As for himself, he was left to the mercies of the three amazons. Chatting gaily among themselves, in a language unknown to Carl, they carried him upstairs to a small room. Here they threw him upon a rough couch like bed, fastening his legs and arms with shackles attached to the four legs.
Helpless, he lay there, thinking of what would happen to his beloved. What fate was in store for her? Desperately he struggled to free himself from his chains, but it was useless. He was as helpless as a pig trussed for the butcher’s knife.
To his disgust, his own position was brought clearly home to him, when the three women commenced pawing over his body, in the same way as one would examine an animal on the auction block. Resist he could not; he was forced to submit to their intimate inspection, which, he thanked his stars, did not last long. Satisfied as to his physical make-up, the women suddenly assumed various poses about his couch, vying with each other for Carl’s attention. Carl, however, rolled his head from side to side, closing his eyes to convey to them as clearly as he could his desire to have nothing to do with them.
Determined they were, however, to show their charms to their captive. One by one they came over to his corner, each trying harder than the other to arouse in him some indication of desire. Carl managed to keep his eyes tightly closed for a time, but his thoughts were too bewildered, his mind too much filled with Sana, to allow him to do so long. Opening his eyes, he saw one of the women still moving around before him. With a rage caused by disgust, Carl gave vent to a string of oaths. These had the desired effect. Perhaps the woman did not understand their meaning, but the meaning of his voice was clear. At any rate she decided not to make him any angrier and left through a small side door and bolted it.
He lay gazing around the room as best he could. Did that drapery in the far corner move? He watched closely. Yes, it was moving. What now? It was pushed aside, and through a small opening crept a figure. A woman, he perceived, but who? Coming into the light he recognized the dancer whom the Berber had called Cintani. Was he to go through another ordeal of the kind he had just been subjected to?
Maddened by his helplessness, he was about to scream out a curse, when the girl whispered, in poor French, “Keep quiet—I will help you.”
Tip-toe she crept towards him. To his relief, Carl saw that she had other intentions than to charm him. From her girdle he saw her take a key. With quick fingers the shackles were unlocked and Carl set up, free!
He could but look his thanks—he had no time for words, for again, with cautioning finger the slave-girl whispered, “The girl—the one you came with, come!”
Taking Carl’s arms she led him across the room, stopping before a great rug, suspended curtain-wise from the ceiling.
“In there,” she whispered, and was gone.