Читать книгу Don Sturdy on the Desert of Mystery - Stratemeyer Edward - Страница 4

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At the sound of the shot the natives turned quickly, and for a moment suspended their attack, though they still kept one on either side of the boy to prevent his escape.

Don was a fast runner, and although the shifting sands offered an unstable footing he was soon in close proximity to the men, both of whom had drawn their knives and thrown themselves into an attitude of defense. The boy whom they were assailing had made a movement as though to run toward Don, but one of the men caught him and threw him roughly to the ground.

When within twenty feet, Don checked his speed and brought his rifle to bear.

“Clear out and leave that boy alone!” he shouted.

Although the natives could not understand the words, the tone and the gesture left no doubt as to their meaning. Had Don been unarmed, they would undoubtedly have stood their ground, depending upon their superior size and strength. But the weapon compelled respect, and they were fully aware that against it their knives offered but little promise of a successful outcome of a struggle.

For a moment they stood uncertainly, taking counsel with each other in a growling undertone. Then, concluding that discretion was the better part of valor and hastened toward that conclusion by a forward step and a repeated command of Don, they drew off, showing their teeth in a snarl like that of a wolf.

Don lowered his rifle and turned toward the boy he had come to help. But just then terror leaped into the latter’s eyes, and he shouted in a voice that rose almost to a shriek.

“Look out! Look out! Drop!”

Like a flash, Don went down. And not a second too soon, for a sharp rock came whizzing over his head and buried itself some distance off in the sand.

He leaped to his feet to see the two men running away at the top of their speed. He threw his rifle to his shoulder and ran his eye over the barrel to the sight.

At that distance he could have brought either one of them down. But even with his finger on the trigger, he paused. Had they been running toward him he would have fired. But the danger was over, and no matter how much they deserved it, he could not shoot them down like rabbits.

As the men sped away in the direction of the town, Don rushed forward and helped the boy to his feet. The latter was panting from his tussle with his assailants and with excitement, and though he tried to speak, his words were slow in coming.

His face was bruised from blows and his clothes were torn from the rough handling that he had undergone. His hair, which was of a fiery red, was shaggy and unkempt and partly covered his face. But his eyes were blue, and Don’s heart gave a leap as he recognized that the boy was white and that his features looked like those of an American.

“They were giving you rather a rough deal,” Don said kindly, as he steadied the lad on his feet.

“They sure were,” the boy returned in English. “And I’m mighty thankful that you came along just as you did. I was just about all in.” The accent, as well as the slang, were undeniably American.

“So you come from the same country that I do,” cried Don, in delight.

“Sure thing,” was the reply, accompanied by a grin.

“That makes me doubly glad that I happened along just when I did,” said Don. “What’s your name and where do you come from?”

“My name is Teddy Allison, and I used to live in New York.”

“New York!” exclaimed Don. “Better and better. Why, I live only fifty miles from New York. My name is Don Sturdy. Shake.”

The two lads shook hands heartily, and were friends from that moment.

“What were those fellows trying to do to you?” asked Don, as they seated themselves on the sand to await the coming of Captain Sturdy, who, alarmed by the shot, was hurrying in their direction, though still some distance away.

“Trying to rob me,” replied Teddy, brushing some of the sand from his fiery mop of hair. “Don’t look much as though I were worth robbing, do I?” he demanded, with a wide grin. “But I have one thing worth stealing,” he went on, drawing a heavy gold watch from his pocket. “It used to belong to my father”—here a shadow crossed his face that Don was quick to notice—“and in this country, where they’d steal the pennies off a dead man’s eyes, I suppose it would seem like a fortune. These fellows had probably seen me draw it out when I was in the town, and they’ve watched me and followed me this afternoon when I came out here for a stroll. I had noticed them loitering about, but didn’t think anything about it until they closed in on me.”

“I noticed you were putting up a mighty stiff fight,” remarked Don admiringly.

“I wasn’t going to let go of it without a struggle,” replied Teddy modestly. “And that not only because of its value, but because it used to belong to my father. Of course, the odds were against me and it was only a matter of time before they would have got it if you hadn’t happened along. I suppose they would have knifed me, if they couldn’t have got it in any other way. Life is pretty cheap in this country. I can’t thank you enough for scaring them off. They didn’t like the looks of that gun.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t necessary to use it,” returned Don simply.

“You’re likely to have to use it if you stay in this country very long,” predicted Teddy. “What brought you all the way from America to this jumping-off place, anyway?”

“I came here with my uncles,” replied Don. “There’s one of them now, coming toward us. The other’s at the hotel. They’re on an exploring and collecting expedition. But now let me ask you the same question. What brought you here?”

Again the shadow that Don had noted came on Teddy’s face, and this time it stayed.

“I came with my father,” he said. “My mother died so long ago that I don’t remember her, and father was so restless after that that he was traveling almost all the time. I suppose there’s hardly a place in the world that he hasn’t been in at some time or other. On this last trip he brought me along.”

“Oh, well, as long as your father is with you, you’re all right,” said Don, while a pain like a stab went through his heart at the thought that he himself had no father with him.

“But he isn’t with me,” explained Teddy, with a little catch in his voice.

“How’s that?” asked Don, in surprise. “You don’t mean to say that he’d leave you in a place like this all alone?”

“He wouldn’t if he could help it,” said Teddy. “He—”

“Hello, Don!” came a shout from Captain Sturdy, now within calling distance. “Are you all right?”

“All right, Uncle Frank,” Don shouted back, and, excusing himself to Teddy for a moment, he rose and ran to meet the captain.

“Sure nothing happened to you?” his uncle asked, as he came up. “It gave me a start when I heard that shot and saw you running and yelling.”

“I’m not a bit hurt,” Don reassured him. “Just had a bit of an adventure, and made a friend in the course of it.”

The captain looked a little bewildered.

“Is that the friend you’re talking about?” he asked, as his glance fell on Teddy.

“No one else,” replied Don. “What do you think, Uncle Frank, of meeting a New York boy in the Desert of Sahara?”

By this time, they had come up to Teddy.

“This is Captain Sturdy, one of my uncles I was telling you about, Teddy,” Don said, by way of introduction. “Uncle Frank, this is Teddy Allison.”

Teddy shyly reached out his hand and the captain took it heartily.

“Any friend of Don’s is a friend of mine,” he said, with a smile. “You’ve certainly met under unusual circumstances. And you seem to have been pretty badly bruised. What’s happened to you?”

“A couple of natives tried to rob me,” explained Teddy. “And I guess they’d have done it, all right, if Don here hadn’t come along with his gun and made them fly. There they are now,” and he pointed to the two figures, rapidly vanishing in the direction of the town.

The captain looked at Don with pride.

“So you drove them off all by your lonesome?” he said. “Good for you, my boy. Did they show fight?”

“They pulled out their knives all right,” put in Teddy, “and one of them threw a sharp rock at Don, just missing him. Then they ran off.”

With a few brief questions, the captain brought out all the details of the affair.

“Those rascals ought to be arrested,” he said. “I’ll report the matter to the French head of the police. Though since the natives look so much alike to our eyes, I suppose you’d have difficulty in identifying them even if they were caught. But come along now and I’ll take you back to your folks. I suppose they’re staying at the hotel.”

“I—I haven’t any folks,” stammered Teddy. “That is, white folks. I’m staying in one of the huts with a native, an Arab, Alam Bokaru, his name is.”

For a moment the captain was stunned.

“No folks!” he ejaculated. “Thousands of miles from home and only an Arab to take care of you! My poor boy! Tell me all about it.”

The kindness in Captain Sturdy’s tone brought tears to Teddy’s eyes and he turned away to hide them.

“Teddy was telling me just when you came up,” Don broke in, to give the boy time to get control of himself, “that he was brought to this country by his father.”

“And your father is dead?” asked the captain gently.

“I don’t know,” replied Teddy, who had by this time mastered his emotion. “He was captured by the natives, and the last I saw of him he was being taken toward some mountains. They may have killed him, or they may have made a slave of him. I don’t know.”

“Were you with him at the time?” queried the captain, profoundly touched and interested.

“Yes,” replied Teddy. “My father started from here with a small caravan to go to the Hoggar Mountains, taking me along with him. Everything was all right for the first two weeks. We had water and provisions enough, and although it was awfully hot, we got along by sleeping in the daytime and doing most of our traveling by night.

“But one night, just as we were starting on, a party of Arabs came down on us. There were a good many more of them than we had in our party. Then, too, they took us by surprise. There was a good deal of yelling and shooting, and some were killed. In the end, they got the best of us, and our people scattered. One of the men, the master of the camels, who was fond of my father, grabbed me and carried me away to a hiding place among some rocks, though I was kicking and struggling all the time trying to get to my father. But the man said I would be killed, and he wouldn’t let me go. From where we were, we saw the fellows who had been fighting us going away with the camels and our baggage and provisions. My father was tied on one of the camels. He—he—” and here Teddy’s voice choked and he could go no further.

“Poor boy!” said the captain, as he threw his arm around the lad’s shoulders. “You’ve had a hard time of it. But now pluck up your courage. At least, your father’s alive, and while there’s life there’s hope.”

“Do you think he’s still alive?” cried Teddy eagerly.

“I feel sure of it,” declared the captain. “If they’d wanted to kill him, they’d have done it on the spot without taking the trouble to carry him off. The Arabs are quick workers in any case like that. Maybe they hope to get ransom for him. Tell me this, my boy, and don’t think I’m trying to pry into your affairs. Did your father have money, property—enough to buy his liberty, if that should prove to be their game?”

“I—I don’t know,” said Teddy, with a boy’s vagueness as to money affairs. “He always seemed to have plenty. In New York we had a big house and a butler and other servants. But I’ve heard him say that he’d never have to hustle for money again if he could only find the Cave of Emeralds.”