"I will do it this time," said Hamid, as he set his teeth. Again, however, he only sent the dust flying about an astonished camel, who just at that moment poked his inquisitive nose out from behind the tent.
"Enough powder and shot has been wasted for one day," said Al-Abukar, raising his pistol; "we will take the coin down." Then, firing at the cord with a sure and steady aim, he cut it as if with a knife.
"It is not the fault of the new pistol," said Al-Abukar, smiling at Hamid, who looked very disappointed. "Never mind, thou wilt succeed better another time," he added.
CHAPTER III
THE ROBBER BAND AND AN OSTRICH HUNT
Meantime Fatimah was making friends with Nawara, the old merchant's little granddaughter. She was a wild, shy little girl, wearing a dark blue cotton dress, a mass of tangled black hair hanging down on her shoulders. The hot sun and the wind had burnt her face almost black. She was telling Fatimah of her long journeys with her grandfather.
"Thou art a great traveller," said Fatimah, looking at the little girl in round-eyed wonder.
"Yes, my father and mother are dead," she said, "and, as I have no little brothers or sisters, I go always with grandfather. He makes a nice seat for me on top of the big bales of goods on the camel's back, or he holds me before him on his dromedary."