"The scoundrel deserves no better fate," said the guide, hard of heart and pitiless where his enemies were concerned.
At nightfall they lay down to sleep, Jim Braid remaining on sentry for the earlier part of the night. They had small reason to trust the people of the village, who were not incapable of murdering them in the night for the sake of their possessions.
At about ten o'clock Jim was alarmed by a peculiar grating sound quite near to their camp. The moon had not yet risen, and, though he strained his eyes in the direction from which the sound had come, he was able to distinguish nothing. At last he rose to his feet and walked some little distance from the fire. There he discovered a camel lying down upon the ground, engaged in chewing a bundle of coarse hay. The camel had appeared as if by magic.
Jim returned to the fire, and there to his amazement found Cortes sitting before the embers.
"You have returned?" said he.
"Yes, I have returned."
"With news?"
"Of the Black Dog. Yonder in the desert is an ancient temple or mosque. It stands in an oasis where there are palm-trees, and around which melons grow. For many years it has been deserted. The sheikh himself is there."
"We must awaken the others," said Braid.
"There is plenty of time," said the man. "He will not move before daybreak. The night is yet young. We will surround the oasis at sunrise and take him alive. Fernando must fulfil the oath he has made to the saints."