"Yes," he said; "again and again with perfect success."
"But you are nervous about it now?"
"Yes, there seems to be so much at stake. Suppose we fail?"
"The best thing Lytton ever wrote, Frank, lad," said the professor: "`In
the bright Lexicon of youth, there is no such word as fail.'"
"Then you would try?" whispered Frank.
"Try? Yes, and succeed, my lad. Why should you not?"
"I don't know," sighed the young man, "unless I dread that anything
should go wrong, for Morris's sake."
"And he would be sorry for yours. There, work. Everything seems right:
battery, wires, vacuum tubes--all looking new and perfect."
"Yes," said Frank, whose voice trembled a little; "but if we could put
the experiment off for a while, so as to test it first."
"It might be wiser, but while we are trying the apparatus that man's
life may ebb away."
"Then you would not wait?"
"No. Test it upon the patient. It may save him."
Taking heart as he fully grasped the need for immediate action, Frank
toiled away till he was able to say that he was ready, the Sheikh
looking on in silent wonder and admiration the while.
Before the manipulator of the wondrous adaptation was ready he said a
word or two to the Sheikh, who hurried out and returned with a couple of
his young men, and then in solemn silence and with great care the
apparatus was carried as if in procession to the great tent-like
sick-chamber, where at the first glance Frank's eyes rested upon the
three Mullahs, who had returned during his absence, and once more stood
together silent and scornful, gazing down at the Emir's friend, the
pulsations of whose arteries the Hakim was still feeling, while the Emir
and his son stood hard by watching and waiting for the end.
No word was spoken. The Hakim turned and ran his eyes over the
apparatus that was brought in and rapidly placed in position, wires
connected to the battery, and after rapid preparation everything was at
last announced by the professor as being ready, while Frank's black face
glistened with perspiration as he looked firmly now at his brother's old
friend, who questioned him with a look, and received a quick nod in
reply.
All this while the three Mullahs looked on as such men would--old
practitioners in fraud and deceit, dealing with the ignorant
superstitions of their tribes--their swarthy faces darkening in
contempt, treating it all as a piece of jugglery on the part of a
Frankish pretender to infinite power.
But on the other hand the faces of the Emir and his son were full of
wonder as well as faith, knowing so well as they did the great wisdom
and skill of the man who had saved their lives.
"Now," said the Hakim slowly and gravely, "help me, Frederick, my son.
I have probed again for the bullet, and know where it must lie. You and
Ibrahim must carefully turn him half upon his face."
This was quickly done, and a thrill ran quivering through the Emir as he
saw the Hakim take out a keen knife from the case that hung from his
girdle, and with a quick movement divide the white garment the patient
wore from neck to waist, laying bare the muscular back and side, and as
quickly laying the soft white cotton fabric apart. "Now," said the
Hakim, "tell the Emir that the thick curtains must be lowered over that
window and all the light shut out. That done, whatever takes place no
one must move or speak."
The words were firmly and solemnly uttered, and the place lending itself
well to the purpose, the heavy rug-like curtains were allowed to fall
over the window, the Emir and his son both helping, and then stopping in
amaze by the drapery as for a few moments the chamber was in total
darkness.
Then a strange, hissing noise arose, and heavy, startled breathing was
heard, while the faces of all present were illumined by the dazzling
flashes of light which began to play in a cylinder of glass.
Nothing could have been more startling to one strange to the wonders of
science, for the scene was horrible and weird, suggestive to the
Baggara--chiefs and Mullahs--of magic in its most awful guise. For as
they stood spellbound there by the strange light which played about as
if some hissing, fiery dragon were flickering its lambent tongue in and
out of its glistening jaws, not only were the faces and busy hands of
the Hakim and his assistants seen moving rapidly, but directly after
there, in a faint glare, was the bare torso of the dying Emir.
Then, heard above the hissing of the electricity the Hakim's voice was
heard, and all eyes were turned to him as the flashes of light
brightened his stern, firm face.
"Ibrahim," he said, "bid the Emir come here to my side."
The order was interpreted, and firmly and without a moment's hesitation,
the swarthy chief walked close up to the divan, noting as he did so that
the flashes of light in the cylinder glanced from the keen knife which
the Hakim held.
"Now," said the latter calmly, "tell him that as a last effort I am
about to try and find where the bullet which is slaying his friend is
lying."
The Sheikh's voice trembled a little as he spoke, but he interpreted the
words clearly, and the Emir said softly--
"The Hakim is wise and great."
"_Now_!" said the doctor sharply, and wonder of wonders! the upper
portion of the wounded man's flank was seen to become transparent, the
muscular portions to dissolve in a soft, dull light, leaving the bones
weirdly plain as if he had long passed away, and the awe-stricken
beholders were gazing upon the skeleton remains; while most horrible of
all, amidst the low murmur of dread which arose from the Mullahs and
Ibrahim, a skeleton hand suddenly darted out, holding a knife and
pointed to a small, round, black spot close to the dark backbone.
"Enough!" said the Hakim loudly. "Quick, the light!"
No legendary Eastern magic ever expressed one-half the marvels of that
scene. One moment the electricity was hissing and the bright flashes
playing about, giving ghastly effects to the faces of all, as, wild with
horror, they gazed at the dull, black skeleton and the horrible pointing
hand; the next the hissing had ceased, the vision had died out, and then
there was a rustling noise as the curtain was torn away and the Hakim
was seen in the bright sunlight, bending over the prostrate man.
A quick movement or two followed, the knife was thrown down and
instruments used, and the Hakim said shortly--
"Water--sponge."
The professor had only to take a step, and then with a rapidity that was
almost marvellous the marks of blood had been removed, a little lint and
a bandage applied, and the Hakim was pointing to a large bullet, that
which had nearly passed through the wounded man without touching a vital
place.
"It is great," said the Emir simply, as he took up the globe of lead,
and then turned to the Sheikh.
"Ask the great Hakim if now my friend will live. No, ask not," he said.
"I know."
Then a peculiar smile of contempt played about his stern face as he
stood watching the three Mullahs, who, with bended heads, were slowly
passing to the door and leaving the room without a word.
The Hakim did not even turn his head to look after them, but glanced at
Frank and the professor, who were rapidly disconnecting wires and
placing the apparatus ready for sending back to their quarters. Then
feeling what the Emir must have said, he looked him full in the eyes and
said in plain English--
"I think your friend will recover now, Emir. Go and tell those who love
him what I say."
Then turning to the Sheikh the old man gravely interpreted the words,
and the Emir caught at and kissed the Hakim's hand, before hurrying out,
followed by his son.
"Bravo, Ben Eddin!" said the professor excitedly. "Here, Ibrahim, fetch
in your men to carry these things back to our rooms."
"Yes, Excellency," said the old man quietly; "but truly the Hakim is
great. Tell me, is this magic--I have long thought all that we have
been taught was childish tales, but after what I have seen--"
"Believe as you did before, Ibrahim," said the doctor gravely, as he
laid his hand upon the old man's shoulder; "there is no magic, but the
wonders of Nature are greater far. This is only another of the
discoveries of science. You have heard at Cairo the voices come along
the wire?"
"Yes, Excellency, and the machine that speaks."
"Yes, and this is another of the marvels we have learned."
"But they will believe it is magic," said the old man.
"Well, let them," said the Hakim calmly. "Now, quick, and get all this
away. My patient must have perfect quiet if he is to live."
"Thank you, Frank, boy," said the doctor, as soon as the Sheikh had left
the room. "You managed everything to perfection. I little thought I
should have to operate out here with the Rontgen rays."