Ras al Had uttered a call, and soon a man came hurrying with a fluttering light. He was black as midnight, with thick lips, and huge gold rings in his ears. He salaamed before the sheik.
“Hold the light, Assouan,” directed Ras al Had. “Let us behold the dog who betrayed me.”
Then he touched the arm of the American boy and made a gesture toward the ground not far from their feet.
Assouan held the light as commanded, and it fell on a spectacle that caused Dick to recoil and utter a cry of horror.
Face downward on the ground, his arms and legs outspread, with his wrists and ankles bound to stout stakes, was a black man, stripped of clothing. His back was covered with blood.
“You see what happens to curs who betray Ras al Had,” said the sheik, in a harsh voice.
“Heavens!” gasped Dick. “The miserable wretch has been beaten until his back is all cut up!”
“He was lashed until the pain loosened his tongue and he confessed,” said the sheik. “This man was one of the four I sent to escort you and the maiden.”
“You—you compelled him to tell what has become of her?”
“I wrung it from his lips.”