CHAPTER XVII--A POSITION OF PERIL
There was a great uproar in Damascus. Hafsa Pasha, an exiled Turk, oncea prime favorite of the sultan, had been slain in a house within thecity limits.
Rumors were flying thick. There were many wild stories passing from lipto lip. It was said that some foreigners had been concerned in themurder of the Pasha.
The Moslems were aroused, and they cried out for vengeance on themurderers. Some said that a young and beautiful girl was connected withthe affair. It was said that she had tried to delude the Pasha and robhim, and that in the end her friends, aided by a number of Arabs, hadslain him in the house to which the girl decoyed him.
These stories aroused the followers of "the true faith" to a high pitchof resentment against all "infidels" in the city at that time. Foreignvisitors were warned against appearing on the streets, as they werealmost certain to be insulted, roughly treated, and possibly slain.
The foreigners stopping at the German hotel were greatly alarmed. Manyof them were planning to get out of the city as soon as possible. Somehad heard the early mutterings of the storm and departed on the trainfor Beirut that day.
Professor Z. Gunn was in a state of great distress. He found DickMerriwell and Brad Buckhart in earnest consultation in their room andseized each by an arm, exclaiming:
"This is what it has come to! You can see! We're still in the sultan'sdomain. There will be an uprising. These fanatical Mohammedans willmassacre every Christian and foreigner they can find in the place! Ifeel it coming. The streets of Damascus will flow with blood beforenight!"
"You're excited, professor," said Dick.
"Excited!" squawked the old man, nearly losing his false teeth andclapping his hand over his mouth to keep them from popping out. "Ugh!Oogah-um! Cluck! Who wouldn't be excited? There is something to getexcited over. We're almost certain to be murdered!"
"I hardly think," said Merriwell, "that the Turks will carry it thatfar. We are citizens of the United States, with passports in ourpockets, and the sultan would have trouble on his hands with YankeeDoodle Land if his subjects were to murder us."
"You bet your boots!" put in Buckhart.
"But the sultan isn't here to stop it," spluttered Zenas. "The Turks areinfuriated over the death of Hafsa Pasha. They are urging on allMoslemites in the city. None of them are counting on the consequences.They'll do the killing first and consider the consequences afterward."
"No one has been killed yet," said Dick. "The authorities are doingtheir best to hold the fanatics in check."
"By promising to apprehend and bring to justice the murderers of HafsaPasha. Mind, they say murderers. That means every one who was presentwhen the man was killed. I was right here last night when Brad andBudthorne went away with those Arabs. I'm not the only one who knowsabout that. You were present, Richard, when Hafsa Pasha's enemy slewhim. Brad was there, Budthorne was there. You're all concerned. You'reevery one wanted as participants in the crime."
"It was vengeance," said Dick. "Ras al Had, the old sheik, slew HafsaPasha, and Hafsa Pasha years ago sold Ras al Had's brother into slavery.The sheik found his brother dying in the desert, and he swore to havevengeance on the treacherous Pasha when the time came. Last night hecarried out his oath and then fled from the city."
"That won't clear you, boys," asserted Professor Gunn. "You wereconcerned in breaking into the house where the Pasha was killed."
"Sure we were," nodded Brad Buckhart.
"I didn't have to break in," said Dick, with a twinkle in his dark eyes.
"Oh, Richard," said the professor, "that was a scandalous thing! HafsaPasha was fooled into paying a large sum for you."
Buckhart grinned.
"He was going to add you to his harem, pard. Oh, say! that was therichest thing ever! The boys will die of laughter back at school when Itell them about it."
"Hem! haw! Haw! hem!" coughed the professor. "It looks just now as ifyou'll never get back to Fardale to tell anything. Drat it, boys, youdon't seem to comprehend the terrible peril we're in!"
"We comprehend it, all right," asserted Dick; "but we can't see anysense in getting ratty over it. Hafsa Pasha got exactly what was comingto him."
"You bet he did!" nodded the Texan.
"The right or wrong of it makes no difference to these fanatics," saidZenas. "They won't stop to ask who was right and who was wrong. They'lljust go ahead and chop up the foreigners. This hotel is watched. Thepeople in it have been warned against leaving it. A few got away on thetrain, but the rest of the people in the place are panic-stricken. Theyrealize the danger. The trouble with you two reckless young rascals isthat you do not realize the peril. Somebody is going to confess that twopersons left this hotel in the night. They'll trace the two. It will befound out that you were present when the Pasha was killed, and yourlives will not be worth a penny. Oh, it's a---- Hark! What's that?"
From the street outside came a peculiar, blood-chilling sound. It waslike the low snarling of many voices, and it grew louder and louderuntil it became a sullen, muttering roar.
The three rushed to the window and looked out. What they saw caused theold professor to turn pale and faint.
A great mob had gathered in front of the hotel, all Turks or people ofthe Moslem faith, and others were coming rapidly from many directions.
The crowd was armed with clubs, sticks, stones, and so forth. A fewflourished swords or other deadly weapons.
They are crying out in their indignation against the foreigners. Acrooked, befezzed Turk was their leader. At sight of him Dick Merriwelluttered an exclamation.
"See that man?" he cried--"the one who is urging the mob on?"
"I sure see the varmint," nodded Buckhart.
"Well, he's the old wretch who bribed Ras al Had's black men to betrayNadia and myself."
"That dog, eh?" growled the Texan, taking something from his pocket."Well, I reckon I can just about shoot a couple of holes through his bigears at this distance."
Professor Gunn uttered a squawk of terror and clutched the wrist of thegrim-faced boy from the Panhandle country.
"You're crazy, Bradley!" he gasped. "You're mad!"
"I admit the accusation," said Buckhart. "I am mad--a heap mad."
"If you were to fire at that man it would precipitate the destruction ofthis hotel and the murder of every inmate!"
"The professor is right, Brad," said Dick quietly. "Put up your gun."
"I'd certain like to----"
"Never mind that. Put up the weapon and bide your time. You may becompelled to use it in self-defense before this day is over. Hear thosecreatures!"
The mob was howling:
"Death to the foreigners!"
"Kill the infidels!"
"Burn their hotel!"
"Destroy them! Destroy them!"
"Death to the unbelievers!"
Wildly waving his arms, the crooked old Turk shrilly yelled:
"They have defiled our city and our temples! They have basely murderedone of the true faith!"
"Ah-yah!" snarled the mob.
Then some one hurled a stone. There was a crash of glass in the lowerpart of the hotel. A volley of stones followed, smashing glass andraining against the building in a shower.
"It begins to look pretty bad," confessed Dick.
Dunbar Budthorne, followed by Nadia, came hurrying into the room.Budthorne was agitated and his sister was very pale.
"What is happening?" asked Dunbar.
"Take a look out of this window and you will see," answered Dick.
Nadia pressed forward to look, but drew back, shuddering.
Brad sought to reassure her.
"It's only a lot of crazy fools," he said. "Don't be frightened, Nadia."
"But they are mad! They mean to destroy the hotel and murder us all!"
"I don't reckon the governor will permit that."
"Can we do nothing?" asked Budthorne. "Can't we apply to the Americanconsul?"
"We tried that yesterday when
Nadia disappeared," reminded Dick, "andthe American consul was out of the city."
"Then there is the British consul. Surely he will act if we call onhim."
"I doubt if he has the power," said Professor Gunn. "We are in aterrible predicament. I fear the horror of 1860 is about to berepeated."
"What happened in 1860?" asked Dunbar.
"Six thousand unarmed and unoffending Christians and foreigners weremassacred in Damascus, and nearly twice as many more outside the city,in Syria."
"Oh, dreadful!" gasped Nadia, growing faint and being assisted to achair by Buckhart. "What if it happens again? Oh, I believe it is goingto happen!"
At this juncture a fiercer outburst of noise rose from the street, andagain Dick Merriwell looked out of the window, the others pressing closebehind him.
It seemed that some one from the hotel had ventured to step outside toaddress the crowd. Instantly his words were drowned by howls, andshrieks, and curses, while a shower of missiles drove him back toshelter.
Then some one espied the little group in the upper window and calledattention to it. Instantly the crowd began shouting insults at ourfriends and shaking their fists at them.
"Take Nadia back from the window, Brad," advised Dick, in a low tone."Keep her mind distracted as much as possible from this."
Again Buckhart conducted the girl to a chair.
"Better all get back," said Professor Gunn. "We're just adding to theirfury by standing in the window and watching them."
They moved back a little, but the mob continued to rage and snarl, likea pack of infuriated wild animals.
"Was no one punished for the other massacre?" asked Dick.
"The powers of Europe finally interfered," answered the professor. "TheTurkish government was compelled to punish some one, so Ahmad Pasha, thegovernor, lost his head. That was about the extent of the punishing."
"Well the present governor ought to remember Ahmad Pasha. If he isn'tcareful he may lose his head."
The whole hotel was in a state of great excitement, as Dick learned bystepping outside the room, and listening. Women were weeping andwailing, while white-faced men hurried hither and thither, up and down,without seeming able to decide on anything. He heard two men talking,and one was telling the other that already the mob had murdered a man inthe open street.
"It's pretty serious," Dick decided. "Once let a mob like that get ataste of blood, and there is no telling where the affair will end. Ifear this will be a bloody day for Damascus. If they begin killing, theodds are against any one of us escaping with his life."
One of the men below was speaking again.
"They say this thing started over the unwarranted murder of an exiledPasha."
"That's the report, and I was told a few minutes ago that the mobdeclares the murderers of the Pasha are in this very hotel. That is whyit has been singled out as the first point of attack."
"I've heard more than that," declared the first speaker. "I understandthat the real cause of all this trouble is an American girl, stoppinghere. She must be an adventuress, for they say she got gay with thePasha who was murdered, and decoyed him to the place where he wasassassinated. I've seen the girl, too."
"You have?"
"Yes. She's here in company with her brother. Has been here severaldays. Day before yesterday two boys and an old man joined them."
"Oh, I've noticed that party. And they say this girl caused all thetrouble?"
"Yes. Some of the rest of the party were concerned in the murder of thePasha. The crowd outside is demanding that this girl and her friends begiven up. If the proprietor will surrender them it is possible the restof us may escape with our lives."
"Then we had better unite in urging him to give that party up. It's acase of self-preservation, and----"
"I favor it myself."
Dick had slipped quietly down the stairs, and now he suddenly confrontedthe two men. His face was pale, but his dark eyes flashed.
"I have a few words to say to you," he said, his voice low but clear andsteady. "I don't know where you hail from, but I do know that you aretwo of the most contemptible cowards it has ever been my bad fortune tochance upon. No one but cowards would think of surrendering an innocentand helpless girl into the hands of a maddened and murderous mob, likethe one outside this hotel."
Having expressed himself in this manner, the fearless American lad stoodsquarely facing them both.
There was a hush.
Outside the mob was heard muttering sullenly.
The two men gazed at Dick in surprise. One was a tall man, the otherdecidedly below medium height.
"Why--why----" gasped the short man, and then choked, as if unable tofind further words.
The tall man shook himself together.
"Look here, you insolent young puppy," he exclaimed, "how dare you comehere and use such language to us?"
"Yes," put in the short man, with an attempt at bluster, "how dare you?"
"I do not think there is much to fear from two men who woulddeliberately talk of surrendering an innocent girl into the hands of amurderous mob," retorted Merriwell.
"Innocent girl!" sneered the tall man.
"Yes, innocent! Be careful, sir! I'm only a boy, but I know the girl,and another insulting slur from your lips will be resented in a manneryou will not like."
Both men were astonished.
"Why, I believe he would tackle us both!" muttered the short man.
"You know the girl, do you?" said the tall one, overlooking Dick'sthreat, as if he did not consider it worth noticing further. "And youclaim she is innocent?"
"I happen to know."
"Didn't she decoy the Pasha to the house where he was murdered?"
Dick's lips curled.
"Instead of that, sir, she was seized while walking on the street, herescort assaulted and knocked down, and the ruffians imprisoned her in ahouse. Where were you yesterday that you heard nothing of this?"
"We made a trip into the country outside the city," explained the littleman.
"It happens that I was the one accompanying her when she was seized andcarried off," added Dick. "By chance this girl, who is perfectlyinnocent of wrongdoing, fell beneath the notice of Hafsa Pasha, a badman, who resolved to add her to his harem. He was baffled, and hedeserved the fate he met. However, none of our party had anything to dowith that. He was killed by an old enemy, whom he had bitterly wronged.These are the facts, gentlemen. Now, in order to save your fine necksyou talk about turning her over to that snarling pack of wolves at thedoor! I am ashamed of you both!"
In spite of his youth he made them feel ashamed of themselves.
"Oh, well, oh, well," said the little man apologetically; "we didn'tunderstand, you know. If we had----"
"But I don't fancy being talked to in this manner by a mere boy,"growled the other.
"I didn't expect you would fancy it," said Dick, with continuedboldness. "Lots of people do not fancy being told the plain truth. Oftenit cuts to the quick. If you wish to do what you can to save yourselves,be prepared to fight for your lives if the mob breaks in here, but donot talk of surrendering a girl to be murdered by that pack of maddenedbeasts. On the contrary, you should be ready to defend her with yourlast drop of blood."
Having scorched them in this manner, Dick turned and remounted thestairs.
The tall man made a move as if to stop him, but checked himself.
Barely had Dick disappeared when a figure advanced quickly from theshadows at the rear of the hall and spoke in a low tone to the two men.
"I beg your pardon," said a soft voice, with a pronounced accent thatseemed to proclaim him either a Spaniard or an Italian. "I happened tooverhear a part of your conversation with that boy. I know him."
The stranger was slim and dark, with a slight mustache, which curledupward at the ends. He had coal-black eyes, which were very restless andvery piercing. His hands were small and slim, almost womanish.
The two men looked at him in some surprise. As they did not s
peak atonce he went on hurriedly:
"It seems that I arrived in Damascus just in time to get into thisunfortunate trap, from which not one of us may escape with our lives. Iam just here. I would I were elsewhere. I know that boy--know him mostexceedingly well. He is a thorough rascal. He was compelled to leaveEngland in a hurry to escape imprisonment for robbery. He is a cardsharp, although, on account of his years, he does not, to strangers,seem to be such. That is why he deceives the great number of people withsuch perfect ease. In Italy he was concerned with a very dangerous anddesperate band of criminals, and from that country he hurried with muchhaste to avoid punishment. Since then he has been wandering about invarious lands, accompanied by another boy and an old man, who are hisaccomplices. They tell that the old man is the tutor and guardian of theboys, but this I do assure you is a fabrication."
"Well!" gasped the little man, in astonishment.
"Well!" exclaimed the tall man, bewildered.
"Gentlemen," said the stranger, "I assure you that I know perfectly wellthe complete truth of all I have said. They are traveling under falsenames, having somehow secured the passports of the parties they pretendto be. The only thing of truth that I heard fall from that boy's lips asI listened was his statement that the girl is innocent. She, however,with her brother, who is not strong and may be easily influenced, hasfallen into the clutches of these three rascals. Without doubt theysought to use the girl as a tool to trap the Pasha who was murdered. Idoubt not that they led the Pasha to believe there would be no troublein case he seized the girl and made her an inmate of his harem. Ibelieve it probable that they secured a large sum of money from thePasha--and then they murdered him.
"Now, gentlemen, if, instead of giving up the girl to the mob, you willget together, seize the real culprits, tell the maddened people thetruth, and surrender them, you will be doing your duty, and nothingmore."
The listeners gasped again.
"Most amazing!" said the little man.
"Quite so," agreed the tall man.
"Who are you?" questioned the first.
"Your name," demanded the second.
The stranger made a graceful gesture.
"My name matters little to you. I will not speak it at present. Thoserascals are wholly unaware that I am here. I do not care to have themdiscover it just now. Listen! The mob clamors again. The doors will bebeaten down soon, and then nothing can save us. If you know these peoplehere, lose no time in informing them of the real cause of this riot.Tell them that the guilty ones are sheltered beneath this roof. Proposeto them that the three scoundrels be surrendered, for it is better thatthree such common wretches should be slain than that a whole hotel fullof innocent people should die."
"Quite right!" exclaimed the small man.
"Perfectly right," agreed the tall man.