That was too much for the sheik to believe, and he plainly expressed his unbelief.
Immediately Frank stepped forward and grasped both of Ain-el-Khair’s hands. A yell of fear and pain came from the lips of the old Arab, who began to squirm and dance in a most amazing manner, trying to tear his hands away. After a moment of this, Frank released him, stepping back.
The robber chief stared at the boy, with fear showing plainly in his bulging eyes. This Christian was truly a great sorcerer.
“Are you satisfied?” demanded Frank; “or would you see more?”
Ain-el-Khair did not speak.
“Look!” cried the boy. “Behold my protectors. Had I willed it thus a hundred of them would have planted their poison fangs in your flesh when I touched your hands.”
Out of the boy’s sleeves, his pockets, and various parts of his clothing hissing serpents writhed and twisted. They twined along his arms, twisted about his legs and his neck, popped into view, and vanished. All the while he was moving his hands up and down and around, seeming to pick them off his body and cast them into the air, where they instantly vanished. Of a sudden he slapped his hands, and every serpent disappeared.
“Are you satisfied?” Frank again demanded.
“I am satisfied,” confessed the sheik. “You are a great sorcerer. What wouldst thou have me do?”
A sudden thought flashed through the boy’s brain.