Before Sana or the slave-girl could make any attempt to escape the savage, now joined by three others, was upon them. Struggle as they would they were helpless in the hands of these men. Sana had often heard stories of the cavemen who were said to live in the hills of the desert. Could it be possible that these four savages were such? Nothing seemed to fit them better than that name.
If they were men they surely did not look the part. They resembled monkeys more than anything else. Squat, long armed and covered with hair, they looked like giant denizens of a tropical forest. Their protruding jaws displayed tusk-like teeth, while their receding foreheads ran back to red wool-like hair that covered their heads, shoulders and upper back.
Uttering growls, that sounded as unhuman as they looked, the larger of the four men, evidently the leader, took Sana up in his arms and started off. One of the others threw Cintani across his shoulders as if she were but an animal that had fallen victim to the chase.
Like a gift from heaven, unconsciousness came to Sana.
Carl, lying unconscious for several hours, came to in the early hours of the morning. Under the bright gleam of the desert stars he saw nothing but a heap of ashes and charred timbers—the remains of Amshied’s dwelling.
His head still reeling from the blow he had received, he crawled to his feet and looked around for some sight of his beloved one. With a shock, he discovered in the ruins, several charred skeletons, totally beyond point of recognition. Carefully he studied them, going from one to the other in an attempt to find something by which to identify them.
Bewildered he stood up, kicking the ashes aside with the toe of his boot. Good God, what was that? Sana’s necklace! He stooped to examine his find. Yes, it was the necklace Sana had worn that morning when she started out on the ride with him. He was positive it was the same, for he had examined it closely then, commenting upon its uniqueness. Was this then the end of Sana—the end of life itself? Among those charred bones, he believed, lay all that was earthly of the woman he loved!
Heart heavy with anguish, his body trembling as with the ague, he knelt in prayer. The words came slowly—it was years since he had prayed—but in his heart he knew what he wanted to say.
With shaking hands he scooped a shallow grave in the sand, and in it placed the remains of the bodies. He must be sure that Sana’s body found a grave. The tears streamed from his eyes as he carefully filled that last resting-place. The heaviest timbers he could find he laid across the grave, lest some prowling beast of the night should disturb the bodies. Above the little mound he fashioned a rude cross, from two smaller pieces of charred timber, and with a pencil he printed a marker on a piece of paper and pinned it to the cross.
Unmindful of the terrific heat of the desert sun which beat down upon him, he stumbled on, in a direction he believed would take him to the city. Luck was with him. Late that afternoon he reached Sana’s home, wild-eyed and fever-tortured.