“But I don’t fancy being talked to in this manner by a mere boy,” growled the other.
“I didn’t expect you would fancy it,” said Dick, with continued boldness. “Lots of people do not fancy being told the plain truth. Often it cuts to the quick. If you wish to do what you can to save yourselves, be prepared to fight for your lives if the mob breaks in here, but do not talk of surrendering a girl to be murdered by that pack of maddened beasts. On the contrary, you should be ready to defend her with your last drop of blood.”
Having scorched them in this manner, Dick turned and remounted the stairs.
The tall man made a move as if to stop him, but checked himself.
Barely had Dick disappeared when a figure advanced quickly from the shadows at the rear of the hall and spoke in a low tone to the two men.
“I beg your pardon,” said a soft voice, with a pronounced accent that seemed to proclaim him either a Spaniard or an Italian. “I happened to overhear a part of your conversation with that boy. I know him.”
The stranger was slim and dark, with a slight mustache, which curled upward at the ends. He had coal-black eyes, which were very restless and very piercing. His hands were small and slim, almost womanish.
The two men looked at him in some surprise. As they did not speak at once he went on hurriedly:
“It seems that I arrived in Damascus just in time to get into this unfortunate trap, from which not one of us may escape with our lives. I am just here. I would I were elsewhere. I know that boy—know him most exceedingly well. He is a thorough rascal. He was compelled to leave England in a hurry to escape imprisonment for robbery. He is a card sharp, although, on account of his years, he does not, to strangers, seem to be such. That is why he deceives the great number of people with such perfect ease. In Italy he was concerned with a very dangerous and desperate band of criminals, and from that country he hurried with much haste to avoid punishment. Since then he has been wandering about in various lands, accompanied by another boy and an old man, who are his accomplices. They tell that the old man is the tutor and guardian of the boys, but this I do assure you is a fabrication.”
“Well!” gasped the little man, in astonishment.