“No,” was the reply. “They have complete disappeared. I try see where they go, but could not. They gone when I got to my room.”
“When did you first notice that the map had been taken?” inquired Bob in an anxious voice.
“No more than ten minutes ago,” Fekmah answered. “I had gone out to stay but a moment, and when came back to my room the door open and map gone. I run around to back and look out, but they gone.”
“Gone!” echoed Mr. Lewis. “We should have warned Fekmah to be on the lookout. If Bob and Joe had discovered the suspicious actions of the rascals sooner, it would have given us time to do so. But the fact that nothing strange was noticed till the night we were to reach port gave us no time to tell it.”
“So you knew?” asked the Arab friend. “You knew that robbers were after the map?”
Dr. Kirshner nodded.
“They broke into our rooms this morning, but when they couldn’t find the map they left without taking anything else,” he said. “We were just going over to warn you to be on the lookout and guard the map closely when we saw you.”
The Arab scowled and gritted his teeth.
“Allah curse them!” he exclaimed, vexed all the more because of almost but not quite knowing in time. “It’s too late now to find them, and they prob’ly gone by now.”
“Gone where?” asked Mr. Holton.