“Don’t say that, but say that I will go to the top of yonder palm and leap from it.”
The palm was a tall one, the trunk slender and easily climbed, but the height was such that to jump from the top meant death.
The offer made by Max was accepted, and the young madcap began his perilous ascent.
When near the top he stood on the stem of one of the monster leaves, and rested a moment.
From under his coat he took two palm leaves which he had succeeded in joining together.
Opening them above his head, he held his breath and jumped.
As he expected, the wind filled out the palm leaves like a parachute and Max came to the ground so gently that the most pronounced skeptic was enthused, and ready to do anything for the young hero.
“We have a mission!” Ibrahim said to the chief, “and thy people must help. In the desert there is an oasis, and on the oasis is a great man, one Sherif el Habib, who is seeking the Mahdi of his people. We wish to find him.”
Ibrahim explained the locations of the oasis as well as he could, and the chief recognized it as being a place some adventurous member of his tribe had told him about.
After some days absolute rest a caravan was formed, and with girls playing cymbals and others beating drums, Max and Ibrahim started on their journey across the desert to find their friends.