"I am trying to tell you that that map doesn't mean a thing. It was just for use in the picture we are making. You might as well return us to our people, for there isn't any valley of diamonds."
Atewy and the sheykh jabbered excitedly to one another for a few moments, and then the former turned again to the girl. "You cannot make fools of the Bedauwy," he said. "We are smarter than you. We knew that you would say that there is no valley of diamonds, because you want to save it all for your father. If you know what is well for you you will read this map for us and help us find the valley. Otherwise—" he scowled horridly and drew a forefinger across his throat.
Naomi shuddered; but Rhonda was not impressed—she knew that while they had ransom or sale value that Arabs would not destroy them except as a last resort for self-protection.
"You are not going to kill us, Atewy," she said, "even if I do not read the map to you; but there is no reason why I should not read it. I am perfectly willing to; only don't blame us if there is no valley of diamonds."
"Come here and sit beside Ab el-Ghrennem and read the map to us," ordered Atewy.
Rhonda kneeled beside the sheykh and looked over his shoulder at the yellowed, time worn map. With a slender finger she pointed at the top of the map. "This is north," she said, "and up here—this is the valley of diamonds. You see this little irregular thing directly west of the valley and close to it? It has an arrow pointing to it and a caption that says, 'Monolithic column: Red granite out-cropping near only opening into valley.' And right north of it this arrow points to 'Entrance to valley.'
"Now here, at the south end of the valley, is the word 'Falls' and below the falls a river that runs south and then southwest."
"Ask her what this is," the sheykh instructed Atewy, pointing to characters at the eastern edge of the map southeast of the falls.
"That says 'Cannibal village,'" explained the girl. "And all across the map down there it says, 'Forest!' See this river that rises at the southeast edge of the valley, flows east, southeast, and then west in a big loop before it enters the 'Big river' here. Inside this loop it says, 'Open country,' and near the west end of the loop is a 'Barren, cone-shaped hill—volcanic.' Then here is another river that rises in the southeast part of the map and flows northwest, emptying into the second river just before the latter joins the big river."
Sheykh Ab el-Ghrennem ran his fingers through his beard as he sat in thoughtful contemplation of the map. At last he placed a finger on the falls.