Eyad understood no English, but he made a shrewd guess at the meaning of the words, doubtless from the peremptory tone of the American's voice, and lowered the butt of his musket to the ground.
The two approached him. "Where is el-Ghrennem?" demanded Orman. "Where are Miss Madison and Miss Terry?"
Eyad recognized the names and the interrogatory inflection. Pointing toward the north he spoke volubly in Arabic. Neither Orman nor West understood what he said, but they saw that he was much excited. They saw too that he was emaciated, his garments in rags, and his face and body covered with wounds. It was evident that he had been through some rough experiences.
When Eyad realized that the Americans could not understand him he resorted to pantomime, though he continued to jabber in Arabic.
"Can you make out what he's driving at, Tom?" asked West.
"I picked up a few words from Atewy but not many. Something terrible seems to have happened to all the rest of the party—this bird is scared stiff. I get sheykh and el-Beduw and benat; he's talking about el-Ghrennem, the other Beduins, and the girls—benat is the plural of bint, girl. One of the girls has been killed by some animal—from the way he growled and roared when he was explaining it, I guess it must have been a lion. Some other fate befell the rest of the party, and I guess it must have been pretty awful."
West paled. "Does he know which girl was killed?" he asked.
"I can't make out which one—perhaps both are dead."
"We've got to find out. We've got to go after them. Can he tell us where they were when this thing happened?"
"I'm going to make him guide us," replied Orman. "There's no use going on tonight—it's too late. In the morning we'll start."