AJEEB’S NEW ALLY.
“Zulima,” said the giant Ashah, “it is well for you that you remain
true to your faith.”
“Why?”
“Sooner than have you become a heretic, Ajeeb would have me spoil
that beautiful voice of yours. That would have been very hard on me,
princess, for I always liked you; still, I should have obeyed my
master, even unto sacrificing my own child.”
“What do you mean by spoiling my voice?” the girl asked.
“Without the tongue, we could not speak, much less sing.”
“True, Ashah.”
“The good Ajeeb would have had me pluck out your tongue!”
Zulima was horrified.
“Surely, uncle would not have gone that far?” she said.
“Aye.”
“I go this way.”
The princess was about to turn a corner.
“Nay; you must go with me,” remarked the giant.
“Where?”
“To where Ajeeb awaits us.”
“He surely does not expect a visit from me. I saw him once to-day.”
“He told me if you visited the American’s hotel, I was to conduct you
into his presence.”
“You can return and say I did not leave my home.”
Ashah started with surprise.
“What!” he cried; “would you have me try to deceive the high priest?”
“There will be no harm done,” answered the princess.
“I would give up this worthless life of mine sooner. How could I ever
look Ajeeb in the face again if I told him a lie?”
“Nonsense! You can’t make me believe you never told a lie!”
“True, I have told many, but never one to Ajeeb. Come, let us hurry.”
Much against her inclination, Zulima accompanied the giant.
Ashah had only been a short period in New York, but he seemed to know
the streets in that section of the city. Their journey ended at a
handsome house on Forty-third Street.
In answer to Ashah’s ring, the door was opened by Ajeeb in person.
The latter’s face was clouded, and he bestowed a fierce glance upon
the princess.
“So,” he said, taking hold of her arm savagely, “you are false to us!”
“No, uncle.”
Ashah ascended to the second story, and the others entered a very
elegantly appointed parlor.
“You visited Stolburst?”
“Yes.”
“And told him I meant to kill him?” growled Ajeeb.
“True; you had already threatened him with death yourself.”
“I suppose you also counseled him to fly, Zulima?”
“No; I visited him to question him about the Eye of Jobu.”
“Well?”
“He denied ever having had it in his possession,” replied the
princess.
“You believed him, of course?”
“No, uncle; he lied.”
Ajeeb looked at her in surprise. He had expected she would have
endeavored to exculpate the explorer.
“Did you tell him he lied?”
“Yes.”
“What then?”
“He persisted in his denial; I offered him pay for the services he
had rendered me, and he refused the money.”
“Good! I find, after all, that you are a worthy daughter of your
race.”
“I would not throw aside my belief for any mortal living.”
“Zulima, there is but one course open to me in this matter.”
“I understand.”
“What do you understand?”
“Stolburst must be captured, and tortured into giving up the Eye of
Jobu.”
The beautiful-featured princess spoke as calmly as if she was
discussing some every-day topic. Away down in her heart, however,
there raged a war of conflicting feelings. Try as she might to
disabuse her mind of the fact, she had grown to love Stolburst.
“Zulima,” said Ajeeb, “you now talk so sensibly that it seems
incredible to me this man should so have blinded you that you
deserted your people without regret.”
“I shall go back to Abyssinia when I am old and ugly.”
“When you are old and ugly?” repeated Ajeeb, in surprise.
“Yes; then no one will want to marry me, prince or else.”
“But you should marry the young son of King John.”
“I shall never marry.”
Zulima had kept her feelings from betraying themselves up to this
time. Now she burst into a flood of tears.
“My child,” said Ajeeb, in kinder tones than he had yet used, “you
have some secret sorrow; let me share it with you.”
“No; it is nothing.”
“Then why do you weep?”
“Because this man is so foolish for himself,” replied Zulima.
Ajeeb frowned. It was plain to him that she had conceived more than a
passing affection for the explorer. This was exceedingly displeasing
to him, but he judged it better not to speak of it.
“The man is a vandal,” said Ajeeb; “he knows what to expect, and has
a chance to save himself. Now, let his punishment be upon his own
head. I will not go home without the Eye of Jobu.”
“Perhaps,” said Zulima, “were I to see him again, I might obtain it.”
“No; with the grasping avarice of his race, he thinks he can retain
the diamond. The fool! Were he to throw it in the ocean, one day or
another it would be found by a priest of Jobu.”
“Perhaps he has lost it?”
“No; in that case, he would have so informed me.”
“He may think you would not believe him,” said the girl.
“Neither should I,” remarked Ajeeb. “Now, Zulima, you know where to
find me?”
“Yes, uncle.”
“Well, before you go, I want you to promise not to again visit this
vandal.”
“I promise.”
“Good! You have plenty of money?” said Ajeeb.
“Yes.”
“Good! Should you want more, call upon me.”
“I have enough to live upon in splendor, if I so choose.”
“Now, my child, you can go; and, before many sunsets, I will have
recovered that for which I traveled so many miles.”
Ajeeb kissed her lightly on the forehead. It was with a head weighed
down with sorrow that Zulima returned to her home.
Soon after her departure from the house in Forty-third Street Ajeeb
had another visitor. The latter’s appearance and general make-up
pronounced him an Englishman.
“Well, old man!” he cried, upon meeting the Abyssinian priest; “how
does the world wag for you, and what are you doing in New York?”
Ajeeb was another man in this person’s presence. Before Zulima and
Ashah, he carried a very stern front. Now he unbent his rigid dignity.
“I came here on a very serious mission, friend of long ago!”
“Can Billy Barry do anything to help you along, old man?”
“I sent for you, thinking you could be of great assistance.”
“How did you find me out?”
“Don’t you know I am something of a magician?”
“That be blowed! Honor bright, how did you discover my address?”
“I got it from Harry Swinck.”
“Do you know that old pirate?”
“He is known to me. This is not the first time I visited to New York.”
“You wear European clothes much better now than when I first made
your acquaintance in London.”
“Don’t speak of those days,” said Ajeeb. “I guess I must then have
broken about every commandment of my religion.”
“Well, you did get in with a pretty stiff crowd after becoming
acquainted with me; but I was to blame for all that.”
“Yes,” smiled the Abyssinian, “and I rank high as a priest at home.”
“You old hypocrite!”
Ajeeb’s brow darkened.
“No,” he said; “you misjudge me; I but joked when I spoke of breaking
commandments of my faith. We take a different view of sin to the
outer world, my friend.”
“Don’t tell me anything about religion,” said Barry. “What did you
come to this country for?”
“To run down a man.”
“Have you succeeded?”
“In running him down, yes,” replied Ajeeb; “but he refuses to return
that which he stole from our temple.”
“What did he steal?”
“A wondrous diamond, larger, perhaps, than any other in the known
world.”
“The lucky devil!”
“Barry,” said Ajeeb, “I would rather part with ten thousand pounds
than you were in that man’s position.”
“Do you value the diamond so very much?” asked the Englishman.
“It is not that.”
“What then?”
“He desecrated our temple, and his life has been forfeited.”
“Mean to kill the rooster, eh?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t suppose he is a common thief,” remarked Barry.
“Neither is he. The man has great learning, and bears a high name
among the people here and in Europe.”
“What’s his name?”
“Henry Stolburst.”
“The African explorer?”
“The same.”
“Ajeeb, my friend,” said Barry, “I think you have undertaken to crack
a very hard nut.”
“No,” smiled the Abyssinian. “I shall not fail in this matter.”
“Does Stolburst suspect your purpose?”
“I told him all about it.”
“That was foolish; he has probably told some one else of your threat.”
“What harm? His body will never be found, and who can prove murder
against me, or my chosen instruments?”
“What do you mean by saying the man’s body will never be found?”
“Just what I said.”
“Explain.”
“I want him kidnaped; then the rest will be easy.”
Barry threw himself back in his chair, and laughed heartily. Ajeeb
knew he was the object of the other’s mirth, and was naturally
displeased.
“My dear fellow,” said Billy, “you seem to forget you are in a
civilized community.”
“Is that why you laugh?”
“Don’t get mad about it; I was forced to laugh.”
“I will have this man in my power before thirty-six hours have
passed, mark my words for it!”
“You are taking a fearful risk--the laws here are very stringent.”
“Nothing can prevent my success. I have said it.”
“I wish you all sorts of good luck, old fellow; but, in my humble
opinion, you are completely off.”
Ajeeb laughed in a cold, hard manner.
“My friend,” he said, “I shall succeed.”
“Where do I come in?”
“You will kidnap this man!”