Naomi shuddered; but Rhonda was not impressed—she knew that while they had ransom or sale value the Arabs would not destroy them except as a last resort for self-protection.
"You are not going to kill us, Atewy," she said, "even if I do not read the map to you; but there is no reason why I should not read it. I am perfectly willing to; only don't blame us if there is no valley of diamonds."
"Come here and sit beside Ab el-Ghrennem and read the map to us," ordered Atewy.
Rhonda kneeled beside the sheikh and looked over his shoulder at the yellowed, timeworn map. With a slender finger she pointed at the top of the map. "This is north," she said, "and up here—this is the valley of diamonds. You see this little irregular thing directly west of the valley and close to it? It has an arrow pointing to it and a caption that says, 'Monolithic column: Red granite outcropping near only opening into valley.' And right north of it this arrow points to 'Entrance to valley.'
"Now here, at the south end of the valley, is the word 'Falls' and below the falls a river that runs south and then southwest."
"Ask her what this is," the sheikh instructed Atewy, pointing to characters at the eastern edge of the map southeast of the falls.
"That says 'Cannibal village,'" explained the girl. "And all across the map down there it says, 'Forest!' See this river that rises at the southeast edge of the valley, flows east, southeast, and then west in a big loop before it enters the 'Big river' here. Inside this loop it says, 'Open country,' and near the west end of the loop is a 'Barren, cone-shaped hill—volcanic.' Then here is another river that rises in the southeast part of the map and flows northwest, emptying into the second river just before the latter joins the big river."
Sheikh Ab el-Ghrennem ran his fingers through his beard as he sat in thoughtful contemplation of the map. At last he placed a finger on the falls.
"Shuf, Atewy!" he exclaimed. "This should be the Omwamwi Falls, and over here the village of the Bansuto. We are here." He pointed at a spot near the junction of the second and third rivers. "Tomorrow we should cross this other river and come into open country. There we shall find a barren hill."
"Billah!" exclaimed Atewy. "If we do we shall soon be in the valley of diamonds, for the rest of the way is plain."
"What did the sheik say?" asked Rhonda.
Atewy told her, adding, "We shall all be very rich; then I shall buy you from the sheikh and take you back to my ashirat."
"You and who else?" scoffed Rhonda.
"Billah! No one else. I shall buy you for myself alone."
"Caveat emptor," advised the girl.
"I do not understand, bint," said Atewy.
"You will if you ever buy me. And when you call me bint, smile. It doesn't sound like a nice word."
Atewy grinned. He translated what she had said to the sheikh, and they both laughed. "TheNarrawia would be good to have in the beyt of Ab el-Ghrennem," said the sheikh, who had understood nothing of what Atewy had said to Rhonda. "When we are through with this expedition, I think that I shall keep them both; for I shall be so rich that I shall not have to sell them. This one will amuse me; she hath a quick tongue that is like aud in tasteless food."
Atewy was not pleased. He wanted Rhonda for himself; and he was determined to have her, sheikh or no sheikh. It was then that plans commenced to formulate in the mind of Atewy that would have caused Sheikh Ab el-Ghrennem's blood pressure to rise had he known of them.
The Arabs spread blankets on the ground near the fire for the two girls; and the sentry who watched the camp was posted near, that they might have no opportunity to escape.
"We've got to get away from these highbinders, Naomi," said Rhonda as the girls lay close together beneath their blankets. "When they find out that the valley of diamonds isn't just around the corner, they're going to be sore. The poor saps really believe that that map is genuine—they expect to find that barren, volcanic hill tomorrow. When they don't find it tomorrow, nor next week nor next, they'll just naturally sell us 'down river'; and by that time we'll be so far from the outfit that we won't have a Chinaman's chance ever to find it."
"You mean to go out alone into this forest at night!" whispered Naomi, aghast. "Think of the lions!"
"I am thinking of them; but I'm thinking of some fat, greasy, black sultan too. I'd rather take a chance with the lion—he'd be sporting at least."
"It's all so horrible! Oh, why did I ever leave Hollywood!"
"D'you know it's a funny thing, Naomi, that a woman has to fear her own kind more than she does the beasts of the jungle. It sort o' makes one wonder if there isn't something wrong somewhere—it's hard to believe that a divine intelligence would create something in His own image that was more brutal and cruel and corrupt than anything else that He created. It kind of explains why some of the ancients worshipped snakes 'and bulls and birds. I guess they had more sense than we have."
At the edge of the camp Atewy squatted beside Eyad. "You would like one of the white benat, Eyad," whispered Atewy. "I have seen it in your eyes."
Eyad eyed the other through narrowed lids. "Who would not?" he demanded. "Am I not a man?"
"But you will not get one, for the sheikh is going to keep them both. You will not get one—unless."
"Unless what?" inquired Eyad.
"Unless an accident should befall Ab el-Ghrennem. Nor will you get so many diamonds, for the sheikh's share of the booty is one fourth. If there were no sheikh we should divide more between us."
"Thou art hatab lil nar," ejaculated Eyad.
"Perhaps I am fuel for hell-fire," admitted Atewy, "but I shall burn hot while I burn."
"What dost thou get out of it?" inquired Eyad after a short silence.
Atewy breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. Eyad was coming around! "The same as thou," he replied, "my full share of the diamonds and one of the benat."
"Accidents befall sheikhs even as they befall other men," philosophized Eyad as he rolled himself in his blanket and prepared to sleep.
Quiet fell upon the camp of the Arabs. A single sentry squatted by the fire, half dozing. The other Arabs slept.
Not Rhonda Terry. She lay listening to the diminishing sounds of the camp, she heard the breathing of sleeping men, she watched the sentry, whose back was toward her.
She placed her lips close to one of Naomi Madison's beautiful ears. "Listen!" she whispered, "but don't move nor make a sound. When I get up, follow me. That is all you have to do. Don't make any noise."
"What are you going to do?" The Madison's voice was quavering.
"Shut up, and do as I tell you."
Rhonda Terry had been planning ahead. Mentally she had rehearsed every smallest piece of business in the drama that was to be enacted. There were no lines—at least she hoped there would be none. If there were the tag might be very different from that which she hoped for.
She reached out and grasped a short, stout piece of wood that had been gathered for the fire. Slowly, stealthily, catlike, she drew herself from her blankets. Trembling, Naomi Madison followed her.
Rhonda rose, the piece of firewood in her hand. She crept toward the back of the unsuspecting sentry. She lifted the stick above the head of the Arab. She swung it far back, and then—.