  Several days passed, however, during which the wounded Athensian, for such they all considered him to be, lay in a stupor resembling death. Little enough had the party to go on toward solving the mystery of the raid on the Oasis Aiz-Or. The old woman whose name was Allola, and who proved to be the Sheik Abraham’s mother, recovered the use of her wits and her tongue, but what information she was able to supply was only scanty. She knew the Professor and Ben Hassim, not alone from their most recent stay with her tribe, but from their former visit. “The Crazy One,” she described the Professor, bowing her head and hushing her voice in reverence as she did so, for among all primitive peoples those afflicted with insanity are regarded as under the special protection of Providence. And, although the Professor in reality was far from insane, yet these desert Bedouins so considered him because of his eccentricities and his search for a lost city and his invasion of the dread Shaitun Mountains. When the Professor with Ben Hassim had arrived a second time at their isolated and almost forgotten oasis, Allola said the Sheik Abraham, her son, together with the dozen men of the tribe and twice as many boys greeted him with joy, while she and the women with their faces veiled watched curiously from the tents. A welcome visitor was the Professor to this little tribe living apart from the world which rarely saw or entertained anybody from the outside. For the men he brought cigarettes, for the women many cakes of sweet chocolate. They were very grateful, and a tent had been set aside for him, and women assigned to look after his needs. Days had slipped into weeks and weeks into months, while the Professor and Ben Hassim stayed on. Frequently they would depart on long expeditions, leading two fine camels which they had brought with them, carrying food and water, and bestriding their own fine animals. Allola’s sharp eyes regarded Mr. Hampton. She did not know why they made these expeditions. Perhaps, he—— Mr. Hampton smiled a little at her curiosity. Then he turned to Ali and the boys who were attentive listeners like himself. “The Professor and Ben Hassim were scouting around the base of the Shaitun Mountains,” he said. “When he left me to come on in advance, Souchard said he intended to put in his time prospecting the mountain wall in both directions from the old stone road up which he had stumbled into Korakum in the first place. “You will remember that the men of Korakum told him the only way to gain entrance to Athensi was along the course of the subterranean river passing around the walls of Korakum. This river had its rise in the heart of the mountains behind Athensi, passed through the valley in which that city was situated, then disappeared again into the mountains and after passing through a series of natural caves or tunnels interspersed by open stretches of canyon, emerged into the plains of Korakum. Then it dived into the outer ring of mountains, never to reappear above ground. Probably, eventually, it reaches the Niger far to the west of us. “Well, it was my friend’s belief, based on hints dropped by one member of the exiled Athensians living in Korakum, that the heights above the hidden city could be gained by another method. Very long ago, he gathered, there had been another great road leading out from these heights to the desert, but the Athensians had destroyed it in order to preserve their isolation. It had been a great engineering feat to build it, but they had ruthlessly destroyed bridges across chasms and stone viaducts along the faces of steep cliffs, thus ensuring the impregnability of their city. However, Souchard understood, although his informant never would make a positive statement, that some of the exiles had been busy patching up the gaps in this road, flinging rude rope bridges across the chasms, and so on, to the end that men might pass single file. Doubtless, this was for purposes of accomplishing a coup of their own.” “And he was seeking that old road?” asked Jack. “Yes,” said Mr. Hampton. “And my guess is that, perhaps, he was discovered at it, and was tracked here and disposed of, in order that the secret might not escape.” “Wow,” cried big Bob, letting a long breath escape. “Pretty mess we’re planning to go into. I thought this was going to be a gentlemanly expedition, with overtures made to the Athensian rulers to let us come in and study their habits and history.” “And here we are stepping into a hornet’s nest,” supplemented Frank. Mr. Hampton smiled slightly. “Professor Souchard gave me to believe that it would be possible to approach the Athensians peaceably,” he said. “Otherwise I would not have undertaken this expedition, and brought you boys into danger, of course. But I’m beginning to believe now that he exaggerated the ease of approach, and minimized if he did not entirely ignore the dangers. Remember, he knew nothing much of the real Athensians. The exiles living in Korakum were his sole source of information. And, although he learned their language enough to converse with them haltingly, so short was his stay that there were many vital facts which he was unable to learn. “I pointed this out to him,” he added, “but he said that when we arrived, we would stay at Korakum examining the ruins, which in themselves are worth any scientists’ time and study, and in the meantime learn the Athensian language from the exiles and gain a good working knowledge of the manners and customs of the people of the hidden city and the interior plateaus. “That, as you know, was to be our first step. Afterwards, we were to proceed as our increased knowledge dictated. If it seemed the proper thing to do, we planned to send an embassy to the Athensians, asking permission to visit their city.” “Could it have been the exiles of Korakum, Dad, who were responsible for this raid?” asked Jack. Mr. Hampton shook his head. “I do not believe so,” he said. “Souchard described them as friendly to him, and as you know they aided him to return to civilization. But enough of that,” he added. “Let us hear the rest of Allola’s story.” And turning to Ali, who acted as interpreter, he asked him to bid the old woman continue. Nothing loth, for she relished being the center of attention and had resented this conversation in a tongue she could not understand, Allola described events on the day of the raid. “The Crazy One” and Ben Hassim had been absent more than two weeks from the oasis, but as they had stayed away equally long if not longer in the past, nobody worried. On leaving they had taken food and water on their led camels sufficient for a protracted stay, and it would not be necessary to feel anxiety about them for at least another week. In the morning, however, on looking at a calendar which “The Crazy One” had given him and which was a source of much satisfaction, as he had never before been able to keep track of the passage of days, Sheik Abraham had noticed a black mark drawn around the date. Then he had recalled that long before his friend had told him that on this day, the thirtieth of the month, friends would arrive from the east. “That’s right,” said Mr. Hampton, while the boys nodded. “We had arranged with Professor Souchard to time ourselves so as to arrive on this day. Leaving Khartum on such and such a day, if all went well, we would spend so many days in desert travel and reach the oasis on the thirtieth.” Allola proceeded. Noting the date and recalling “The Crazy One’s” words, the Sheik Abraham had told the tribesmen to keep a sharp look out across the southern desert, for the return of him and Ben Hassim. All day the men and women, working about the oasis, in their little farm patches or grinding oil, had paused now and again to glance to the south. Not until late in the afternoon, however, had they descried the looked-for figures approaching. They had gone out a little way into the desert to welcome them, and it had been a triumphal procession homeward. Everybody had crowded around to hear the tale of “The Crazy One’s” latest wanderings, as explained by the merry Ben Hassim, and it had not been dreamed necessary to keep watch. No watch ever was kept, anyway, as the tribe had no enemies and few, indeed, were the travellers who came this way. Suddenly, a body of white men, strangely-clad (like that other, said Allola, nodding toward the tent within which lay the wounded Athensian) and mounted on swift camels, dashed into the midst of the encampment. They bore short heavy swords and lances, but made no effort to harm anyone. In number they were, perhaps, two score. Dividing, they encircled the enclosure where the whole tribe was gathered. The dozen men and the score of half grown boys of the tribe, caught without arms, were helpless to resist. All were made prisoner, the Sheik Abraham was dragged from his tent where he was conversing with “The Crazy One.” The women were brought forth. Only “The Crazy One,” rolling quickly beneath the wall of the Sheik Abraham’s tent, managed for the moment to escape. Allola saw him from her retreat beneath the Sheik Abraham’s divan, where she had thrown herself. She was overlooked. “Then I heard his voice screaming into the devil machine,” said Allola. “And I knew he had fled to his tent and was calling upon his gods for protection. The strangers heard, too, and pursued and caught him. There was a fight. I heard, but I could not see. I lay hidden then until you came.” Mr. Hampton looked thoughtful. “That explains some things,” he said. “Professor Souchard hurrying to get back to meet us was tracked by Athensians. Probably he had aroused some watcher’s suspicions on an earlier scouting expedition along their mountain wall, and when he appeared this time a war party was summoned. Before it could arrive, unconscious of his impending fate, he had departed. But his trail across the desert was followed, the war party pushed its animals and, although he may have had a whole day’s start, they caught up with him an hour after his arrival at the oasis. He was cut down as he called for help.” Jack groaned. “Poor old Professor. If only we had been here. Our party, with guns, could have put the Athensians to flight in a twinkling.” “Well, boys, that’s all for the time being,” said Mr. Hampton, at length, after some further discussion. “When we buried Professor Souchard and Ben Hassim, as you will recall, there was no mark of bullet. They had been garroted, their necks broken, in the fashion of the Hindu Thugs. Now Allola says she saw no guns among the Athensians. These two circumstances would seem to indicate they are without firearms. Nevertheless, I cannot believe that a people, keeping up an annual contact with the outside world, would be without knowledge of firearms. Besides, those of the tribesmen were taken, for there isn’t one in the oasis. Would they have taken guns without knowing their use? No, they might have suspected they were weapons and have smashed them, but they wouldn’t have carried them away. Then, too, there is this matter of carrying off the whole tribe of Sheik Abraham. What was the reason for that?” “Probably the raiders planned to use them as slaves,” said Ali, to whom the dark secrets of the slave-raiders who still practice their trade in many places in the heart of the Dark Continent from the Abyssinian borders on the east to the Niger and Kongo territory, were not unknown. “Perhaps,” said Mr. Hampton, slowly. “If the tribesmen were to be used as slaves, that would indicate why their lives were spared. But it is also possibly the Athensians suspected Professor Souchard might have imparted information regarding their country, and they were taking no chances on leaving any witness against them behind.” |
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