“I’ll come back all right in time,” he said, and then hastened away.
Gunn hurried after him out of the hotel. He saw Dick spring upon the back of a horse. Another horse, with a dark, silent man on its back, stood near. Both animals were off in a moment, disappearing with their riders into the dusky shadows of a street leading to the north.
Zenas Gunn stood trembling in front of the hotel. His heart was heavy with dread.
“Oh, Richard!” he murmured pathetically; “Heaven guard you! You are brave unto recklessness, and I fear that some day your recklessness will bring ruin upon you.”
At the side of Ras al Had Dick Merriwell rode through Damascus. They were on the outskirts of the city when the aged sheik drew rein.
“We stop here,” he said.
Immediately two men appeared to take the horses.
They dismounted.
“Follow, boy,” commanded the sheik.
Dick did not hesitate about obeying. He kept at the heels of the Arab, who entered some straw-thatched sheds. It was very dark under the shed, not even the light of the stars penetrating there.