"Ah-woe, Tahara!" moaned Raal. "Have a care, Master."
But Dick did not hear him. "Good!" he exclaimed. "Just what I need. Binoculars! I bet Rex Carter will be mad when he finds that he left his field glasses behind. It's my lucky day!"
Raal looked on in fear as Dick put the glasses to his eyes and gazed out over the desert.
"Good!" said Dick smiling at Raal. "These are binoculars."
"Binoculars!" muttered Raal. "What a terrible word. It must be a fierce creature to have such a name." He watched Dick holding the glasses to his eyes and added with admiration, "How brave is Tahara! My Master has great courage to handle such a terrifying demon without fear!"
Dick offered the glasses to his warrior but Raal backed away hastily.
"The evil eye! Ah-woe, Tahara!"
Dick laughed. "Take a look, Raal. They are, in truth, magic glasses. But you can see that they do not harm me."
Raal shook his head vigorously. Tahara was all-powerful, that he knew. Tahara could cast out evil. But he, Raal, was not a god and could not afford to take chances.
Dick Oakwood looked at his chief warrior with a tolerant smile. Here was a man, brave in battle, a great fighter, a courageous hunter, taking chances with his life a thousand times in combat with his enemies or a hand-to-hand struggle with wild animals, yet the sight of the binoculars with their glass lenses that looked to his savage mind as great unwinking eyes, had sent him into a panic.—And Raal was one of the bravest of his subjects. The others were far less intelligent.