As they closed upon him, Obroski felled them to right and left with mighty blows rendered even more terrific by the fear-maddened brain that directed them. Terror had driven him berserk.
The cries of the warriors, the screams of the women and children formed a horrid cacophony in his ears that incited him to madder outbursts of fury. The arms that reached out to seize him he seized and broke like pipe stems.
He wanted to scream and curse, yet he fought in silence. He wanted to cry out against the terror that engulfed him, but he made no sound. And so, in terror, he fought a thousand men.
But this one-sided battle could not go on for long. Slowly, by force of numbers, they closed upon him; they seized his ankles and his legs. With heavy fists he struck men unconscious with a single blow; but at last they dragged him down.
And then
12. THE MAP
Weyley!" sighed Eyad, dolorously. "Methinks the sheikh hath done wrong to bring these benatwith us. Now will the Nasara follow us with many guns; they will never cease until they have destroyed us and taken the benat back for themselves—I know el-Engleys."
"Ullah yelbisak berneta!" scoffed Atewy.
"Thou roundest the map; was not that enough? They would not have followed and killed us for the map, but when you take away men's women they follow and kill—yes! be they Arab, English, or Negro." Eyad spat a period.
"I will tell thee, fool, why we brought the two girls," said Atewy. "There may be no valley of diamonds, or we may not find it. Should we therefore, after much effort, return to our own country empty-handed? These girls are not ill-favored. They will bring money at several places of which I know, or it may be that the mad Nasara will pay a large ransom for their return. But in the end we shall profit if they be not harmed by us; which reminds me, Eyad, that I have seen thee cast evil eyes upon them. Wellah! If one harms them the sheikh will kill him; and if the sheikh doth not, I will."
"They will bring us nothing but trouble," insisted Eyad. "I wish that we were rid of them."
"And there is still another reason why we brought them," continued Atewy. "The map is written in the language of el- Engleys, which I can speak but cannot read; the benat will read it to me. Thus it is well to keep them."
But still Eyad grumbled. He was a dour young Bedauwy with sinister eyes and a too full lower lip. Also, he did not speak what was in his thoughts; for the truth was not in him.
Since very early in the morning the horsemen had been pushing northward with the two girls. They had found and followed an open trail, and so had suffered no delays. Near the center of the little column rode the prisoners, often side by side; for much of the way the trail had been wide. It had been a trying day for them, not alone because of the fatigue of the hard ride, but from the nervous shock that the whole misadventure had entailed since Atewy and two others had crept into their tent scarcely more than an hour after midnight, silenced them with threats of death, and, after ransacking the tent, carried them away into the night.
All day long they had waited expectantly for signs of rescue, though realizing that they were awaiting the impossible. Men on foot could not have overtaken the horsemen, and no motor could traverse the trail they had followed without long delays for clearing trail in many places.
"I can't stand much more," said Naomi. "I'm about through."
Rhonda reined closer to her. "If you feel like falling, take hold of me," she said. "It can't last much longer today. They'll be making camp soon. It sure has been a tough ride—not much like following Ernie Vogt up Coldwater Canyon; and I used to come home from one of those rides and think I'd done something. Whew! They must have paved this saddle with bricks."
"I don't see how you can stay so cheerful."
"Cheerful! I'm about as cheerful as a Baby Star whose option hasn't been renewed."
"Do you think they're going to kill us, Rhonda?"
"They wouldn't have bothered to bring us all this way to kill us. They're probably after a ransom."
"I hope you're right. Tom'll pay 'em anything to get us back. But suppose they're going to sell us! I've heard that they sell white girls to black sultans in Africa."
"The black sultan that gets me is goin' to be out of luck."
The sun was low in the west when the Arabs made camp that night. Sheikh Ab el-Ghrennem had no doubt but that angry and determined men were pursuing him, but he felt quite certain that now they could not overtake him.
His first thought had been to put distance between himself and the Nasara he had betrayed—now he could look into the matter of the map of which Atewy had told him, possession of which had been the principal incentive of his knavery.
Supper over, he squatted where the light of the fire fell upon the precious document; and Atewy leaning over his shoulder scanned it with him.
"I can make nothing of it," growled the sheikh. "Fetch the bint from whom you took it."
"I shall have to fetch them both," replied Atewy, "since I cannot tell them apart."
"Fetch them both then," commanded el-Ghrennem; and while he waited he puffed meditatively upon his nargileh, thinking of a valley filled with diamonds and of the many riding camels and mares that they would buy; so that he was in a mellow humor when Atewy returned with the prisoners.
Rhonda walked with her chin up and the glint of battle in her eye, but Naomi revealed her fear in her white face and trembling limbs.
Sheikh Ab el-Ghrennem looked at her and smiled. "Ma aleyk," he said in what were meant to be reassuring tones.
"He says," interpreted Atewy, "that thou hast nothing to fear—that there shall no evil befall thee."
"You tell him," replied Rhonda, "that it will be just too bad for him if any evil does befall us and that if he wants to save his skin he had better return us to our people pronto."
"The Bedauwy are not afraid of your people," replied Atewy, "but if you do what the sheikh asks no harm will come to you."
"What does he want?" demanded Rhonda.
"He wishes you to help us find the valley of diamonds," replied Atewy.
"What valley of diamonds?"
"It is on this map which we cannot read because we cannot read the language of el-Engleys." He pointed at the map the sheikh was holding.
Rhonda glanced at the paper and broke into laughter. "You don't mean to tell me that you dumb bunnies kidnapped us because you believe that there is a valley of diamonds! Why, that's just a prop map."
"Dumb bunnies! Prop! I do not understand."
"I am trying to tell you that that map doesn't mean a thing. It was just for use in the picture we are making. You might as well return us to our people, for there isn't any valley of diamonds."
Atewy and the sheikh jabbered excitedly to one another for a few moments, and then the former turned again to the girl. "You cannot make fools of the Bedauwy," he said. "We are smarter than you. We knew that you would say that there is no valley of diamonds, because you want to save it all for your father. If you know what is well for you, you will read this map for us and help us find the valley. Otherwise—" he scowled horridly and drew a forefinger across his throat.