The sun was gone, blue shadows gathered, and night came stalking up from
Syria and Arabia beyond the isthmus. So absorbed had our friends been by
the splendid spectacle, that they had failed to give heed to their
immediate surroundings.
Nadia was at Brad's side. Suddenly she clutched his arm with a nervous
movement.
"What is it?" he asked, seeming to awaken from a trance.
"That man! Look there!"
She made a gesture, and he looked in the direction indicated. Standing
at an angle of the wall, where the shadows were upon him, was the same
man to whom she had called his attention on the steps of the hotel.
"He has followed me here!" she declared nervously.
"Oh, he has, has he?" growled the Texan, his face flushing with anger.
"Well, I sure am going to interview him some, right away."
He brushed off her hand and started toward the mysterious stranger.
Immediately the unknown turned and disappeared beyond the corner of the
wall.
Dick had seen the stranger, also, and he joined Buckhart at once,
saying:
"Come ahead, Brad. It's time to find out if he's following us round."
Budthorne had hastened to his sister's side.
The boys ran to the point of the wall. When they reached the spot, they
could see nothing of the man.
"He can't be far away," said Dick.
A few moments later they discovered the man walking hastily down the
hill. Unless they chose to run after him, there was no prospect of
overtaking him.
"Better let him go this time," advised Dick.
"All right," muttered the Texan; "but he is causing me to wax wroth
some, and I'll give him a game of talk the next time I find him dogging
us. Who do you reckon he is, pard?"
"I am unable to answer the question," admitted Dick; "but, by his
appearance, he seems to be a Turk."
"That's right. I don't fancy being spied on by a Turk, just at present.
We're not far enough away from Damascus. He may be one of the sultan's
secret police, sent after us for that little affair in which we were
recently involved."
"I thought of that myself. I'm not anxious to be arrested and carried
back to Damascus."
"I should say not! That would be mighty bad business. Still, I don't
think----"
Dick checked his companion with an exclamation. Another man had joined
the one who was rapidly descending the hill. Both boys obtained a
glimpse of this second person before both disappeared into the shadows
below.
"Did you see him, Brad?" asked Dick. "Did you get a fair view of him?"
"Just a look, partner, but I swear there was something a heap familiar
about him. The way he carried his head--his walk---- I've seen that
galoot before."
"And so have I. Shall we attempt to overtake them? I'd give something to
get a look at his face."
But they decided it was too late, as there was little chance of
overtaking those men in the narrow and gloomy streets of Cairo. Besides,
in order to pursue the mysterious ones, they would be compelled to
abandon Nadia and her brother.
So they returned and found Dunbar and Nadia waiting, and a trifle
nervous.
"It's all right," declared Dick diplomatically. "Of course, the man had
a right to come up here and view the sunset. He's gone."
"I'm glad," said the girl. "But it is growing dark. Let's return to the
hotel right away. I do not fancy being out in the streets of Cairo after
dark."
They descended the hill and found the donkeys and the boy drivers
waiting for them. Two of the boys were asleep, their hands pillowed on
the bodies of their reclining donkeys.
"Poor little fellows!" murmured Nadia, sympathetically. "They should be
home now. It's a shame to keep them out so late."
The boys woke up promptly on hearing the voices of their companions. Our
friends mounted, and away they went, through the dim streets of the
queer, old city, the boys running after the trotting donkeys and giving
an occasional twist at the tails of the little beasts.
Both Dick and Brad kept a sharp lookout for possible trouble, but the
return to the hotel was made without incident.
Brad lingered to talk with Dunbar and Nadia, in Budthorne's room. Not
that the pleasures of a chat with Budthorne attracted him so much, but
there was again a complete understanding between himself and Nadia.
Dick sought Professor Gunn, but failed to discover the old man. He then
descended to look for him below.
On the way down, the sound of laughter coming from a suite of rooms, the
outer door of which was slightly ajar, attracted his attention. He had
heard Zenas laugh that way before, and he knew the old pedagogue was in
there.
Dick stepped to the door, lifting his hand to knock. He paused, his hand
uplifted.
"He! he! he!" again sounded that well-known laugh. "A harem containing a
dozen pretty girls! My! my! But you must have been a gay boy in those
days, colonel."
"Well, suh," said a mellow, yet somewhat husky voice, "yo' see, suh, a
man had to have some enjoyment in this infernal country. I was young,
suh, and it was just after the Civil War in America. Scores of officers
from the South entered the Egyptian service. Some swore nevah again to
set foot on American soil. We felt that we were exiles. But we made the
khedive's army spruce up wonderfully. The pay was good, and all that;
but the cursed heat, the monotony, the homesickness, made us all
reckless, and set us to longing fo' diversion. I'll guarantee, suh, that
the most of us found our only diversions in gathering wives fo' our
harems. Those boys were connoisseurs in female beauty, and the wives of
many of them would have created a sensation, suh, in New York, London or
Paris."
"He! he! he!" again laughed Zenas. "Oh, you rascal! Oh, you sly dog! But
it must have been pleasant. What did you do with your harem when you got
tired and decided to leave the Egyptian service and the country?"
"Why, I sold it, of course."
"Sold it? Sold your wives, colonel?"
"Certainly, suh. That was the proper course to pursue, professah. There
were plenty of others who were ready to buy, in case you had a bargain
to offah, and--as I was anxious to sell--a new recruit in the army
obtained my harem fo' a mere song. Of course, I regretted to part with
my beautiful wives, and especially with Fatima, my favorite; but I could
not take them with me, on account of the laws of the United States, and
so, suh, I kissed Fatima good-by and turned the whole lot ovah to my
successor."
"Er--er--ahem! Colonel, does the custom of selling harems still continue
in this country, can you say?"
"Why, certainly, suh, to a certain extent, suh. Are yo' thinking of
making a purchase, suh?"
"Well, I--er--ahem!--I don't know, exactly. You see, I--I'm likely to
investigate. I wouldn't mind looking a few harems over. If I found a
bargain--er--ahem!--I might---- Well, you understand, colonel."
"The old reprobate!" exclaimed Dick, in a whisper. "So this is what he's
up to! This is why he wants to take an excursion trip up the Nile! I
think I'll have to find a way to teach him a lesson."
"Yes, suh," said the voice of the professor's companion; "I think I
understand, suh. But it is possible, professah, that you do not
understand yo'self, suh. When yo' were a boy, did yo' evah trade
jackknives or anything of that sort, 'unsight, unseen,' suh?"
"Why, yes, I----"
"Well, suh, that's the rule in purchasing a harem. It is the law of the
country, professah, that no one save the ownah of a harem shall evah see
the uncovered faces of its inmates. If yo' make a purchase, yo' have to
take a chance on it. Yo' may see the ladies in advance, but yo'll not be
permitted to see their faces."
"He! he!" again laughed Gunn. "That will make the game all the more
fascinating. It adds an element of mystery and suspense. It piques me.
If you don't mind, colonel, I'll have another nip from the decanter. I
take it as a tonic, you know--merely as a tonic."
"Certainly, suh; help yo'self, suh."
"Do you think, colonel, that you might assist me in investigating a few
harems?"
"Why, yes, suh, it is quite likely I might. Having an extensive
acquaintance in Cairo, it will be easy fo' me to help yo'. I'll find out
what harems are on the market, suh. Drink hearty, professah."
"Well, here is luck and hoping I'll strike a good bargain."
Dick did not linger longer. He returned to his room and was just in time
to find Brad coming in from Budthorne's room.
"The old salamander!" cried the Texan, after listening to Dick's story.
"The old Mormon! Why, he's married! He has a wife in the United States."
"Exactly."
"What does he think he's doing, anyhow?"
"He thinks he's going to have a gay time in Cairo, evidently."
"We'll have to stop it, pard."
"Oh, no!"
"What?"
"On the contrary, we'll have to help it along."
"Hey?" shouted Buckhart, aghast. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Just what I said."
"But it's a crime! It's scandalous! I'm astonished at you!"
"It's not a crime in this country to be the proprietor of a harem."
"But----"
"We're in Egypt, and the law of the land----"
"Look here, Dick Merriwell," blazed Brad, in sudden indignation. "I've
generally backed you up in anything you've said or done; but, by the
everlasting Rockies, if you've become so depraved and degenerate that
you can regard an affair like this as anything but a crime, I want you
to understand that I think you've lost your senses!"
Dick dropped on a chair and laughed heartily.
"I mean it!" roared the Texan. "It's shameful! You hear me chirp! That
doddering old chump has a wife in America! Now he wants to buy a harem
in Egypt! And you're willing to aid him in his polygamous design! Waugh!
Laugh! laugh! But you're not the sort of pard I took you for! This is my
first disappointment in you! I'll block the old roue's game, I will!
I'll spoil his scheme, or I'm not the Unbranded Maverick of the Rio
Pecos!"
The Texan was greatly wrought up. He stamped up and down the room in a
tempest, while Merriwell continued to laugh.
"I don't see where the joke comes in!" snarled Buckhart. "Ha, ha! Isn't
it funny? I suppose you'll be in for buying a harem next? That's a fine
idea! Perhaps you'll take a half interest in old Gunn's bunch of
beauties? Wow! I sure am a heap disgusted!"
"Cool down a little, Brad," said Dick, still smiling. "I hardly think
I'll invest in a harem. Why, you excitable longhorn, don't you know
harems are not sold that way here?"
"Hey?"
"A man may purchase wives for his harem, but he can't sell the whole
outfit when he gets tired of it."
"Can't?"
"Of course not."
"Then what--what----"
"The whole thing is some kind of a game."
"But you--you said you were going to help the business along."
"So I am. I want to teach the professor a lesson."
"I don't think I catch on, Dick."
"Let me tell you something."
"Fire away."
"To begin with, I don't believe Colonel Stringer ever was in the
Egyptian service."
"Don't you?"
"No. He's a great bluffer. He likes to make people believe he has done
wonderful things and been a gay old rascal in his day. I am satisfied
that his story about having a harem once was pure fabrication."
"Mebbe you're right."
"I'm confident of it."
"What's his graft?"
"Perhaps it's graft, perhaps it's joking. It may be that he simply
enjoys leading the professor on. But I have a scheme. If we can carry it
out, we'll teach Zenas Gunn a lesson and have some fun on our own hook.
He'll never contemplate buying another harem."
The Texan was keenly interested now.
"What's the scheme, pard?"
"If we can rig up a job with Colonel Stringer, we'll furnish a harem for
the professor to purchase, and we'll give him the shock of his life."
Brad's face began to glow and his eyes to gleam. His mouth expanded in a
smile.
"Mebbe that's a good idea," he nodded. "Just tell me how it can be
done."
He drew up a chair and sat down near Dick. For fully thirty minutes the
boys had their heads close together, talking in low tones.
At intervals Buckhart laughed heartily.
The professor came in and found them thus.
"What are you up to now, boys?" he asked. "What are you whispering
about?"
"You will find out in time, professor," answered Dick.
And both lads laughed.