CHAPTER X
Challenged
TOWARDS the middle of the afternoon Reeves stood up, stretched hislong limbs, and looked meditatively in the direction of the hill fromwhich the three comrades had witnessed the mirage.
"Lads," he exclaimed, "I've changed my plans. We'll load up thecamel, take a stock of water with us--that is, if the goatskindoesn't leak--and make for yonder hill once more. If the palms arestill visible, I'll take a bearing, and as soon as it gets dark we'llmake a dash for it. The stars will guide us."
"I'm game," replied Hugh. "But why do you want to journey by night?"
"We might find the oasis already occupied by someone else," repliedReeves. "In that case we could skirt the place without so much riskof being discovered."
"But what if there are no more oases beyond that one?" asked Gerald.
"Either there must be, or else we will not Inn find anyone inpossession of it. My own opinion is that it is the northernmost partof a chain of fertile land; and, moreover, I don't think we'll findArabs there."
"What makes you think that?" asked Hugh.
"Cannot say," replied the correspondent. The lad had heard his elderspeak thus before. He knew that Reeves had an explanation, but forsome reason preferred to keep it to himself.
Within a very short space of time the hierie was loaded up--theleathern bottle held its precious contents very satisfactorily--andwith eager steps the three travellers set out towards the sandhill.
In the slanting rays of the setting sun the clump of palm trees stoodout clearly against the horizon. From the height at which the triostood--about one hundred feet above the level of the desert--thedistance could not be less than eleven miles. All doubts as to thepalms' existence were at an end.
Setting two of the ramrods in the sand, so that they were in linewith the distant oasis, Reeves waited till the sun dipped beneath thehorizon, and the stars shone forth with the extreme brilliancy of thetropics.
"I've fixed it!" he exclaimed, after carefully checking his bearings."Now, forward!"
Allowing their rate of progress to be two miles an hour, between fiveand six hours must elapse before they gained the hoped-for haven ofrest, even if the desert presented no unlooked-for obstacles andthere was no necessity to halt. Each of the party was to ride forapproximately one hour, Gerald being given the first place upon thehierie.
Mile after mile passed without incident, till suddenly the travellersdisturbed a number of large birds, which, uttering fearful cries,soared wildly in the air.
"That's good!" exclaimed Reeves. "The first birds we've met since weleft Wadi Tlat. That shows we must be nearing a place that is capableof supplying food to these creatures."
More than two-thirds of the distance was completed when a fairlydense scrub was encountered, clusters of prickly cacti impeding thealready slow progress of the little band. The soil, too, instead ofconsisting of soft, drifting sand, began to become hard andsun-baked. All this told of the presence of conditions capable ofsupporting animal life.
"What's that?" asked Hugh, as a low rumble was borne to their ears.Reeves did not reply, but, loosening his pistol in the folds of hisshawl, he bade his young companions see that their firearms wereready for instant use.
"Are they lions?" asked Gerald, after a while.
"Aye," replied the correspondent grimly, "and much too near for myliking. We may have to use our guns, but I don't want to, except as alast resource. Get off that camel, Hugh. You'll feel much safer onyour feet."
Hugh instantly obeyed, yet somehow he felt as if he were much saferon his lofty perch. Nevertheless he half-cocked his cumbersomeflintlock and marched beside Gerald. Reeves was walking on the rightoutside, slightly in advance of the others, while the hierie servedas a screen from attack on the left.
Suddenly there was the rush of some heavy body, a dull thud, and asqueal from the camel as the poor brute was borne to the ground. Thelads had a momentary glimpse of the flashing eyes of some enormousanimal, which had struck down the hierie and was savagely rending itsslender neck.
Reeves aimed at a distance of less than three yards with his longflintlock, but the weapon missed fire.
"Let him have it, lads!" he shouted; but both, though they presentedtheir guns, could not fire. With a muttered exclamation thecorrespondent snatched the musket from Hugh and again took aim. Thistime there was a deafening concussion; but, without waiting to seethe result of his shot, Reeves threw down the discharged weapon, anddrawing his automatic pistol he sent four shots in rapid successioninto the head of the groaning beast, which was still mauling theunfortunate hierie.
"That's done it!" he exclaimed, as the huge brute rolled over on topof its victim. "Look out, lads! There may be another about, so reloadthat musket."
But with the firing the roars ceased, and a great crackling of thebrushwood showed that some if not all of the lions were in fullretreat.
"He's settled the hierie for us," remarked Reeves, after vainlyattempting to pull the dead lion off the camel's body. "It's trampwith a vengeance now. Take the water bottle and the dates, Gerald;they are what we require most at present."
"We've made enough noise to arouse every denizen of the place formiles around," he continued, as, well laden, the three proceeded ontheir way. "Why didn't you shoot the brute when I told you to?"
"I tried to, but I couldn't pull the trigger," replied Gerald, andHugh answered in a similar manner.
"You were not lacking in courage," said Reeves. "You both stood up toit like born hunters. But do you know what you did not do? I'll tellyou. You forgot to full-cock your muskets. Never mind now, butremember it in future. Many a man has done the same thing beforeto-day."
After a while the scrub gave place to coarse grass about a foot inheight, while standing clearly against the starlit sky were the loftyoutlines of the palm trees of the desired oasis.
"Not a word now," cautioned Reeves.
Treading as silently as possible, the three drew nearer and nearerthe oasis. Several times they halted and listened intently, but nosound came to their ears save the soft swish of the leaves in thefaint breeze.
All at once the silence was broken by a human voice, speaking in astrange mixture of Anglo-French.
"Stand, whoever you are, in the name of the overlord of Croixilia!"
"We are friends," replied Reeves, speaking in French.
"Throw down your weapons and advance, if you are what you say,"replied the voice.
"Place your muskets on the ground," said Reeves in a low tone. "Idon't think we need fear." Nevertheless, he retained his automaticpistol, though it was hidden from sight in the folds of his shawl.
The three Englishmen advanced boldly towards the shadow of the palms,the correspondent being slightly in front of the others. A hornlantern was flashed in their faces, and in its gleam they could seethe faces of their interrogator and the men who were with him.
There were five of them--short of stature, none being over five feetsix inches in height, but broad-shouldered and strongly built. Theywere dark-complexioned, but in spite of their bronzed features it wasevident that they were not of Arab or negro descent. All had short,carefully-trimmed black or dark-brown beards. As for their clothing,as far as the Englishmen could discern, they wore short-kiltedskirts, and buskins of undressed hide, their bodies were clad inchain hauberks similar to that found on the skeleton in the desert,while on their heads were quilted caps, strengthened by bars ofsteel. One man had a pear-shaped shield slung across his back, twomore had bows and quivers, and all carried short spears.
"Who are you and whence come ye?" demanded the man with the lamp, inthe same strange jargon, which Reeves, fortunately, was able tounderstand.
"We are English, and----"
"English?" interrupted the questioner.
"From England, then," replied Reeves, thinking that the men did notgrasp the significance of his answer.
"England? Is it possible? Remember, friends, the words of the wisemonk Andre," exclaimed the man, turni
ng to his companions.
"They speak somewhat according to our tongue," said another, who hadwalked across to the spot where the muskets had been placed. "Buttake heed; they have the weapons of the accursed infidels."
"They are indeed the arms of the Arabs who held us captive, but wehave taken them from them in fair fight," replied Reeves.
"Then you have journeyed far and are wearied?"
"We are," assented the correspondent.
"Rest, then, till dawn," replied the man with the lantern. "Yourweapons we must needs retain till we find you to be honest men. Restin peace and fear nothing. Tomorrow we must take you to Sir Jehan deValx, our overlord of Croixilia."
The leader of the party said a few words in an undertone to one ofhis men. The latter raised his spear in salute, and bade the threeEnglishmen follow him.
Less than fifty yards from the edge of the oasis were half a dozentents, made, not of camel cloth, as are those of the Arabs, but of acoarse white linen fabric, and ranged in a circle. In the centre afire glimmered darkly, for the embers only remained.
"Walter!" shouted the guide, and presently a man, clad like theothers, except that a leathern jerkin took the place of the hauberk,appeared from one of the tents.
"Food and drink for these strangers, Walter," said the guideauthoritatively. "Then see well to their comfort till the morning. Isalute you--farewell!" and, raising his spear with a respectfulgesture, he turned and vanished between the palm trunks.
Without a word the man Walter brought a portion of steaming lamb, abowl of vegetables, a loaf of brown bread, and an earthenware vesselfilled with wine. Knives, forks, and cups there were none. Thisappetizing fare he set down upon the ground, then retired as silentlyas he had come.
Even in the midst of their astonishment the travellers could notignore the pangs of hunger, and soon they were deep in their repast,Reeves cutting the meat with the dagger, which he had also concealedin his sash.
"We have fallen upon a mediaeval race of Europeans. Of that there isnot the slightest doubt," remarked the correspondent, when his hungerwas partly appeased. "They have not even advanced to the use ofknives and forks, sharing their meat in precisely the same manner asdid our Norman and early English ancestors."
"Who do you think they are?" asked Hugh.
"Descendants of the Crusaders. A few weeks ago I would have ridiculedthe suggestion, but, by Jove! it seems that the old legend is trueafter all. Well, they seem to treat us decently, so that's acomfort."
"I hope they will send us down to the coast," observed Gerald.
"No doubt they will if they can," replied Reeves, slicing off anotherportion of meat. "But it wouldn't be a bad plan to ask that fellow afew questions. Walter!"
"Try shouting 'waiter' instead," suggested Gerald, when the summonsbrought no response.
The correspondent called again, but still there was no reply. Then,considering awhile, he clapped his hands. The man immediatelyappeared.
"Tell me," said Reeves, speaking slowly and distinctly in English,"how is it that we find men of fair complexion living in the desert?"
Walter did not reply, but remained absolutely impassive, as iffailing to comprehend the question. Reeves repeated his words inFrench.
"My eyes, my ears, my mouth are for use solely in my master'sinterests," replied the man, in the same strange dialect that theothers had spoken, except that he used but a few words of Frenchderivation. Reeves could follow the uncouth tongue with very littledifficulty--the question of language troubled him but slightly. Thetwo boys, being familiar with Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_, foundthat Walter's speech was more intelligible to them than that of theman who had first hailed them, and who seemed to be a person ofposition. "Therefore," concluded the former, "I cannot tell you."
"I wish I had something to smoke," said Reeves to the lads. "A goodmeal without a smoke to finish up with is like a concert without theNational Anthem--you feel as if something, is wanting." Then, turningto the man, who was still standing rigidly by the fire, he asked:"Can you let me have some tobacco?"
Walter shook his head. "I know not what you mean," he replied. "Ifsleep you require, these tents are at your service."
With a gesture Reeves dismissed him.
"They are centuries behind the times," he exclaimed. "Veryinteresting, but confoundedly awkward for some things. Well, lads, wemay as well turn in. I think we may sleep without fear ofinterruption, which is more than we have done for some time now.To-morrow we may learn something more interesting."
In a very few minutes the lads were sleeping soundly, but Reevestossed uneasily upon his soft couch. His mind was full of the strangecharacters and things he had met. The mediaeval weapons, the garbledlanguage, the absence of the most usual table utensils and (Reevessighed) tobacco--all pointed to a discovery that would fill thecivilized world with astonishment. And he, Arthur Reeves, with thetwo lads, was to be the herald of momentous tidings! He would havegiven anything to be in telephonic communication with his editor forone brief hour.
He lay and pondered, until the easiness of his bed began to feeluncomfortable. Placing a blanket on the ground, he stretched himselfupon the hard couch of Mother Earth, and in less than five minutes hewas fast asleep.