“‘Where are my children?’ demanded the sheik, sternly.
“‘Gone away on a far errand,’ said Lovelace.
“It was true enough, but Abdul Hashim was dissatisfied and suspicious. We slept late the next morning, and meantime the sheik had sent spies upon our trail. The jackals had dug up the bodies of the murdered Arabs and had half devoured them when their comrades reached the spot.
“It was open war between the tribe and us. We occupied a small stone house at the edge of the village. It had but one door and no windows, being merely a bare room thatched with palm leaves. When we heard the tribe running toward us with wild cries we knew the climax had arrived. Lovelace stood in the doorway and kept the Arabs at bay with his revolvers, but he did not know how long he would be able to hold out. He gave me the gems and gold ornaments and told me to escape and make my way to Luxor for help. I was instructed to put the treasure into the bank, gather a rescue party, and return as speedily as possible. Luxor was distant only four miles across the desert.
“While the Arabs were watching in front of the house I stood on the Professor’s shoulders, broke through the thatch at the rear, and dropped from the top of the stone wall to the sands beneath. While he returned to the entrance to distract their attention by a shot, I darted away toward Luxor and was soon safe from pursuit, even had I chanced to be observed.
“I performed my errand quickly and returned with a detachment of mounted police lent me by the governor of the city, for Professor Lovelace was a well-known explorer and under the protection of the Khedive. We arrived too late. I found only the Professor’s dead body, terribly mutilated by the knives of the Arabs. They had tricked him in some way during my absence, and so obtained their revenge.
“Abdul Hashim calmly told the officers that Lovelace Pasha had gone mad, and was slain by them in self-defense. He pointed to two dead men and several wounded to prove the truth of his assertion. I told another story, as you may imagine, but with no hint of the treasure. Shortly afterward I had the satisfaction of inducing the governor to raze Abdul Hashim’s village to the ground, so that not one of the rude stones remained upon another, while the tribe was driven farther into the desert to seek new quarters.
“Fortunately I had not banked the sample treasure we had taken, not wishing to delay my friend’s rescue, so that now I found myself the sole possessor of any knowledge relating to the great discovery. It has remained my personal secret until this hour, when I have confided it to you, gentlemen, in order to induce you to assist me.”
He paused, as if the tale was ended, and for a time we, his listeners, remained silent and thoughtful. The story had impressed me, for one, greatly, and it had seemed to ring true until he came to that row with the Arabs. There were some unlikely statements about the death of Lovelace and Van Dorn’s peculiar escape from the village, but I reflected that my ignorance of the ways of this people might well account for any seeming improbabilities that lurked in the story.