CHAPTER XXXIII
THE ORDEAL OF RRISA
Alone in his cabin with the waterspout of massive gold and with thesacred Black Stone, the Master sat down in front of the table wherethey had been laid, took a few leaves of khat, and with profoundattention began to study the treasures his _bold coup_ had sosuccessfully delivered into his hands.
The waterspout, he saw at once, would as a mere object of preciousmetal be worth a tremendous sum. It was of raw gold, apparentlyunalloyed--as befitted its office of carrying the water from the roofof the Ka'aba and throwing it upon Ishmael's grave, where pilgrimshave for centuries stood fighting to catch it. Its color vergedon reddish; all its lateral surfaces were carved with elaboratearabesques and texts from the Koran. The bottom bore an inscription inTumar characters, easily decipherable by the Master, stating that ithad been sent from Constantinople in the year of the Hegira 981, byShafey Hanbaly, the Magnificent.
"A great treasure," pondered the Master. "An almost incalculabletreasure, in itself; but less so, intrinsically, than as an object ofMoslem veneration. In either case, however, enormously valuable."
He examined it a moment or two longer, noting with care the gashes anddeep cuts made by the frantic strokes of Dr. Lombardo's pick-axe. Whathis thoughts might have been regarding the doctor's tragic death, nonecould have told. For with a face quite unmoved, he turned now to theexamination of the world-famous Black Stone.
This object, he saw, possessed no value whatever, _per se_. Aside fromits golden encircling band studded with silver nails, its worth seemedpractically nothing. As it lay on the table before him, he realizedthat it was nothing but a common aerolite, with the appearance ofblack slag. Its glossy, pitchlike surface, on the end that had beenexposed from the wall, was all worn and polished smooth by innumerablecaresses from Moslem hands and lips.
"Very hygienic," the Master thought. "If there was ever a finer waydevised for spreading the plague and other Oriental diseases, I can'tvery well imagine what it could be!"
A bit of the stone had been broken off by Leclair's crowbar. TheMaster's trained, scientific eye saw, by the brightly sparkling,grayish section of the break, that iron and nickel formed the chiefelements of the stone. Its dimensions, though its irregular form madethese hard to come by, seemed about two and a half feet in length, byabout seven or eight inches in breadth and thickness. Its weight, asthe Master stood up and lifted it, must have been about two hundredpounds. No doubt one man could have carried it from its place in theKa'aba to the nacelle; but in the excitement of battle, and impeded byhaving to stumble over prostrate Moslems, the major had considered itadvisable to ask for help.
"Mineralogically speaking, this is a meteor or a block of volcanicbasalt," judged the Master. "It seems sprinkled with small crystals,with rhombs of tile-red feldspath on a dark background like velvet orcharcoal, except for one reddish protuberance of an unknown substance.A good blow with a hammer would surely break it along the originallines of fracture--and this is well worth knowing and remembering".
"Well, so far so good," he concluded. "The Air Control Board hasn'tgot us, yet. Neither have the Mohammedans. True, we've lost a numberof men, but that was to have been expected. That's inevitable, and westill have enough. I hardly see that we have so very much to complainof, so far."
He turned, pulled a blanket from his berth and carefully spread itover the loot on the table. Then he pushed the button communicatingwith the cabin wherein Rrisa was still quivering as a result of havingheard the fusillades and the terrific tumult--unseen though they hadbeen to him--at Mecca.
In a couple of minutes the faithful orderly appeared, salaamed, andstood waiting with a drawn, troubled face.
"_Allah m'a!_" the Master greeted him, in Allah's name inquiring forhis good health. "I have something important to ask thee. Come in.Come in, and close the door."
He spoke in Arabic. The orderly, in the same tongue, made answer as heobeyed:
"The Master hath but to talk, and it is answered, if my knowledge cansuffice." His words were submissive; but the expression was strangein his eyes, at sight of the blanket on the table. That blanket mighthide--what might it not hide? The light in his gaze became one theMaster had never yet seen there, not even in the sternest fighting atGallipoli.
"Mecca lieth behind us, Rrisa," the Master began. "Thou hast seennothing of it, or of what happened there?"
"Nothing, _M'alme._ I was bidden remain in my cabin, and the Master'sword is always my law. It is true that I heard sounds of a greatfighting, but I obeyed the Master. I saw nothing. The Sheik Abd elHareth, did you deliver him into the hands of the Faithful?"
"No, Rrisa. They refused to accept him. And now I have other plansfor him. It is well that thou didst see nothing, for it was a mightyfighting and there was death both to them and to us. Now, my questionsto thee."
"Yea, Master?"
"Tell me this thing, first. Is it indeed true speaking, as I haveheard, that the Caliph el Walid the First, in Hegira 88, sent to Meccaan immense present of gold and silver, forty camel-loads of small cutgems and a hundred thousand _miskals_ in gold coin?"
"It is true, Master. Save that he sent more; nearly two hundredthousand _miskals_. He also sent eighty Coptic and Greek artists tocarve and gild the mosques.
"One Greek sculptured a hog on the Mosque of Omar, trying to make itinto a _kanisah_ (unclean idol-house). My people discovered the sacrilege,and"--he added with intent--"gave that Greek the bowstring, then quarteredthe body and threw it to the vultures."
"That is of no importance whatever, Rrisa," answered the Master withan odd smile. "What thy people do to the unbeliever, if they capturehim, is nothing to me. For--dost thou see?--they must first make thecapture. What I would most like to know is this: where is all thattreasure, now?"
"I cannot tell you, Master."
"At Mecca?"
"No, Master, not at Mecca."
"Then where?"
"_M'alme!_ My lips are sealed as the Forbidden Books!"
"Not against the commands of thy sheik--and I am thy sheik!"
Rrisa's lips twitched. The inner struggle of his soul reflected itselfin his lean, brown face. At last he aroused himself to make answer:
"The treasure, Master, is far to the south-east--in another city."
"Ah! So there _is_ another city far out in Ruba el Khali, the EmptyAbodes!"
"Yea, _M'alme_, that is so."
"Then the ancient rumor is true? And it is from near that city thatthou didst come, eh? By Allah's power, I command thee to tell me ofthis hidden city of the central deserts!"
"This thing I cannot do, my sheik."
"This thing thou must do!"
"O Master! It is the secret of all secrets! Spare me this!"
"No Rrisa, thou must obey. Far inside El Hejaz (the barrier), thatcity is lying for my eyes to behold. I must know of it. Thy oath to mecannot be broken. Speak, thou!"
The Master made no gesture with his hands, did not frown or clench hisfists, but remained impassively calm. His words, however, cut Rrisalike knives. The orderly remained trembling and sweating, with apiteous expression. Finally he managed to stammer:
"_M'alme_, in our tongue we have a proverb: 'There are two thingscolder than ice--a young old man and an old young man.' There is stilla colder thing--the soul that betrays the Hidden City!"
"Speak Rrisa! There is no escape for thee!"
"My sheik, I obey," quavered the unfortunate orderly, shaken with apalsy of fear. Without a quiver, the Arab would rush a machine-gunposition or face a bayonet-charge; but this betrayal of his kin struckat the vitals of his faith. Still, the Master's word was law evenabove Al Koran. With trembling lips he made answer:
"This city--spare me uttering its name, Master!--lies many hours'journey, even by this Eagle of the Sky, beyond the Iron Mountains thatno man of the Feringi hath ever seen. It lies beyond the Great SandBarrier, in a valley of the Inner Mountains; yea, at the very heart ofRuba el Khali."
"I hear thee, Rrisa. Spea
k further. And let thy speaking be truth!"
"It shall be truth, by the Prophet's beard! What doth the Master askof me?"
"Is it a large city, Rrisa?"
"Very large."
"And beautiful?"
"As the Jebel Radhwa!" (Mountain of Paradise).
"Thou hast been in that secret city, Rrisa?"
"Once, Master. The wonderful sight still remaineth in mine eyes."
"And, seeing the Iron Mountains again, thou couldst guide us thither?"
"Allah forbid! That is among the black deeds, Master! 'The grave isdarkness and good deeds are its lamps; but for the betrayer, thereshall be no light!' _Wallah, Effendi!_ Do not make me your guide!"
"I have not said I intended to do so, Rrisa. I merely asked theeif thou _couldst_!" The Master's voice was silken, fine, penetrant."Well, Rrisa, tell me if thou couldst!"
"Yea, Master. _Ya gharati!_ (O my calamity!) It is true I could." Thewords issued from his unwilling throat as if torn out by main force."But I earnestly beg of you, my sheik, do not make me do this thing!"
"Rrisa, if I command, thou must obey me! 'There is only one thing canever loose the bonds I have knotted about thee."
"And that is certainty (death), Master?"
"That is certainty! But this, to the oath-breaker and the abuserof the salt, means a place among the _mujrim_ (sinful). It meansJehannum, and an unhappy couch shall it be!"
Rrisa's face grew even more drawn and lined. A trembling had possessedhis whole body.
"Master, I obey!" he made submission, then stood waiting with downcasteyes of suffering.
"It is well," said the chief, rising. He stood for a moment peering atRrisa, while the hum and roar of the great air-liner's mechanism, thedip and sway of its vast body through the upper air, seemed to add akind of oppressive solemnity to the tense situation. To the cabinwall the Master turned. There hung a large-scale map of the ArabianPeninsula. He laid a hand on the vast, blank interior, and nodded forRrisa to approach.
"Listen, thou," said he. "Thy knowledge is sufficient. Thou dostunderstand the interpretation of maps, and canst read latitude andlongitude. Mark here the place of the Hidden City!"
"Of the Bara Jannati Shahr, Master? Ah no, _no_!"
"So then, that is its name?" the chief demanded, smiling.
"No, _M'alme_. Thou dost know the Arabic. Thou dost understand thismeans only, in thy tongue, the Very Heavenly City."
"True. Well, let it pass. Very Heavenly City it shall be, till thereal name becomes known. Come now, mark the place of the Hidden Cityand mark it truly, or the greatest of sins will lie upon thy soul!"
The Arab advanced a brown, quivering hand.
"Give me a pencil, Master, and I obey!" he answered, in a voice hardlyaudible.
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