THE MYSTERY DEEPENS.
The old woman was given in charge of the Arabs to be questioned later.
She was so old that she went without a veil when in the presence of men.
Reduced to a state of abject fear by events yet to be learned, she was
left in charge of two Arabs placed on guard by a fire lighted in the
middle of the open enclosure.
The first thing to be done was to look after the wounded man. Mr.
Hampton ordered him carried into the large tent, which had been that of
the Sheik Abraham, leader of this little tribe of Arabs which inhabited
the Oasis Aiz-Or. Grass mats were scattered about the roomy interior,
and there was a divan covered with faded rugs. On a little tabouret
burned a lamp of palmolive oil which gave off a not unpleasant odor.
The boys who followed close at the heels of the Arab bearers looked
around with curiosity, while the body of the wounded man was laid on the
divan and Mr. Hampton began making a critical examination to determine
the extent of his injuries.
Casting their flashlights into the shadows not penetrated by the feeble
rays of the lamp which Ali had found and lighted, the boys discerned a
heavy curtain cutting off one part of the tent. Ali came up to them.
“That is the women’s quarters,” he said. “Sheik Abraham kept his three
wives there. I have never been here before. The oasis is far from all
travel routes and Sheik Abraham rarely, if ever, got to the bigger
desert towns and villages. But I believe he must have had three wives,
for there are that many divans. Ordinarily it would be death for an
unbeliever to penetrate into the women’s quarters. Sheik Abraham is a
Mohammedan, of course.” He shrugged. Ali was a cosmopolite and to the
boys spoke cynically of all religion. Yet they had seen him spread his
prayer mat and perform his devotions night and morning with the other
Arabs.
“Now,” said Ali, lifting the curtain, “you can see an Arab sheik’s
selemlik without fear. Behold.”
After all, the boys were disappointed. Desultory reading about Arab
sheiks had led them to expect they knew not what. Certainly, handsome
tents, softly carpeted, filled with silks and perfumes, with shining
lances and silver-mounted rifles. As for the selemlik, or women’s
quarters, they believed such a place would be a nest of beauty.
Instead, there were three or four divans covered with rugs of faded
patterns and colors, a cheap cracked mirror hanging askew on one wall of
the tent, a veil thrown awry over one divan, and that was all.
Ali explained.
“The women left in haste,” he said. “Perhaps, they were carried off by
the attackers. Yet they had time to bundle their clothes and take them
along.”
Questions burned on the boys’ lips, and they flung them at Ali. Who had
attacked? Had the whole tribe been carried off into captivity? Why had
the Professor and his faithful servant, Ben Hassim, alone been killed?
Ali shook his head. They must wait until the old woman was in a state to
be questioned. Perhaps, too, some information could be wrung from the
lips of the wounded captive, although it was possible from his
appearance that he did not speak Arabic. Never had Ali seen a man
dressed as he, and a white man, too. It was all a nightmare,
non-understandable. Let the boys wait until Allah sent an
interpretation.
With this they had to be content. Dropping the curtain, they emerged
into the main portion of the tent, finding Mr. Hampton absorbed in his
attempt to revive the wounded prisoner. He looked up only long enough to
explain he had been unable to find any wound from bullet, sword or
spear. The man had been felled by a blow on the head. Mr. Hampton was
not certain whether concussion of the brain had followed.
One of the Arabs he had despatched to bring up the two guards and the
camels, left in the desert. When the caravan arrived, he would be able
to get his medical and surgical supplies. Then he would see what further
could be done. Possessed of a knowledge of rude surgery acquired in his
out-of-the-way expeditions, Mr. Hampton was able to set broken limbs and
perform minor operations, but trepanning was beyond him. Should that
prove necessary, he would be helpless to aid the fallen man.
“We’re going to have a look at the Professor’s tent, Dad,” explained
Jack, following his father’s remarks. “We’ll be back soon. Want to see
what happened to his radio outfit, for one thing.”
Mr. Hampton nodded, and the boys trooped out at Ali’s heels. Three Arabs
hunkered over the fire, for the night had turned chill, as it invariably
does on the great desert. Beside them was the figure of the old woman.
They were not speaking, but sat motionless, staring into the flames. The
fourth man had gone for his two comrades left in charge of the camels.
Ali led the way into another tent. While the boys played their
flashlights about the interior, he found and lighted an oil lamp, a
shallow copper vessel with a spout that held a wick. When this was
lighted, they examined the place more closely.
Smaller than Sheik Abraham’s tent, there was no dividing curtain, as
here was no need for a selemlik. On two divans had slept the Professor
and Ben Hassim. Everything was in wildest confusion. Three long narrow
trunks were broken open and their contents of clothing, books, maps and
scientific instruments were scattered about. These things the boys put
aside for later inspection.
“Where was his radio?” asked Jack.
A cry from Bob answered.
“Look here, fellows,” called the big husky. “Smashed as if with an ax. A
perfect ruin if ever I saw one.”
They hastened to his side. The broadcasting set which the boys had made
themselves and which had been their gift to Professor Souchard, had been
made to fit into one—the smallest—of the three shallow trunks. It had
included a folding table on which it was to be mounted.
The table had been set up in one corner of the tent. Instead of dry
cells, the current was supplied by a motor. Everything had been properly
set up in the method into which the boys had drilled the Professor. The
key had been screwed to the middle of the table and near the front edge.
Back of it had been placed the high tension condenser, with the
oscillation transformer still farther in the rear. To the left of the
oscillation transformer had been placed the alternating current
transformer and in front of it was the quenched gap.
Even though the table and its contents had been smashed, as if with an
ax, this much could be seen. Doubtless, too, the wiring had been done
according to directions. Otherwise, the Professor would not have been
able, of course, to communicate with Frank. But the wrecking of the
station had been so thoroughly carried out that it was impossible to
tell.
Where the wires from the motor had been connected with a single-throw,
double-pole switch, which in turn was connected with the primary coil of
the alternating power transformer and with one post of the key, the
other post of which was connected with the switch, there was now only a
mass of tangled and chopped wires. As for the connections between the
motor of the rotary spark gap to the power circuit, and between the
secondary coil, the quenched spark gap, the condenser and the primary
coil of the oscillation transformer, thus completing the closed
oscillation circuit, they too, were a tangled mess.
The telephone instrument wired as an alternative to the key, thus
permitting the sending either of telegraph or conversation, had been
ripped away and ground into the hard-packed earth of the floor. At first
it could not be found, but Frank stubbed a foot against it finally.
The three boys looked at each other, while Ali stood to one side.
“If you can make anything out of that, you fellows,” said Bob, “you’ll
be going some. That’s all I can say.”
Jack shook his head dubiously.
“Oh, come,” expostulated Frank, who never liked to take a dare, and this
looked like a dare to him, “give me time and I’ll have that fixed up.
We’ve got all sorts of radio supplies in our luggage, you know, and as
long as the motor hasn’t been wrecked we can fix this up. I’ll bet on
it.”
The motor had not been subject to the general attack, as a matter of
fact. Standing below the table, perhaps it had been overlooked. At
Frank’s words, therefore, the others nodded.
“That’s right, old thing,” said Jack, slapping him on the back. “We’ll
pitch in on this tomorrow, and we’ll have it fixed up in no time. That
is,” he added, pausing, “if something else doesn’t come up for us to do,
like——”
“Like what?” demanded Bob.
“Well, either defending ourselves or pursuing the raiders.”
“Pursuing them?” asked Frank.
Jack nodded.
“When that old woman is able to talk, we’ll find out what happened here
tonight,” he said. “If Sheik Abraham and his few tribesmen and women
were carried off captive, and there is a chance we can help them, I know
father will want to do it.”
“And I’ll want to do it, too,” said big Bob, gruffly. “Darned shame
these people getting into trouble, and perhaps on our account, too.”
“Our account?” It was Jack’s turn to look surprised.
“Sure thing,” said Bob, slangily. “Why not? How else can you figure it?
Who was killed? Nobody but the Professor and Ben Hassim, the two men who
had penetrated the Shaitun Mountains and found this old city and learned
about a way to get to Athensi. Who killed ’em? Well, by the looks of
that wounded fellow your father is doctoring, it was a raiding party of
Athensians.”
Everybody looked thoughtful. As for Jack, he felt increased respect for
his big friend’s powers of reasoning.
“But, great Scott, Bob, what would bring them six or seven days across
the desert?” he demanded. “As far as the Professor ever could discover,
they never left their hidden strongholds. Oh, of course, once a year a
party went to Gao. But I understood that lay in an opposite direction
from this oasis across the desert.”
Ali, who had been an interested listener to this discussion,
interrupted.
“Perhaps, these strange people learned the Professor meant to disturb
their privacy and bring the world to their doors,” he said. “And they
resented, and took this method of putting a stop to it.”
“But how could they have learned about him or his plans?” demurred
Frank. “Oh, this is a mess. Well, when that wounded chap finds his
tongue, maybe we’ll learn something. Or when the old woman becomes able
to answer questions. Anyway, let’s look around here for any letters or
papers or other things the Professor might have left, and then go back
to your father, Jack.”