As they talked, they made their way to the large circle of men. In its
center, Abd-el-Kader was stripping to his waist, meanwhile laughingly
shouting his confidence to his Ouled Touameur tribesmen and to the other
Chaambra of fighting age. No one seemed to doubt the final issue.
Beneath his white burnoose he wore a gandoura of lightweight woolen
cloth and beneath that a longish undershirt of white cotton, similar to
that of the Tuareg but with shorter and less voluminous sleeves. This
the desert fighter retained.
Crawford stripped down too, nude to the waist. His body was in excellent
trim, muscles bunching under the ebony skin. A Haratin servant came up
bearing El Aicha's sword.
Homer Crawford pulled it from the scabbard. It was of scimitar type, the
weapon which had once conquered half the known world.
From within the huge circle of men, Abd-el-Kader swung his own blade in
flashing arcs and called out something undoubtedly insulting, but which
was lost in the babble of the multitude.
"Well, here we go," Crawford grunted. "You fellows better station
yourselves around just on the off chance that those Ouled Touameur
bully-boys don't like the decision."
"We'll worry about that," Abe said unhappily. "You just see you get out
of this in one piece. Anything happens to you and the head office'll
make me head of this team--and frankly, man I don't want the job."
Homer grinned at him, and began pushing his way through to the center.
* * * * *
The Arab cut a last switch in the air, with his whistling blade and
started forward, in practiced posture. Homer awaited him, legs spread
slightly, his hands extended slightly, the sword held at the ready but
with point low.
Abe Baker growled, unhappily, "He said he didn't know anything about the
swords, and the way he holds it bears him out. That Arab'll cut Homer to
ribbons. Maybe we ought to do something about it." As usual, under
stress, he'd dropped his beatnik patter.
Elmer Allen looked at him. "Such as what? There are at least three
thousand of these tribesmen chaps here watching their favorite sport.
What did you have in mind doing?"
Abd-el-Kader hadn't remained the victor of a score of similar duels
through making such mistakes as underestimating his foe. In spite of the
black stranger's seeming ignorance of his weapon, the Arab had no
intention of being sucked into a trap. He advanced with care.
His sword darted forward, quickly, experimentally, and Homer Crawford
barely caught its razor edge on his own.
Save for his own four companions, the crowd laughed aloud. None among
them were so clumsy as this.
The Ouled Touameur chief was convinced. He stepped in fast, the blade
flicked in and out in a quick feint, then flicked in again. Homer
Crawford countered clumsily.
And then there was a roar as the American's blade left his hand and flew
high in the air to come to the ground again a score of feet behind the
desert swordsman.
For a brief moment Abd-el-Kader stepped back to observe his foe, and
there was mockery in his face. "So thy manhood has been spat upon by one
who fights only with his mouth! Almost, braggart, I am inclined to give
you your life so that you may spend the rest of it in shame. Now die,
unbeliever!"
Crawford stood hopelessly, in a semicrouch, his hands still slightly
forward. The Arab came in fast, his sword at the ready for the death
stroke.
[Illustration]
Suddenly, the American moved forward and then jumped a full yard into
the air, feet forward and into the belly of the advancing Arab. The
heavily shod right foot struck at the point in the abdomen immediately
below the sternum, the solar plexus, and the left was as low as the
groin. In a motion that was almost a bounce off the other's body,
Crawford came lithely back to his feet, jumped back two steps, crouched
again.
But Abd-el-Kader was through, his eyes popping agony, his body writhing
on the ground. The whole thing, from the time the Arab had advanced on
the disarmed man for the kill, hadn't taken five seconds.
His groans were the only sounds which broke the unbelieving silence of
the Chaambra tribesmen. Homer Crawford picked up the fallen leader's
sword and then strolled over and retrieved that of El Aicha. Ignoring
Abd-el-Kader, he crossed to where the tribal elders had assembled to
watch the fight and held out the borrowed sword to its owner.
El Aicha sheathed it while looking into Homer Crawford's face. "It has
still never been drawn to commit dishonor."
"My thanks," Crawford said.
Over the noise of the crowd which now was beginning to murmur its
incredulity at their champion's fantastic defeat, came the voice of Abe
Baker swearing in Arabic and yelling for a way to be cleared for him. He
was driving one of the hovercraft.
[Illustration]
He drew it up next to the still agonized Abd-el-Kader and got out
accompanied by Bey-ag-Akhamouk. Silently and without undue roughness
they picked up the fallen clan chief and put him into the back of the
hover-lorry, ignoring the crowd.
Homer Crawford came up and said in English, "All right, let's get out of
here. Don't hurry, but on the other hand don't let's prolong it. One of
those Ouled Touameur might collect himself to the point of deciding he
ought to rescue his leader."
Abe looked at him disgustedly. "Like, where'd you learn that little
party trick, man?"
Crawford yawned. "I said I didn't know anything about swords. You didn't
ask me about judo. I once taught judo in the Marines."
"Well, why didn't you take him sooner? He like to cut your head off with
that cheese knife before you landed on him."
"I couldn't do it sooner. Not until he knocked the sword out of my hand.
Until then it was a sword fight. But as soon as I had no sword then in
the eyes of every Chaambra present, I had the right to use any method
possible to save myself."
Bey-ag-Akhamouk looked up at the sun to check the time. "We better speed
it up if we want to get this man to Columb-Bechar and then get on down
over the desert to Timbuktu and that meeting."
"Let's go," Homer said. The second hovercraft joined them, driven by
Elmer Allen, and they made their way through the staring, but
motionless, crowds of Chaambra.