“Take me to Ben Ahmet,” he answered. “It is he whom I seek.”
“Ben Ahmet!” cried Ain-el-Khair. “A thousand curses on him! He has led the sultan to place a price on my head. I have heard that he is in Tangier, and that is why I am here. I hope to meet him face to face when he attempts to return to Fez.”
“He is already on his way. He left Tangier this morning, and, with his fighting men, he is somewhere on the desert. We have followed to overtake him. We have little money with us, but if you can aid us against Ben Ahmet, I will promise you a goodly sum. What is your answer?”
“We will sit down together and talk it over. Perhaps it can be done.”
So they sat upon the ground, Ain-el-Khair taking care to keep at a distance from the boy whom he now feared and respected.
Frank had played a desperate game, and it looked as if he had won. If Ain-el-Khair had fired at the boy’s head the game would have ended suddenly in a tragedy, but the old sheik discharged the pistol at Frank’s breast, and, although the bullet pierced the outer clothing, no harm was done.
From the traveling magician of whom he had purchased the cabinet the boy had obtained a bullet-proof shirt. This he had donned before accompanying Azza in response to the appeal supposed to come from Igela, which may account, in a measure, for his unusual recklessness.
The small electric battery which came with the magician’s cabinet was very powerful, and was supplied with some fine wires that ran down Frank’s sleeves to his hands. Before going out to meet the robber sheik Frank had taken care to see that the battery was in working order, and he had given the old rascal a severe shock when he grasped his hand.
The serpent trick was one of the illusions he had learned from the magician, and it had proved very valuable in working on the superstitious fears of Ain-el-Khair. Even after they had seated themselves face to face upon the ground, the sheik was constantly watching for the swaying head of a snake to appear somewhere about the boy’s person. The old robber was sure a hundred serpents must be concealed in Frank’s clothes.
The astonishment of Professor Scotch can be much better imagined than described. To him it had seemed that Frank was crazy when he advanced to meet the old chief, and what followed that meeting filled him with unspeakable amazement. He could not understand why Frank did not fall when the sheik fired point-blank at him, nor could he imagine why Ain-el-Khair danced and yelled when Frank grasped his hands.