CHAPTER XIV--DICK DISOBEYS
Late that day, as the grateful shadows of approaching night weresettling over Damascus, Ras al Had came quietly to the hotel, and washighly satisfied to find Dick Merriwell there. He drew the boy aside,saying he wished to speak with him in private.
"I have found one of the dogs who betrayed me," said the old sheik."Would you behold him? Would you hear what he has to say?"
"Yes, yes."
"Do you trust me now?"
"Of course I do!"
"Do you trust me completely?"
"Yes."
"Then tell your friends not to worry about you, even though you leavethem and do not return with the passing of another day. If you askquestions now I shall know you do not trust me, even though you say so."
Dick asked no questions.
Thus far everything possible had been done for Nadia. Her disappearancehad been reported, and they had received the assurance that an earnesteffort would be made to find her and return her in safety to herfriends. Dick had made a formal complaint of the assault, and wasinformed that the whole matter should be investigated and the guiltyparties punished.
They all knew, however, that they were not liable to receive anythingmore than promises from the Turkish authorities. This being the case,they were compelled to rely mainly on the American consul and thepromise of Ras al Had, the sheik.
It is probable that Dick Merriwell was the only one who really placedany confidence in the old Arab.
Brad Buckhart was immovable in his conviction that the sheik wasconcerned in the dastardly work.
Knowing Brad would raise a disturbance, Dick told the professor that hemight be gone for twenty-four hours. Immediately Zenas made an effort toexercise his authority over the boy.
"You shall not go, Richard!" he exclaimed. "I forbid it!"
"I am sorry you forbid it, professor, for you know I dislike to disobeyyou."
"Eh? Hum! haw! Why, why, you don't mean to tell me to my face that youwill defy me?"
"No, sir; I do not defy you. Circumstances make it necessary for me todisobey you, and so----"
"You shall not do it! I won't have it! Your brother looks to me to bringyou back safely to him, and I----"
"Were my brother here he would approve of what I am doing."
"Well, what are you doing? Where are you going?"
"I can't tell you."
"Haw! hum! I positively decline to let you leave this hotel!"
"I can't help that. Look after Budthorne. He's nearly distracted. Tellhim to brace up. Somehow I have confidence that we'll be able to findNadia. You'll have your hands full taking care of Brad."
"I need you to help me. The boy is crazy."
"He blames himself for what happened, and he always will blame himselfunless Nadia is found."
"I can't do anything with him. He's like a mad bull. Richard, you arethe only one who can handle him. Don't leave me!"
"I must."
"Why, I thought you an obedient boy! I never fancied you would setyourself up in defiance of me."
"You do not understand, professor; I am doing what I firmly believe isfor the best."
Zenas wrung his hands.
"If we ever get out of this mess," he declared, "I'm going to take youback home just as fast as possible."
"All right; but that is something to be considered later."
"You should be there. You should be in school at Fardale this day."
"You forget that I was expelled, professor."
"By that old dunkhead, Gooch! Wait till we get home. I'm going to have alittle session with Barnaby Gooch, and also with Chester Arlington. Yourturn is coming, Richard--that is if you do not throw your life away insome reckless folly. Do be cautious, Richard! Listen to me!"
Dick did his best to reassure the old man, but Zenas clutched his armand attempted to cling to him, still urging and entreating.
Swiftly the boy released the fingers of the old pedagogue.
"I'll come back all right in time," he said, and then hastened away.
Gunn hurried after him out of the hotel. He saw Dick spring upon theback of a horse. Another horse, with a dark, silent man on its back,stood near. Both animals were off in a moment, disappearing with theirriders into the dusky shadows of a street leading to the north.
Zenas Gunn stood trembling in front of the hotel. His heart was heavywith dread.
"Oh, Richard!" he murmured pathetically; "Heaven guard you! You arebrave unto recklessness, and I fear that some day your recklessness willbring ruin upon you."
At the side of Ras al Had Dick Merriwell rode through Damascus. Theywere on the outskirts of the city when the aged sheik drew rein.
"We stop here," he said.
Immediately two men appeared to take the horses.
They dismounted.
"Follow, boy," commanded the sheik.
Dick did not hesitate about obeying. He kept at the heels of the Arab,who entered some straw-thatched sheds. It was very dark under the shed,not even the light of the stars penetrating there.
Ras al Had uttered a call, and soon a man came hurrying with afluttering light. He was black as midnight, with thick lips, and hugegold rings in his ears. He salaamed before the sheik.
"Hold the light, Assouan," directed Ras al Had. "Let us behold the dogwho betrayed me."
Then he touched the arm of the American boy and made a gesture towardthe ground not far from their feet.
Assouan held the light as commanded, and it fell on a spectacle thatcaused Dick to recoil and utter a cry of horror.
Face downward on the ground, his arms and legs outspread, with hiswrists and ankles bound to stout stakes, was a black man, stripped ofclothing. His back was covered with blood.
"You see what happens to curs who betray Ras al Had," said the sheik, ina harsh voice.
"Heavens!" gasped Dick. "The miserable wretch has been beaten until hisback is all cut up!"
"He was lashed until the pain loosened his tongue and he confessed,"said the sheik. "This man was one of the four I sent to escort you andthe maiden."
"You--you compelled him to tell what has become of her?"
"I wrung it from his lips."
"What did he tell?"
"You shall hear."
Ras al Had touched the wretched victim with a staff which he took fromone corner of the shed.
The man did not stir.
"Look, thou dog!" said the sheik; "art longing for further punishment?Then speak promptly, or I swear by the beard of the Prophet that thoushalt be cut into a thousand pieces! Who paid thee to choke the infidellad?"
"Why, it's the fellow who nearly murdered me!" exclaimed Dick, for hehad not recognized the mutilated wretch.
"The same," said the sheik. "Why doesn't he speak? Assouan, bring thewhip."
The black man with the light hastened to obey. The whip, a long,wicked-looking affair, with a rawhide lash into which were knotted manypieces of lead, was quickly produced.
Ras al Had took the spluttering light from Assouan's hand.
"Stand ready," he directed. "When I bid you strike have no mercy."
Dick's blood was cold in his body. The situation was one to fill himwith horror. He was alone in that wretched shed, his companions amerciless Arab, a black man of the desert, and the helpless wretch boundoutspread on the bare ground. It was night, and the moon had not yetrisen. Beneath the shed the darkness was dispelled only by the flaringlight, which cast many grotesque shadows dancing on the walls.
Again Ras al Had bade the man speak. In return there was neither soundnor movement.
"Strike, Assouan--strike!" said the sheik coldly.
Assouan lifted the whip.
Dick could stand no more of it, and he stepped in front of the blackman, crying:
"Hold! This is too much! Tell me, Ras al Had, what he confessed, but donot carry this thing further!"
A strange look of mingled surprise and rage at this interference settledon the face of the old Arab. He opened h
is lips to speak, but at thismoment the man on the ground groaned and mumbled a few broken words.
Instantly Ras al Had bent over the wretch, holding the light so it fellon the man's face. The traitor's head had dropped over to one side, hislips were open, showing his gleaming teeth, while his eyes glitteredglassily.
The sheik poked a finger at those wide-open, glittering eyes. They didnot blink. Then Ras al Had rose and said very quietly:
"It is too late. He will speak no more. He is dead."
Dick felt ill, and hurried out of the shed into the open air.
The old sheik followed.
"Although he is dead," he said, "I can tell you what he confessed. Thename of the crooked old Turk who paid them to attack you and carry themaiden away is Abu Hammed. Hammed is in the employ of Hafsa Pasha. Thegirl is to be kept somewhere until the excitement dies down, and thenshe will be added to Hafsa Pasha's harem. He thinks that by that time hecan win her over so she will be willing and glad to live a life of easein the harem."
"If you had only learned where they took her----"
"Wait. I told you of my friend who just arrived in Damascus with manybeautiful girls, one of which he has brought for Hafsa Pasha."
"Yes."
"Hafsa Pasha will visit the house where those girls are to-night. I havenot forgotten the fate of my brother far away in Persia. Some day mysword shall drink the blood of Hafsa Pasha; but first I would find a wayto compel him to tell where the maid you seek is hidden."
"Wait!" cried Dick, struck by a sudden idea. "It might be done! Ibelieve it can be! It's worth trying!"
"Of what do you speak?"
"I have a plan."
"Unfold it."
"Can't you get me into the house where those girls are?"
"Of what good would that be?"
"I'll go disguised as a girl."
"A girl?"
"Yes."
"But----"
"It will not be the first time I have made up as a girl, and they say Imake a pretty girl, too. If you know where I can get the outfit, I'llmake up as a girl and go there. Can't you arrange it so I'll fallbeneath the notice of Hafsa Pasha? If his attention is called to me I'lldo my part."
"What will you do?"
"I'll fool him. I'll get him to buy me and take me to his harem. I'llwin his confidence and find out where Nadia is hidden."
"It is a desperate venture."
"But I'll play my part, depend on it. Wait until you see me made up as agirl. If you are not satisfied then you may refuse to go on with thescheme."
The old Arab seemed to catch some of the boy's enthusiasm.
"Very well," he said. "If it costs you your life, I cannot feel that Iam to bear the blame. It is your plan. I'll take you without delay to aplace where you may dress and prepare for the deception. But you shallhave assistants, hairdressers, dressmakers, anything you need to makeyour disguise perfect."
Ras al Had then spoke to Assouan, giving him some directions in regardto the dead man in the shed.
Dick followed his strange companion through a number of crooked streets.Finally they reached the door of a house, to which they were admitted onknocking.
The sheik conferred with a gnarled and crooked old Jew, explaining thathe wished the boy to be dressed and made up like a girl. The old Jewseemed puzzled and surprised, but agreed, for a price, to attempt thetransformation.
Time was passing, and the sheik did not haggle. He simply insisted thatthe job should be thoroughly done, and the boy should be made up ascarefully and tastily as if he were in truth a girl.
Then he left Dick in the old Jew's hands, saying he would hasten tocomplete the necessary arrangements and then return for the transformedboy.
Less than an hour later the aged sheik again knocked at the Jew's doorand was admitted. He was informed that the boy would soon be ready toaccompany him, but that he would have to wait a few minutes while thefinishing touches of the disguise were being put on.
The Jew asked him if he had any objections to waiting in a room with ayoung lady customer, and Ras al Had soon found himself in a smallapartment, in a corner of which sat a girl in street costume. Apparentlyshe was a foreigner, for her flesh was dazzlingly fair, and her clothes,from the beautiful hat on her head to the high-heeled boots on her feet,had a distinct Parisian touch.
The sheik remained standing, quite aware that the girl was surveying himwith evident interest or curiosity. His one glance had shown him thatshe was unusually handsome, with dark hair and eyes.
Finally she heaved a sigh and moved impatiently.
"Dear me!" she said, in perfect English. "This is very tiresome. I'vewaited nearly an hour. Won't you sit down, sir?"
Ras al Had bowed very low and took a seat upon the floor.
"How funny!" laughed the girl, with a fetching little shrug of hershoulders. "All you dark gentlemen decline to sit on chairs. You alwayssit on the floor or the ground, and cross your legs."
Again he bowed, without speaking.
"Don't you understand English?"
"Very well, madam."
"I'm no madam; I'm a miss. I'm looking for a husband. I don't supposeyou know where I can find a man with plenty of rocks? I'm out for thecoin."
The Arab glanced at her keenly, wondering if she could be in earnest.
She fluttered her fan and smiled over the top of it with a bewitchinglook.
"You're not much of a talker, are you?" she went on. "Well, never mind.American girls can speak for themselves, and the men, too."
"Are you from America, miss?"
"Sure thing. I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. Really, I started out to travelround the world, writing newspaper letters for the home papers; but allthe papers have cut me off, and I'm stranded. I don't care about goingback home, for I made up my mind to catch a rich husband on the trip.Now, if you could put me next with some old gazabo who has lots of theneedful, and I succeeded in raking him in, I'd willingly make it worthyour while."
Ras al Had drew a deep breath of wonderment. Although he did not fullyunderstand her, he comprehended that this was one of the free-and-easyyoung ladies of the Western world of whom he had heard. She was youngand bewitching in appearance, but her manner of talk seemed to betray aknowledge of the world one would not suspect her to possess.
The sheik shook his head.
"I can give you no assistance," he declared.
She laughed and sprang up, crossing the floor toward him.
He rose hastily.
"I don't believe you know me," said the girl. "We have met before, and Iam sure, as a special favor, you will aid me in capturing a richhusband."
He retreated before her, but she followed him up, and actually pinnedhim in a corner.
"Come, now!" she cried, with a dazzling smile that showed her perfectteeth; "you can't get out of it. I'm not particular, and I'll marryalmost anybody with the dust. I'd even marry Hafsa Pasha, and you canfix that up for me."
He protested that it was impossible, and his manner caused the girl tolaugh still more heartily.
"How do I look?" she asked. "Is this get-up all right?"
"Indeed, you should have no trouble in getting a rich husband," said thesheik.
"Then take me to the house of your friend, where I am to meet HafsaPasha."
"You--you----"
"I am the boy you brought here to be changed into a girl."
"Allah have mercy! Impossible!"
The "girl" was in truth Dick Merriwell, and he laughed heartily over theamazement of the old Arab. Even then Ras al Had seemed to doubt hissenses; but the Jew came in, grinning and rubbing his hands together,and stood waiting for his price.
"Wonderful!" murmured the sheik. "Why, you play the part so well thatany man might be deceived. It is worth the money, Abraham. Now I believeyou will succeed, boy, in your daring scheme. But I shall try to be nearyou, for you may suddenly need the aid of my arm and my sword."