"And how did she come to be there?"
"She was captured by the Sultan who rules there. Allah curse him!"
"So!" his friend ejaculated.
Then he stayed for some moments ruminating on the matter.
"Such a maid was stolen three months or more ago, from a mighty white nation whose territory lies far beyond the Senegal," he began presently. "And that white nation has made great stir and commotion with our rulers, the French. For the maid is one of great wealth and importance in her own country, possessed of undreamt-of riches, a fortune in gold pieces more numerous than the grains of sand in the Sahara. A month ago I was in the town of St. Louis, and the people there talked of nothing else. The white officers here search for her in all directions. And great will be the reward of the man who can lead them to her abductor. And great also will be the punishment of that desert ruler—even death."
Tensely the feather merchant listened. Then he started up with a wild cry.
"Allah be praised!" he shouted. "For my prayer has been granted. I have found those who are the enemies of the Sultan Casim Ammeh. The nation most mighty of all on this earth. And they will break him, as he has broken me."
Then he darted from the tent, running like a madman in the direction of the French military quarters.