Alfieri had failed in
his quest. The Italian commander of the troops, refusing to sanction
useless labor any longer, had marched north with his men. Alfieri,
still clinging desperately to a chimera, had decided to remain and
scour the desert until his stores gave out. And, at this crucial moment
in his enterprise, came Hussain, the unconscious emissary of his
rivals. The fact that the Arab was a prisoner spoke volumes. He had
tried to communicate with Abdullah, and the watchful Italian had
guessed his true mission. The man might have been tortured until he
confessed the whereabouts not only of Royson himself and Abdur Kad'r
but of the whole expedition. There was but one thing to do, and that
speedily.
"Up!" he shouted, dragging the camels forth to an open space. "You ride
in front and set the pace."
"What would you do, Effendi?" cried the sheikh in alarm. "They will see
us ere we have gone five hundred meters. Let us wait for the night."
"Up, I tell you," roared Royson, catching the Arab's shoulder in a
steel grip.
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