CHAPTER III
A Villainous Deed
At the Arab's dread remark it seemed for a moment that the explorerswere going to sink through the street. Dr. Kirshner reeled, and theperspiration came out on Mr. Holton's face. Mr. Lewis and the boyswere spellbound.
Gone! Hundreds of dollars--yes, thousands. After all this anticipatingthe good fortune of finding the supposedly hidden treasure. Theexplorers could hardly believe it.
At last Dr. Kirshner got a grip on himself.
"Do you have any idea where the thieves went?" he asked of the Arab,whose name was Fekmah.
"No," was the reply. "They have complete disappeared. I try see wherethey go, but could not. They gone when I got to my room."
"When did you first notice that the map had been taken?" inquired Bobin an anxious voice.
"No more than ten minutes ago," Fekmah answered. "I had gone out tostay but a moment, and when came back to my room the door open andmap gone. I run around to back and look out, but they gone."
"Gone!" echoed Mr. Lewis. "We should have warned Fekmah to be on thelookout. If Bob and Joe had discovered the suspicious actions of therascals sooner, it would have given us time to do so. But the factthat nothing strange was noticed till the night we were to reach portgave us no time to tell it."
"So you knew?" asked the Arab friend. "You knew that robbers wereafter the map?"
Dr. Kirshner nodded.
"They broke into our rooms this morning, but when they couldn't findthe map they left without taking anything else," he said. "We werejust going over to warn you to be on the lookout and guard the mapclosely when we saw you."
The Arab scowled and gritted his teeth.
"Allah curse them!" he exclaimed, vexed all the more because of almostbut not quite knowing in time. "It's too late now to find them, andthey prob'ly gone by now."
"Gone where?" asked Mr. Holton.
Fekmah spread his hands apart in a wide gesture and then pointed tothe south.
"To get treasure," he said quietly.
"Then we'll get there first!" exclaimed Dr. Kirshner. "No thieves willget ahead of us. I think it might be well to start on the journey atonce--that is, if you can go that soon," he said to the Arab, whonodded.
"But how will we know where to go without the map?" asked Mr. Lewis.
"I have general idea," Fekmah returned. "I studied it so much thatknow about where go. And I can leave any time."
"Fine!" blurted out Dr. Kirshner. "We'll get our belongings togetherand leave tomorrow. But first let me introduce my friends. I don'tbelieve you're acquainted with them," and he proceeded to introducethe Arab to Mr. Holton, Mr. Lewis, and Bob and Joe.
"Now let us all come up to my room," said Fekmah. "We can talk overplans for the treasure search. There are much things you should know."
They walked on up the street to a comparatively large building andwere led in the door and up the stairs by Fekmah.
"So this is the hotel where he's staying," said Bob, casting eagereyes about the place.
"Sure is luxurious," remarked Joe. "It's the best in town."
The Arab's room was halfway down the hall, and to it they went.
"Now sit down," directed Fekmah, "and we will talk things over."
They did so and then made ready for what the Arab had to say.
There was a short silence. Then Fekmah resumed the conversation.
"Like Dr. Kirshner said, we should leave at once if expect to find thehidden riches before the thieves get ahead of us," he began, showingan unusual ability to speak English correctly. "There are two routeswe can take to get to the edge of the desert. We can take the railroadto Oran and then to Figuig, or can get on train to Wargla." He movedover to a small satchel and took out a cloth map, which he unfoldedand laid on a small table that was in the middle of the room. The mapwas French, and although the naturalists and their sons had a slightknowledge of that language, Dr. Kirshner and Fekmah were the only oneswho knew it thoroughly.
"I think we can make out enough to satisfy ourselves, though," saidMr. Holton.
The Arab traced the one route and then the other, pointing out thepossibilities of each one. The object was to take a train to thefarthest point in the desert possible and start the expedition fromthere on camelback.
"Now," continued Fekmah, "our destination is the Ahaggar Mountains.They are about seventeen hundred kilometers (about a thousand miles)from here. From what we measured, the best route is to go to Warglaand get camels from there. What you think?"
"I believe you're right," returned Dr. Kirshner. "That route is muchshorter, and we'll have less difficulty in finding our way from Warglathan from Figuig. Nearly all expeditions depart from Wargla, and thereare numerous small settlements on the way to the Ahaggar Mountains.Can we get a train in the morning?"
The Arab nodded.
"There about three trains a day out," he said. "I believe one leavesin morning, so we can get there easy."
"Fine!" exclaimed Mr. Lewis. "Then we'll leave now and get packed andbe here for you early in the morning."
Fekmah bowed.
"And I will make the stolen map over again from memory, as near ascan," he said.
They bade the Arab good-bye and left the hotel to get their belongingstogether. If they were to leave for the Sahara the next morning, agreat deal of packing would have to be done.
"Don't suppose there's any use trying to find the thieves, is there?"asked Joe, as they approached their hotel.
Dr. Kirshner laughed unwillingly.
"They are probably halfway to the Sahara by now," he returned,although he knew this to be an exaggeration.
When the explorers arrived at their rooms, Dr. Kirshner directed thepreparations for the expedition, and the remainder of the day wasspent in doing this. It seemed that the archaeologist had forgotten hisduties as a scientist and was thinking only of finding the hiddenriches.
"If we are fortunate enough to find our objective, we will be paidmany times the cost of the expedition," he said.
"If those crooks don't get ahead of us," added Joe, with a grim smile.
"They won't--not if we can help it," blurted out Bob, fumbling hisautomatic.
At noon the adventurers stopped only a few minutes for a meal, soeager were they to finish the task of preparing for the expedition.They found it necessary to purchase much that they did not have, andthe bazaars of Algiers were visited often for the unusual in the wayof luxuries.
At last the work was completed, and all sat down to rest after thestrain. Bob and Joe had had the experience once before of helping tomake preparations for an expedition and knew what was expected ofthem.
"I wish we could take motion pictures of this city," remarked Bob thatevening. "But we've been instructed to wait till we start the journeyin the Sahara."
The next morning the explorers were up early, and after a bountifulbreakfast they made their way to Fekmah's hotel.
The Arab was expecting them and had finished making a second map. Itwas none too accurate, for he did it from memory, but it promised tobe the only means between defeat and failure.
"You may wonder why I bothered to make more map," he said to hisfriends. "But it possible that I forget some of the landmarks when weare on way, and this will----"
"Come to the rescue," interrupted Joe, smiling.
"And also," Fekmah went on, "you may have this if anything shouldhappen me."
"Let's hope nothing will," said Bob.
"And now," began Dr. Kirshner, "I'm going down to the railroad stationand find out if we can get a train this morning. I'll be back in ashort time."
"While he's gone, suppose we go out," suggested Joe to his chum."There's a lot we can see around here before we leave."
"All right," Bob replied. "But we don't want to stay too long. Theremight be a train out in an hour."
The youths decided to see the old section of the city, as they hadheard from Dr. Kirshner that many points of interest were to be foundthere. It was but a few minu
tes' walk to their objective, and theyturned their eyes about.
As they were passing a cafe, Bob motioned for his friend to lookinside.
A gray-haired, shriveled old man in torn clothing was strumming aguitar and walking from one end of the cafe to another, holding out ahand for money. But no one seemed inclined to give him any. Evidentlythis was a common occurrence, for the people paid little or noattention to the old beggar.
"I've half a mind to give him a break," started Bob, but Joe pulledhim back.
"If we want to see any of this town we'll have to be at it," Joe said,leading the way down the street.
The narrow ways were lined with shops and bazaars, offering theshopper a wide variety of commodities.
"But most of the things they sell you don't want," smiled Bob,glancing at a counter laden with coarse native food.
The youths noticed that certain streets were devoted to the selling ofcertain products. For instance, one avenue was lined with shopsdisplaying brassware.
"It ought to be easy to find what you want," grinned Joe. "Just walkdown one street and you will have a large choice of the same thing."
The boys spent nearly a half-hour in the native quarter. Finally Bobsuggested that they get back to the hotel, and his friend was also infavor.
In a short time they were back in the hostelry and proceeded to go totheir rooms. But they were scarcely at the doors when the sound offootsteps came to their ears. The next moment Dr. Kirshner came intoview.
"Hello," greeted Bob, and then his jaw dropped.
That something was wrong was evidenced by the frown that was on thearchaeologist's face. His usual smile was absent.
"There's been a wreck," he said in an anxious voice. "The train hasbeen wrecked. I guess we can't get to Wargla so soon after all."
Captured by the Arabs Page 3