, for some time. 
 
 Suddenly Lankester stopped short in his eat 
 ing, stared at the piece of chicken which he was 
 holding in his fingers, no forks being used 
 in Morocco, and then exclaimed, " Bob, have 
 you been eating some of the chicken? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Bob, now shaking off his 
 brooding fancies, " I think I have eaten a little." 
 And he added, " It has a queer taste Lank, 
 Lank, do you suppose . . . it is . . . 
 
 He did not finish his sentence. Both boys had 
 273
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 the same word in their minds, although they 
 would not speak it. Poison is frequently used 
 in Morocco; and that queer, bitter taste . . . 
 
 No wonder that they both grew pale. And 
 Lank blurted out, with more excitement than he 
 usually showed: " It might have been a good 
 idea, when we were standing so near that 
 treacherous savage, the Khedive, if we had 
 whipped out our knives and settled his account 
 then and there. Only, I suppose, Alvo and 
 those slaves were watching every movement we 
 made." 
 
 They now examined the contents of the 
 " stew " (Kouskous) from which they had been 
 eating, and they believed that neither of them 
 had really consumed, as yet, much of the meats. 
 But they also had little doubt that an attempt 
 had been made to put them out of the way 
 with poison. And this suspicion plunged them 
 into the depths of anxiety. To die, by poison 
 or starvation, that seemed their unavoidable 
 fate. 
 
 274
 
 It came to him as the voice of a djinn 
 
 See page jog
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 Of course there was no more eating, at least 
 of any of the various meats. Both of them 
 broke apart and ate some of the oranges, but 
 examined the fruit carefully, before eating it. 
 Presently Bob said, and he looked pale and 
 haggard, as he spoke, " I m afraid, Lank, 
 . . . I m afraid . . . that I feel a bit, . . . 
 just a bit sick." 
 
 Instantly Lank was all attention; yet he did 
 not wish to encourage his companion if Bob was 
 only thinking he felt what he really did not; 
 fancy is strong in youthful minds. " Are you 
 sure, Bob?" he asked, with sympathy in his 
 voice. 
 
 Bob Laurie compressed his lips and nodded 
 his head. :c It is n t much, Lank, old boy. Don t 
 you be alarmed. It s a pain, inside here, but 
 it s very slight." 
 
 275
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 The situation was a threatening one, sus 
 pense and anxiety enwrapping them; but both 
 lads acted like men, and, while they talked little, 
 the grasp which Lank gave Bob s hand ex 
 pressed much. 
 
 Minutes passed. The pain became no greater. 
 " Eat all the orange you can, Bob," suggested 
 Lank. : We have a plenty of them ; the Lord 
 Almighty made them and they re all right ; but 
 this deadly mixture of argan oil and what else 
 I know not perhaps it is simply the rancid 
 oil that gives you the pain. Is it w r orse ? : 
 
 "No; I m thankful it is n t." 
 
 " Good! O, I m glad to hear you say that." 
 And the two close friends worked away on the 
 oranges, feeling that the juice might possibly 
 correct any poisonous substances already in the 
 stomach. 
 
 An hour passed. A dreary, dismal hour ; yet 
 increasing the boys hopes; for the pain grew 
 no greater, and it even diminished. Bob, cast 
 ing his glance at the uneaten food on the trays, 
 remarked, " That would be good stuff for our 
 
 276
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 house-snake, if he happened to come around." 
 But when Lank went a step further and sug 
 gested that they put the tray down near the 
 drain-hole, in the center of the room, Bob said, 
 " No, Lank, I don t think I would. That chap 
 is entirely harmless, unpleasant neighbor though 
 he is; and somehow I don t feel like poisoning 
 him; he does the best he knows, and that is 
 more than I can say of Khedives and such 
 cattle." So the kind-hearted lad laughed, and 
 his view prevailed. 
 
 Alvo did not break in upon their solitude 
 for nearly twelve hours. " He s giving his 
 poison time to work," remarked Bob, with some 
 spirit. But they suspected that they were under 
 surveillance. Once Lank thought he detected 
 a movement behind the rug-curtain, or porti 
 ere; and once they both caught sight of the 
 shadow of a human head, as it was cast upon 
 the floor by some person who was looking down 
 through the square opening in the roof above 
 them. At sight of this shadow Lankester Dig- 
 gles, with his sailor agility, sped up the stair- 
 
 277
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 case, and tried the roof-door. To his sur 
 prise it was now unlocked ; but, when he lifted 
 it and went out upon the roof, he could see 
 nobody. 
 
 He returned to Bob, who was now quite re 
 covered, and they conferred gloomily. They 
 felt that they were in the toils of cruel foes, 
 crafty and unscrupulous, who would not hesi 
 tate one instant, from any motive of pity, to 
 take their lives by violence; but prudence it 
 must be which guided them, and what they did 
 would be done by wiles. " I think that the 
 Khedive gave up all interest in us," was Bob s 
 suggestion, " when he found that we could not 
 be of service to him in making gunpowder, 
 which he probably needs, or in healing sick 
 people. And he wishes he were well rid of us, 
 too." 
 
 " But, you see," added Lank, " he s got 
 to be able to account for us, in some way, in 
 case the British Consul comes back to the city, 
 or some message comes from the Sultan or that 
 Scottish Kaid, McKenzie, the general-in-chief 
 
 278
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 of the Sultan s army. He helps keep things 
 straight, here in this murderous country." 
 
 When, after long delay, Alvo, the crafty; 
 Spanish-Moor, came in, they received him 
 coldly; but they could not disconcert him. 
 They had discussed the matter, and had de 
 cided not to accuse him outright of having 
 tried to poison them. So Bob said, when Alvo 
 pointed to the food, but little eaten, and asked 
 smoothly why it had not been consumed, 
 " O, we did not care to eat it, you can take it 
 out." And the sly satellite of the Khedive 
 showed no surprise at their action, but ordered 
 the slaves to remove the trays. 
 
 The hard problem faced the lads, after the 
 knave s departure, of what they were to do 
 about food; they must eat something, yet they 
 feared poison. 
 
 Bob Laurie solved it when, in a few hours, 
 Alvo again came in, followed by the silent, black 
 fellows with two trays, covered each by a woven- 
 straw, cone-shaped structure, much like a Swiss 
 bee-hive, and each covered tray placed on a 
 
 279
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 small, low table. Bob solved the difficulty, 
 for he spoke boldly to Alvo and said, as that 
 worthy took off the covers of the trays, " It is 
 good food; excellent. You must eat a little 
 with us ; " and he pointed to the meats, - 
 fairy swimming in their argan oil, and 
 waited. 
 
 For the first time in their acquaintance with 
 the sly, self-controlled wretch they saw him lose 
 his suave, confident, insolent self-assurance. 
 The request took him by surprise, and he cer 
 tainly was not ready to eat that food ; he knew 
 too well what was in it. 
 
 He was not wholly without resources, how 
 ever. And, although his face reddened a little, 
 and he gave a nervous little cough, he thanked 
 them profusely, and laid hold of one of the 
 pigeons. He took it apart it was very thor 
 oughly cooked, after the Moorish custom, and 
 came apart easily and put it to his mouth. 
 He actually bit off a piece, much to the boys 
 surprise. They thought that he would decline 
 to eat ; for they felt reasonably sure that the food 
 
 280
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 was poisoned, and probably more thoroughly 
 than before. 
 
 But, in a moment, the artful fellow s game 
 was apparent. He chewed a little on the piece, 
 then his face clouded, and he seemed to be very 
 angry. He spat the morsel of pigeon back into 
 the dish and exclaimed, with an oath, " That 
 cook shall be flogged. The food is badly 
 cooked. I will see that better food is brought 
 you." And he hastily ordered the slaves to take 
 away the trays; but the boys seized some 
 oranges which had been brought in, and kept 
 them. 
 
 ; Well, that was well acted," exclaimed Bob, 
 as the door closed ; " he really got up a quite 
 respectable bluff." 
 
 Yes, but I m dreadfully hungry," was 
 Lank s rejoinder ; and he added, somewhat rue 
 fully, " We can t go on in this way, long. This 
 is as bad as being out on the desert with the 
 Souss Arabs." 
 
 That s a fact. But we will wait a little. 
 Mark my words, Lank, we will not be left to 
 
 281
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 starve. Our thin bodies would n t show up 
 well if a demand came from the Sultan yes, 
 or the French government that they be 
 shipped to Tangier for inspection." 
 
 In an hour or two Alvo came in again, pro 
 fusely apologizing, and the slaves brought more 
 dishes. Again, with a flourish, he offered them 
 to the hungry lads, and, now being prepared 
 and on his guard, he met their questioning eyes 
 without flinching. " O, you are a wonder ! " 
 ejaculated Bob, under his breath, and almost 
 felt that he himself must be guilty of something, 
 since Alvo seemed so innocent. 
 
 When Bob again firmly requested him to eat, 
 the man coolly took out a leg of a fowl and bit 
 into it with no hesitation. Then Bob quickly 
 reached and took that particular piece from him 
 and said, " That, evidently, is an especially good 
 piece. Now will you please to help yourself to 
 another piece, good Alvo." 
 
 Again came that nervous little dry cough 
 of the Spanish-Moor s; this new turn in affairs 
 baffled him a bit. But he put his hand down a 
 
 282
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 second time to the dish, and he plucked out an 
 other piece, too ; but he hesitated a little before 
 taking it ; evidently he selected from the various 
 pieces. Just as I thought," was Bob s inward 
 comment. " The crafty wretch has put poison 
 into some pieces, and not into others, and stands 
 ready to eat, but ready to select the proper 
 pieces." And, thus reflecting, he again relieved 
 Alvo of the morsel he had just bitten into. 
 
 Three times was this singular act repeated; 
 until Bob and Lank were supplied with pieces 
 of food which they considered safe. And, 
 through it all, the clever knave before them, dis 
 appointed as he must have been at the failure 
 of his scheme, and conscious as he must have 
 been of their knowledge or at least suspicion of 
 his treachery, through it all he kept his free 
 and his calm manner, merely saying, " It is a 
 strange way you have, young friends ; a custom 
 of your country, I suppose." 
 
 " Yes, a custom of our country," replied Bob, 
 with emphasis. " When there is need to exer 
 cise it." 
 
 283
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Taken altogether the interview was extremely 
 constrained. But Bob felt sure that the Span 
 ish-Moor would endure almost any rebuffs, 
 while he waited for his master s secret plans to 
 be carried out. After Alvo had retired, bowing 
 and smiling, Bob sighed with relief. " It s like 
 a game of checkers," he exclaimed, " or 
 chess; with our lives as the stakes. We make 
 a move, then he makes a move, or the Khe 
 dive does ; I wonder what his next move will be ; 
 and I wonder, also, if we will be able to meet it. 
 By the way, Lank, you noticed that set of chess 
 down in the Khedive s apartment? " 
 
 Yes, of course," answered Lank. " And I 
 fairly ached to get hold of it." 
 
 "Why so?" inquired Bob, with a little 
 surprise. 
 
 " Simply because I have played the game a 
 great deal on board ship, and it would serve 
 well to pass the time here. But I don t like to 
 ask any favors of that villainous looking Span 
 ish-Moor. I say, Bob, how long is it since we 
 came into this den? I observe that they don t 
 
 284
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 let us go out any more, into the city. Probably 
 Abraham Chergis is watching for us, and is 
 wondering . . . wondering ... if ..." 
 
 " Yes, he is ; just that," said Bob. " Wonder 
 ing if we are still alive. But let me think; it is 
 . . . one, two, three, four days, I believe, since 
 we were so kindly invited in here." Then they 
 both fell into a gloomy revery; for both were 
 conjecturing as to what had become of the mes 
 senger sent to the consul at Saffi. " Had he 
 reached that sea-port ? Had he found the con 
 sul, or any European of authority ? Had a party 
 started to rescue them ? Would they reach Mar- 
 rakesh and the strong-walled Kasbah before 
 the malignant but cautious Khedive would have 
 carried out his murderous program? " 
 
 These were gloomy reflections; for the lads 
 were in desperate straits. But their revery was 
 interrupted by a noisy outcry which seemed to 
 come from the roof above them. 
 
 Instinctively Lank glanced around for 
 Trump, and could not see him; and at once 
 both boys sprang up the stairway, found the 
 
 285
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 lid-like door to the roof open, and stepped 
 quickly out upon the roof. 
 
 There they at once perceived the cause of 
 the confused outcries. They stopped short with 
 amazement and consternation; for they dis 
 covered Trump and a stork engaged in a 
 vigorous conflict. What had happened was 
 this. 
 
 Trump had taken a good-sized piece of fowl 
 which Lank had given him, and, unnoticed, had 
 flown up upon the roof, there to enjoy his meal. 
 Evidently this stork hungry, like the hun 
 dreds of other storks on the roofs of the city 
 had taken notice of Trump s food and had flown 
 over and tried to get it away. 
 
 Now Trump was a bird of more than aver 
 age intelligence, as we know, and of a fully de 
 veloped sense of right (at least of his own 
 " rights," which is as far as many human beings 
 go). Accordingly when the stork, clacking his 
 great beak, dropped down on the flat roof beside 
 him and tried to seize a piece of the meat, 
 Trump addressed some vigorous remarks to 
 
 286
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 him, probably in several languages, and fluffed 
 his feathers, and made a dive at the intruder s 
 head. 
 
 The stork gabbled incoherently, not being 
 a linguist, like Trump, and struck at his 
 smaller antagonist with his heavy but unwieldy 
 beak; the two fluttered about over the roof, 
 struggling, in this fashion, for a few moments, 
 and then Trump flew back and seized the morsel 
 his rightful property which had been 
 dropped during the fray. 
 
 This was the situation when our young 
 friends entered upon the scene. And the stork 
 had again attempted to gain possession of the 
 coveted morsel, so that the two belligerents were 
 half-hopping, half-flying about, and filling the 
 air with a most discordant clamor. 
 
 Again Trump went at his big enemy, and 
 must have used his beak or claws on him ; for 
 the huge fellow uttered a harsh cry, opened his 
 capacious beak, and closed it on his plucky ad 
 versary; then spread his wings and rose into 
 the air, bearing poor Trump as if at the end of 
 
 287
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 a long pair of tongs, quite helpless, but filling 
 the air with English, French, German and 
 Arabic remarks. 
 
 " By Jove! " cried Bob Laurie, in alarm and 
 distress. " That dreadful old brute has got the 
 best of poor Trump." And he and Lank stood 
 with distress on their faces, and with every 
 muscle strained in eager yet futile action. 
 
 The lads forgot all their own woes in their 
 alarm for poor Trump s welfare. But they were 
 utterly helpless. They could only stand, gasp 
 ing, gripping each other s arm and shoulder, 
 and wait. Never a word did they speak. Their 
 dread was beyond all expression. They loved 
 their winged companion as if he had been a 
 human being and a brother; and they would 
 have risked their lives, then and there, to save 
 him. 
 
 The great stork wheeled about in the air, 
 bearing Trump in a much ruffled condition, as 
 if he had been a frog. The other storks, a 
 score at least of them, on adjacent roofs, 
 seemed to sense the mortal nature of the com- 
 
 288
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 bat, and clacked their beaks excitedly until it 
 sounded, to Bob, like one of the rooms in a 
 cotton-mill, at Lowell, Massachusetts, where 
 the looms clicked and clacked incessantly. 
 
 Presently the anxious boys saw the stork 
 sweep over across the long garden which lay in 
 the depths of the Kasbah group of buildings, 
 and alight upon one of the lofty minarets of 
 the mosque which stood there. 
 
 The next moment, as the lads strained their 
 eyes to catch every least action of either their 
 dear pet or his huge captor, they saw the stork 
 open his ponderous beak and drop its unwilling 
 and vociferous occupant. 
 
 Both boys gave a gasp of relief. But was the 
 parrot uninjured ? Had the huge halves of the 
 stork s beak, like great iron nippers, closed 
 tightly enough on the parrot s body to break 
 any bones ? They had seen Trump clawing and 
 biting at the beak, as he was borne through the 
 air, but attacking in vain, because he could 
 reach nothing except the hard, bony texture 
 
 of the stork s bill. 
 
 289
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 The stork dropped Trump, and the indignant 
 bird fell upon the circular balcony which sur 
 rounded the towers near the summit. 
 
 One instant, and one only, Trump lay there. 
 Then he arose and took wing, and darted at the 
 stork like a thunderbolt. In his previous at 
 tacks, he had merely been annoyed at the big 
 bird s attempt to rob him; but now he was in 
 dignant, and madly angry. He went straight 
 at the stork s neck, fastening upon it and biting 
 it; the stork s powerful beak was no longer ser 
 viceable ; and the bird could only rise in the air 
 and wildly seek safety in flight. But Trump, 
 plying ebony-like beak and steel-like claws, 
 maintained his hold, and cut into that slender 
 neck in less than five seconds. And the boys 
 saw the stork waver in his flight, then his 
 wings drooped, and he fell like a helpless weight 
 to the roof of the mosque; while Trump, emit 
 ting a scream that was like a paean of victory, 
 came plunging straight back to his two friends, 
 and alighted on his young master s shoulder, 
 where he walked up and down, restlessly, and 
 
 290
 
 A BATTLE IN THE AIR 
 
 cracked whips at the rate of thirteen to the 
 dozen. 
 
 " Good boy ! Good boy ! " said Lank, smooth 
 ing the bird s ruffled plumage. " You did up 
 that thief in fine style, my lad." 
 
 But Bob Laurie, who was no less delighted 
 than was Lank, knew more about Moroccan 
 customs than did his companion. And, after a 
 moment or two of general rejoicing, he shook 
 his head and said, " I m a bit afraid, Lank, that 
 Trump may have gotten us into an extra mess 
 of trouble ; and we had enough before, goodness 
 knows. But, in the country of Morocco, and 
 especially in this Marrakesh [this City of Mor 
 occo], the stork is a sacred animal; and nobody 
 ever harms a stork. If you will glance across 
 at the mosque you will see that Muezzin [a 
 priest] ; he was out on that balcony through all 
 the fight, and is in turn staring down at the dead 
 stork on the roof, and also at us and Trump. 
 I fear we may have even greater trouble than 
 we have already had." 
 
 291
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 A LIFE FOR A STAKE 
 
 Trump could hardly be expected, even saga 
 cious as he was, to grasp all the possible results 
 of his duel with the stork. He was extremely 
 well pleased with himself, at present, and bore 
 himself like a conqueror. Presently he spied the 
 morsel of fowl which had been the " bone of 
 contention," and at once settled down to enjoy 
 it. The two boys walked up and down, on the 
 flat roof, and looked off longingly at the open 
 country and the Atlas range in the distance. 
 
 The muezzin had disappeared from the 
 minaret balcony, and the boys were not sur 
 prised to see several Moors, with ropes, climb 
 to the roof of the mosque and bear away the 
 dead body of the stork. It foreboded ill for 
 our young friends, and they looked anxiously 
 off toward the west, toward the coast and the 
 fort of Saffi, thinking that they might see some 
 
 292
 
 A LIFE FOR A STAKE 
 
 signs of an approaching party, such as would 
 accompany the consul when he came. But the 
 only human figures anywhere visible in all the 
 great circle of their vision, were figures draped 
 and hooded in the Moorish fashion; and Bob 
 and Lank knew well that all such persons were 
 probably unfriendly, and could be actively an 
 tagonistic. 
 
 Of course thoughts of possible escape were 
 not wholly out of their minds ; but the distance 
 to the ground, on the only open side, was over 
 forty feet, into the garden, where white-garbed 
 figures were always visible among the orange 
 and lemon trees, servants and slaves, going 
 about from one part to another of the widely 
 spread Kasbah buildings. 
 
 In an hour or two the summons came which 
 both lads expected, although they had not dwelt 
 upon the matter in open speech. Alvo appeared 
 at the door in the roof, beckoned them, and led 
 the way down into their apartment. Then he 
 said, in his sweetest tones, " My lord the Khe 
 dive will see you at once; follow me." 
 
 293
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 The boys glanced at each other. Lank was 
 carrying Trump, and knew that Alvo was en 
 tirely aware of the bird s presence with them, 
 though probably he had not heard any of 
 Trump s vocal performances. As they followed 
 their guide along the narrow stone passage 
 Lank slipped the little hood, which he had made 
 for his pet, over the parrot s head, and, thus 
 reducing him to silence, he stowed him away in 
 an inner fold of his voluminous haik. 
 
 The Khedive was seated much as before, in 
 the court with the splashing fountain, and, in 
 addition to the group of slaves, a file of nearly 
 naked black soldiers stood not far away, with 
 guns and knives. Their equipment as to uni 
 form, and probably as to firearms, was not very 
 imposing, but the boys knew that a keen knife 
 and a strong arm, obedient to the Khedive s 
 will, would be enough to determine their fate. 
 
 The Khedive addressed them, and he smiled 
 more than on their previous audience with him ; 
 but his smile had something in it of evil, of 
 lurking cruelty, which chilled the lads. You 
 
 294
 
 A LIFE FOR A STAKE 
 
 have broken the law of our land," he said, after 
 a preface of hollow compliments ; " and some 
 penalty must be exacted. You know what I 
 mean? " 
 
 Bob acted as spokesman, and made answer, 
 
 I understand well what you mean. I can say 
 
 simply that we were not able to prevent the 
 
 stork s death. We are very sorry that it 
 
 occurred." 
 
 " To be sure," responded the Khedive, pulling 
 at his heavy, black beard in a comfortable way. 
 " But our law about the storks cannot be broken 
 and the offender go unpunished. It was a pet 
 bird of yours, I believe ; a parrot, I judge, from 
 what was told me ? " 
 
 Yes, a parrot; a pet; he is very dear to us 
 both." 
 
 : Has he been with you all the time since you 
 . . . since you became my honored guests ? " 
 
 " He has," Bob replied, briefly; he had made 
 up his mind that words, more or less, counted 
 but little with this Oriental despot, himself most 
 proficient in using words. 
 
 295
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " My trusted secretary here [pointing to 
 Alvo, who stood bowing and smiling and rub 
 bing his hands] did not inform me of your 
 pet s presence with you ; either he did not know 
 or he did not care to keep me fully informed." 
 
 This was said with a sneer, and was a hard 
 thrust at the Spanish-Moor, who became pale, 
 on the instant. Evidently he appreciated his 
 master s unstable temper; but he did not 
 explain. 
 
 After a moment s silence the Khedive asked, 
 " Where is the guilty bird? " 
 
 Then Lank spoke. " Here," he said, touch 
 ing the folds of his garment. 
 
 Take him out," was the smiling Khedive s 
 next order ; and Lank took out Trump, and held 
 him on his hand. The parrot was a bit ruffled, 
 in plumage, after his scrimmage with the stork; 
 still, he was a handsome fellow, with his pearl 
 markings on their smooth slate ground, and the 
 crimson feathers in his tail. The Khedive 
 looked at him, a moment or two, and then said, 
 as coolly as if ordering some koitskous for his 
 
 296
 
 A LIFE FOR A STAKE 
 
 dinner, " Take the creature out into the garden, 
 Alvo, and wring his neck." 
 
 Bob uttered a cry of protest. " O ! O, sir, 
 don t, don t give that order ! He is our . . . 
 
 This pain which he could give the boys 
 seemed to please the Moor, satiated as he was 
 with emotions. He smiled and shook his head. 
 It is the law of the country," he declared. 
 But the boys could see that he enjoyed enforcing 
 such a law. 
 
 Lank said nothing; but he stood up straight 
 and stiff, and Bob knew what was in his mind. 
 He knew, as well as if he could read writing in 
 his brave friend s heart, that he was deliberating 
 whether or not he could get at the Khedive s 
 throat with his knife before anybody could stop 
 him. 
 
 Bob knew that, for he knew how deep and 
 strong was Lank s affection for his pet; but 
 such an act, even if it ended the cruel Moor s 
 life, would end only in the death of Trump, 
 Lank and himself. 
 
 Then an idea came leaping and sparkling into 
 297
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 the boy s mind, and he spoke. " You play the 
 game of chess ? " he asked the Khedive. 
 
 That potentate frowned, but replied that he 
 did. Why did this young fellow intrude such a 
 question ? 
 
 " My friend here also plays," went on Bob, 
 nervously, eagerly. 
 
 The Khedive s face lighted up, and he nodded. 
 " It is a good game." 
 
 " My friend plays well. He plays better than 
 Moors can play," was Bob s next daring ven 
 ture ; and he fairly trembled as he watched the 
 narrowing eyes of the Khedive, and the sneer 
 which settled upon his face at this challenge and 
 almost insult. 
 
 But Bob Laurie had really made a wise move 
 by this challenge, in the game which they were 
 all three playing. The Moor prided himself 
 upon his skill ; he always beat when he played ; 
 naturally; who would dare to play his best 
 with such a despot? Perhaps the Sultan 
 would ! ! ! 
 
 " Bring them ! " ordered the Khedive, point- 
 298
 
 A LIFE FOR A STAKE 
 
 ing to the chessboard and men ; and they were 
 brought; while Lankester Diggles, for a few 
 moments, could not fathom what Bob was driv 
 ing at. 
 
 " Now we play," announced the swarthy 
 Moor, with a genuine smile of satisfaction on 
 his face. " We play, and that bird is the stake. 
 If you win, my young friend, your pet lives; if 
 you lose, . . . well ..." And he twisted one 
 hand with the other, in a wicked fashion. 
 
 Bob was startled, yet knew not whether to 
 rejoice or be alarmed. The Moor had hit upon 
 the very plan which had been in his own thought, 
 and up to which he had been daringly leading. 
 
 Lankester drew a long breath and seated 
 himself on the divan which was brought for 
 him. It was a terrible chance, but it was a 
 chance, anyway; a possible saving of his pet s 
 life; and he tried to recall some of the " Open 
 ings " and " Gambits," which he had once known 
 well, from " Ferguson s Chess Companion." 
 
 The boys did not really draw full breaths; 
 they were shaken with anxiety, and about half 
 
 299
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 confident of victory. At times they had dis 
 cussed the game, so much played by Moors ; and 
 this momentous game, now on, verified the opin 
 ion which they had gained previously. The 
 Khedive was a skillful player, after the Moorish 
 fashion; that is to say he played a keen but, 
 short-sighted game ; Moors seem not to be able 
 to sustain, easily, long trains of thought. They 
 play a good " head game," but never a good 
 " book game " or " scientific game." So the 
 Khedive moved forward two pawns with con 
 fidence, then promptly brought out his queen 
 and a knight. 
 
 Lankester started, at once, a gambit which 
 he knew well, and then watched his adversary s 
 moves. 
 
 In a few minutes Bob s theory was verified. 
 Both lads saw that the Moor was playing and 
 could alone play a * head game " ; he did not 
 plan ahead, beyond one move ; and he also was 
 bent on " eating up " his opponent s men, large 
 and small, as fast as he could. 
 
 So soon as this became evident, Bob pressed 
 300
 
 A LIFE FOR A STAKE 
 
 heavily on Lank s foot with his own, and drew 
 a long breath. He felt sure that Lank held his 
 opponent in the hollow of his hand, and . . . 
 Trump was as good as saved. Still . . . there 
 might be mistakes made. 
 
 However, it did go exactly as Bob had fore 
 seen when he conceived his brilliant idea and 
 issued his daring challenge. The Khedive took 
 pawn after pawn, and even a castle (or rook) 
 and a bishop ; while Lank captured not half so 
 many. Then . . . then the over-confident 
 Moor grew suddenly troubled. He paused in 
 his prompt eager plays, and stared hard at the 
 chessboard. 
 
 " Mate ! " said Lank, quietly. And kept his 
 own eyes modestly on the board, although his 
 heart was beating high with hope. 
 
 " Not yet! " responded his adversary, after 
 a little; and intercepted with a bishop. 
 
 Another move or two, and again came Lank s 
 voice, quietly, " Mate! " 
 
 Yes, it was a mate, and a checkmate. " Ai- 
 weh! " (Yes!) cried the Khedive, the next mo- 
 
 301
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 ment. " Aiweh! Sheikh mat [Yes, the chief is 
 dead] ." And he drew back, biting his lower lip 
 angrily, and called for tea; which was soon 
 presented, and the three drank the usual three 
 cups each, but in silence ; for there was no very 
 good feeling between the Khedive and his 
 " guests." 
 
 But the brother of the Sultan held to his 
 stipulation. All the bystanders had witnessed 
 his defeat, and he was raging, inwardly; but 
 they had also heard the terms of the game ; and 
 he must stand by them; but ... he would 
 wreak his vengeance in some more secret way. 
 " Go ! " he said, in a peremptory tone, " the par 
 rot shall live. His master plays well." 
 
 302
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 When the two friends the three friends, 
 we might better say stood again in their dis 
 mal apartment, Lank remained for a while, 
 silently stroking Trump s ruffled feathers. Then 
 he remarked, with a significant grip of his under 
 jaw : That treacherous Khedive never will 
 know what a close call he had, as I stood there, 
 after he had ordered Trump killed." 
 
 " Well, I knew, old man," was Bob s soothing 
 reply. " And I m glad that you kept your hand 
 away from your knife." 
 
 " I think I could have reached him, though," 
 asserted the sturdy British lad. 
 
 " Perhaps you could ; but I m glad you did n t 
 try," said Bob. " However, we re in a deadly 
 plight, still. The Khedive will not leave us 
 
 303
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 alone. He wishes us dead, but does n t wish to 
 seem responsible for killing us." 
 
 " That s about the truth of it, I m afraid," 
 added Lank. Then he silently paced the room, 
 and presently remarked : " I m sorry I ever 
 saw the Khedive in London; I don t think he 
 knows me; he saw so many new faces during 
 that visit ; and I am tanned to a pretty swarthy 
 hue, now. Then, as to the whole venture on the 
 Saucy Kate, I m afraid, Bob, I made a big mis 
 take in shipping on her." 
 
 " Right you are," laughed Bob. " But it s 
 no use in crying over spilt milk. I m sure I 
 did n t choose that cruise for myself, but here 
 we are; and the question is, can we get out of 
 this mess alive? " 
 
 " Mess ! Mess ! What a mess ! " cried Trump, 
 rousing to the conversation. Then he relapsed 
 into sundry mutterings, and was doubtless fight 
 ing his aerial battle over again. 
 
 When Alvo appeared with the next meal, 
 his movements were as sinuous as ever, his smile 
 as fixed as though it had been printed on his 
 
 304
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 face, and his voice was even more honeyed than 
 usual, if that were possible. 
 
 Bob, as he looked at the man, groaned within 
 himself. " It means evil for us," he soliloquized. 
 There is something on foot. O, I hope that 
 the messenger of Abraham Chergis will bring 
 that consul soon. I wonder what that slippery 
 wretch of a Khedive is planning." 
 
 They both found out what the Khedive was 
 planning, before twelve hours more had passed. 
 
 That night they lay down upon their divans 
 and sought to sleep. Bob had tried the roof- 
 door, with some faint notion that he and Lank, 
 on the roof, above, at night, if the night were 
 quite dark, might possibly get to some adjoin 
 ing roof and find a way of escape; but they 
 discovered that the door was fastened, by some 
 unknown person, each evening, and was un 
 fastened in the morning. So there was no hope 
 in that direction. 
 
 As they stretched themselves out they men 
 tioned Sjit, the house-snake, but found that they 
 feared him but little, although Lank was a little 
 
 305
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 1 
 
 uneasy sometimes about Trump s safety, with 
 such a hungry ophidian gliding about. 
 
 At length, after considerable conversation, 
 which, in these days drifted frequently and 
 sadly toward England and the United States, - 
 they relapsed into slumber. 
 
 Since they had been the unwilling guests of 
 the scheming unscrupulous Khedive they had 
 recovered, in some measure, their health and 
 strength; their food had been abundant, but 
 they had been obliged to continue the same pre 
 cautions which Bob had instituted. And their 
 sleep was usually deep and restful. On this 
 particular night, which happened to be a bright 
 moonlight night, Bob had been dreaming 
 about home, about a foot-ball game in which 
 he had played, where the ball had been passed 
 to him and he tried to run; he tried and tried, 
 and could barely drag one foot after the other; 
 then the excited quarter-back, in a hoarse voice, 
 cried, " Dodge Smith, and keep to the right ! " 
 And he had tried to comply but could barely 
 lift his laggard feet. Then the quarter-back 
 
 306
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 (Newell, his dormitory neighbor) began to 
 make queer sounds and to talk in Arabic. What 
 . . . what was it ..." Bismillah, la ! la ! la ! 
 Bismillah! " (In Allah s name, no! no! no! In 
 Allah s name!) 
 
 That was strong talk from Newell, who found 
 the conjugation in the Latin grammar a serious 
 barrier to his college ambitions. What could 
 possibly be ... 
 
 This was substantially the explanation ; as the 
 lads figured it out, afterward. 
 
 Somewhere near midnight, when the moon 
 was directly overhead, and sent a plenty of 
 light down through the grated aperture in the 
 roof, one of the several doors opening into the 
 apartment slowly opened, and a smooth, swarthy 
 face peered in ; a pause then, and listening, and 
 the man, wholly naked, crept softly into the 
 room. He carried a bare knife in his teeth, and 
 it glittered like an evil thing in the white moon 
 light. Across the room he crept, even more 
 silently than scaly Sjit could have done it. Al 
 ways keeping close to the stone floor, he came 
 
 37
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 nearer and nearer to the unsuspecting sleepers ; 
 his naked feet and knees and hands were abso 
 lutely noiseless on the level floor. 
 
 For a moment he paused, when close to 
 the lads, and listened, then half stood up and 
 surveyed them. Why? Because he wished to 
 strike, first, the one who was the stronger, thus 
 leaving the less effective one for further attack, 
 when perhaps partially aroused by the possible 
 struggle of the first one. 
 
 Lank was the taller, as the naked, noiseless 
 midnight assassin could see by the strong 
 moonlight; and, in a moment, he crept nearer 
 to the lad. Then he took the glittering blade 
 (a deadly Koomia) from between his teeth, and 
 drew back his arm and hand for the blow. 
 
 Only one second more was needed to bury 
 the dagger to the hilt in the motionless form of 
 the British lad. But one second was enough 
 to bring a halt in the deadly drama. 
 
 From out the carved chest with the deep 
 drawer came a voice; a strong, commanding 
 voice; such as the gray African parrot, among 
 
 308
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 all parrots, possesses. And it called out, in a 
 voice of solemn condemnation, " La! la! Bis- 
 millah, la!" (No! No! In the name of 
 Allah, no!) 
 
 That was the voice which Bob heard in his 
 dream, as uttered by the excited quarter-back ; 
 and it awakened him, as it also awakened Lank, 
 lying there helpless beneath the murderous 
 blade. 
 
 It did this much for our friends; but if it 
 had not done more than this the poised blow 
 could have been dealt, and a human life yielded 
 up to the Khedive s hate. But that voice, sonor 
 ous and with authority, issuing from the small 
 piece of furniture, much too small to conceal 
 a human form, carried with it only one 
 meaning to the superstitious Moor who held 
 the threatening knife. It came to him as the 
 voice of a djinn (a spirit) ; and disobedience 
 to it he was sure would bring vengeance on 
 himself. 
 
 The man gasped, glanced at the chest, with a 
 terrified expression, lowered his arm, and . . . 
 
 309
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 The next instant Lankester Diggles had one 
 hand tightening upon his throat and the other 
 fastened upon his wrist ; easily he bore the now 
 terrified man backward ; and the two struggled, 
 though not fiercely, for the superstitious 
 Moor was too much frightened, and Lank 
 speedily held the knife in his possession, 
 and knelt upon the breast of the would-be- 
 murderer. 
 
 By this time Bob Laurie was in the fray, and 
 there was now not a ghost of a chance of the 
 man s doing any harm to them. For a moment 
 there was quiet, and Bob said, " I know what 
 saved us." 
 
 " Several things helped that end, it seems to 
 me," responded Lank. 
 
 " Yes, but the starter was dear old Trump, 
 there in the drawer," and as he spoke, the lad 
 went over and pulled open the drawer, thus 
 allowing its remarkable occupant to issue ; which 
 he did, with sundry slight whip-crackings, and 
 flew to his master s shoulder, and pecked play 
 fully at his neck. 
 
 310
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Then Bob, in a word, narrated his dream; 
 and, next, he tore off a strip of cloth from his 
 long, loose garment; with this they bound the 
 now trembling wretch; and, leaving him upon 
 the floor, they walked about, and discussed their 
 next move in this deadly game for life. 
 
 There was only one thing to do. There was 
 no use in accusing Alvo of responsibility for the 
 attempt ; he would cunningly evade all charges ; 
 and the Khedive would probably not give the 
 accusers an audience; he, of course, was the 
 real instigator, as they knew. 
 
 Only a few minutes were needed to bring 
 them to their decision. They ordered the wretch 
 to his feet, led him to the door where he had 
 entered, it still stood open, and sent him, 
 bound as he was, out into the winding passages 
 of the Kasbah. He would find his way, well 
 enough. 
 
 If, for an instant, either of the lads harbored 
 the notion that they might escape, this door 
 being open, the idea was speedily dismissed; 
 for both knew that the Kasbah was full of ser- 
 
 3 11
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 vants and slaves, usually armed, and sleeping 
 or dozing or on watch in the many nooks and 
 corners of the great group of buildings where 
 strangers, like themselves, could not possibly 
 find their way. 
 
 There was but little sound sleep for the lads 
 throughout the remainder of the night. They 
 had been too rudely startled and deeply stirred 
 to be able to sink again into restful sleep. And 
 they longed and hoped for the success of the 
 messenger who was to inform the consul and 
 bring a rescuing party. 
 
 The next day, when smooth-tongued Alvo 
 entered, he had the calm assurance to inquire 
 if they had slept well; to which audacious in 
 quiry our young friends would not condescend 
 to reply. But, in a characteristic way, Alvo or 
 his master evinced a desire to ward off any 
 accusation of guilt ; the lads were smilingly told 
 by the Spanish-Moor that the Khedive would 
 gladly grant to his guests the privilege of seeing 
 more of the sights of the city. 
 
 In accordance with this concession Bob and 
 312
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 Lank found themselves, an hour later, walking 
 the narrow streets of Marrakesh and trying to 
 become interested in the strange sights around 
 them. But Bob was eagerly watchful, every 
 moment, hoping to get sight of the aged Jew, 
 Abraham Chergis, whom, as Sabalrs friend, the 
 lads implicitly trusted. 
 
 The usual body-guard of two Moors in ad 
 dition to Alvo kept near them, as on their 
 previous excursion through the streets. Bob 
 concealed the eager roving of his eyes as well 
 as he could; but he could not help starting, 
 breathless, as he suddenly descried, a hundred 
 yards in advance of the party, among the scores 
 of turbaned and white-robed figures, the face 
 of Abraham Chergis. There could be no cloubt 
 of it; for that shrewd ally now laid his fore 
 finger first on one side of his nose and then on 
 the other; Bob could catch sight of the signal, 
 among the heads of the moving throngs; and 
 he answered the signal, cautiously. 
 
 Then he saw Abraham put one hand up 
 against the wall near which he stood ; and, hold-
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 ing it there, one brief instant, glance at it, and 
 then at Bob. 
 
 Bob guessed, at once, the ruse, and nodded 
 his head as a sign to Abraham that he under 
 stood. He felt sure that when he reached that 
 spot he would find a note, a message, pushed 
 into some crack of that wall. 
 
 And so it proved. By easy stages Bob strolled 
 on, Alvo allowing him to direct the route of their 
 excursion; and when he reached the vicinity 
 of the spot where the Jew had been standing, he 
 cautiously scrutinized the wall there erected. 
 In less than five seconds he saw a tiny scrap 
 of paper projecting from a crack between two 
 stones of the wall. Then, backing toward it, 
 he waited for a favorable instant. 
 
 That instant came. Two men presumably 
 Jews got into an altercation across the street, 
 and raised their voices and their staves in 
 great apparent wrath with each other. In a 
 second, as all eyes were turned toward the 
 angry disputants, Bob snatched the scrap of 
 paper out of the crack, and concealed it under
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 his loose garments. Then the quarreling sud 
 denly subsided. And Bob Laurie knew that 
 this dispute like the one on their previous 
 walk through the streets was "faked" for 
 his and Lank s benefit. 
 
 But how to proceed? How to read the 
 message ? 
 
 He started to inform Lank, in low casual 
 tones, of what had been going on " under his 
 very nose," so to speak; and he was a bit sur 
 prised to have that keen-eyed British lad cut 
 him short. I ve seen the whole thing, Bob. 
 Now, how to read it ? " 
 
 Both boys reflected earnestly and anxiously, 
 although outwardly feigning to observe the con 
 tents of bazaars and the faces of passers-by. 
 Presently they agreed. " I 11 take it out openly, 
 and read it, and hand it to you," said Bob, which 
 he at once proceeded to do. 
 
 And this was really the safest way; it did 
 not arouse any particular suspicion on Alvo s 
 part. But as Bob read it his heart sank 
 within him. It said briefly,
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 " To Sabah s young friends, Messenger waylaid, 
 beaten; messenger returned empty. Patience. Other 
 help. If . . . 
 
 There it stopped short. Evidently the mes 
 sage had been written hurriedly, and the writer 
 had stopped before he intended to. But the 
 general purport of the information was easy 
 to gather, and both our young friends felt their 
 hearts sink with disappointment, and with ap 
 prehension as to their fate. 
 
 Bob took the scrap of paper as if it were of 
 no especial value, and drew it beneath his large, 
 loose haik; there he tore it carefully into small 
 pieces, letting these pieces drop, one or two at a 
 time, as they walked on. 
 
 The lads found it hard to keep up any show of 
 interest in the shops and the street-scenes ; they 
 even took but little notice of the scowling faces 
 of fanatical Moors who looked at them with 
 hate and spat toward them. But . . . 
 
 Suddenly they heard the firm, metallic strains 
 of a cornet. It seemed far away; but such 
 instruments are not much used or well played
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 by natives of Morocco. The lads listened in 
 tently; the sounds came nearer. " O Lank," ex 
 claimed Bob, hardly crediting his ears; " O 
 Lank, I believe that horn is playing America 
 or what you call God save the king ! Yes, by 
 Jove, it is." 
 
 Alvo had now heard the novel sounds. Other 
 brass instruments joined in with the cornet, and 
 the band played " Annie Laurie." " O Lank," 
 cried Bob, nearly wild with eagerness and 
 hope, " that must be Englishmen playing. And 
 if " 
 
 Here Alvo suddenly showed anxiety, and 
 ordered them to follow him ; and the two guards 
 promptly closed up near them. The streets were 
 now filling with curious people, all rushing to 
 see what was coming. The crowd increased so 
 rapidly that Alvo could make but little headway 
 against it, despite his commands and threats. 
 The boys and their party were now swept along 
 toward a small sok (market-place) across which 
 a procession could be seen marching. 
 
 This procession was led by a troop of Moor-
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 ish horsemen in brilliant red uniforms, and 
 mounted on superb white horses. A white- 
 bearded Moor with a white turban and a rose- 
 colored caftan rode at their head. Then came 
 a body of foot-soldiers a motley company 
 in scarlet gowns and with bare legs and 
 yellow slippers, each gallant warrior bearing 
 a musket. 
 
 After these somewhat unkempt troops, came 
 some trim-looking spearmen on riding-camels; 
 and strangest of all among them strode a 
 large camel, bearing a huge cage made of wood 
 with iron bars, and in the cage like a captive 
 lion in a circus procession rode a man; an 
 Arab, seemingly; and the people as they saw 
 him passed the word one to another, " Khain 
 Amara GJiashim! Khain Amara Ghashim!" 
 (Amara, the stupid rebel!) 
 
 Then Bob caught the meaning of the sit 
 uation. "See here, Lank!" he exclaimed; 
 " that s Amara, the Souss Arab Sheikh, who 
 was in league with the Khedive." 
 
 " As sure as you re alive," was Lank s re-
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 joinder, as he stared hard at the parti-colored 
 procession. 
 
 " He does nt look happy, Amara does n t," 
 commented Bob. " No wonder ! He s as good 
 as dead, now. But who can have captured 
 him? Not the Khedive, of course; it must 
 be- O! " 
 
 What caused this exclamation of Bob s was 
 the sight which he now caught of a tall, erect 
 figure in Khaki, with a veritable English pith- 
 helmet on his head. He rode upon a magnificent 
 gray horse and was certainly the commander of 
 the whole procession of soldiery. 
 
 Then Lank cried out ; a cry, almost a groan, 
 of wonder and of despair. " Bob ! Bob Laurie ! 
 Heaven help me, but that is an Englishman, or 
 a Scotsman. His features are 
 
 Bob felt himself almost reeling with excite 
 ment. He understood a great deal in a second s 
 time. " Lank," he responded, " as I live, I be 
 lieve it is the Scottish Kaid, who acts as general- 
 in-chief over the Sultan s forces. It must be. 
 O, if only we could make him hear "
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 But the noisy band was playing triumphantly, 
 and a human voice could avail but little against 
 the clangor. " Lank," exclaimed our young 
 American lad, hoarsely, for he was desperate 
 in his great hope and longing for liberty and 
 life, " Lank, we must fight for it. It is our one 
 chance. We have our knives. Lank, out with 
 your knife, -- I have mine in my hand, and 
 push through the crowd. Quick! Now is our 
 one chance." 
 
 It was a desperate course, but it was indeed 
 their only one. Both saw it to be such. And the 
 next instant out came both knives, bare and 
 flashing in the hot sun-rays, and the lads sprang 
 forward, pushing their way through the crowd. 
 
 Of course Alvo s cunning eyes were upon his 
 charges, and he promptly sprang after them. 
 He did not see the gleaming blade in Lankester 
 Diggles s strong right hand, else he would not 
 have clutched that resolute young Britisher by 
 the shoulder. He grasped Lank s left shoulder 
 and Lank swiftly swung with his right arm. 
 and like a flash of light his keen koomia struck 
 
 320
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 deeply into the Spanish-Moor s neck, and the de 
 ceitful, cruel wretch pitched in a heap to the 
 ground. 
 
 On ! On ! The lads tore their breathless way 
 through the crowd. Lank was somewhat im 
 peded by his pet, and let Bob lead the way. No 
 body really tried to stop them. The people were 
 absorbed in the spectacle of the captive Arab 
 Sheikh; and a few moments only were needed 
 - a few terrible moments of strain and fierce 
 determination to bring the boys close enough 
 to the Kaid to make their English speech heard 
 by him. 
 
 In one instant, as Kaid McKenzie perceived 
 these strange figures leaping toward him, with 
 knives in their hands, he reached for a revolver 
 which he carried in his belt. 
 
 Lucky it was that Bob and Lank shouted out 
 to him, in good, clear English as they did. One 
 more second s delay and they might have had a 
 bullet each in his body. " Kaid McKenzie ! we 
 are English! We are English; captured and 
 held by the Khedive ! " 
 
 321
 
 THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 That was enough. The plainly-spoken Eng 
 lish words relieved the Kaid s distrust, and he 
 replied to them, and became at once their kindly 
 listener, as they walked beside his gray charger 
 and hurriedly told their story. 
 
 That was the beginning of the end. It not 
 only opened a door of hope, but it flung wide a 
 portal of safety. Kaid McKenzie s name was a 
 power in all Morocco. And he was even then 
 having out-generaled the Khedive s fellow- 
 conspirator, Mohammed Amara, the Souss 
 Sheikh in search of the plotting Khedive 
 himself. 
 
 But he seemed in no very great haste, and 
 when our young friends entered, with him, the 
 grim Kasbah, and found it well-nigh deserted, 
 they wondered that the Kaid had not more 
 shrewdly planned to capture the recreant Khe 
 dive. But that sagacious commander said to 
 Bob : " The Khedive is the Sultan s brother ; the 
 Sultan s rival, you understand, but his own 
 brother ; and the Sultan really cares a goo d bit 
 for him. And I know that although the Sultan 
 
 322
 
 FATE OF THE SULTAN S RIVAL 
 
 ordered me, in public, to bring back his brother, 
 dead or alive, he will really be better pleased 
 with me and with himself if I report to him 
 that the Khedive slipped away unharmed. Be 
 assured that the Khedive has learned a lesson 
 from his narrow escape, and will not try this 
 thing on again. But come, I must send you at 
 once, under escort, to Saffi. In three days both 
 of you shall be on board a steamer bound for 
 Gibraltar." 
 
 END
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is 1)1 E on the last date stamped below 
 
 
 
 APR 2 8 1975 
 
 J6 W?5 
 
 Form L J-Series 444
 
 A 000138719