CHAPTER XXVI--SOME INTERESTING CONVERSATION
The sun was gone, blue shadows gathered, and night came stalking up fromSyria and Arabia beyond the isthmus. So absorbed had our friends been bythe splendid spectacle, that they had failed to give heed to theirimmediate surroundings.
Nadia was at Brad's side. Suddenly she clutched his arm with a nervousmovement.
"What is it?" he asked, seeming to awaken from a trance.
"That man! Look there!"
She made a gesture, and he looked in the direction indicated. Standingat an angle of the wall, where the shadows were upon him, was the sameman to whom she had called his attention on the steps of the hotel.
"He has followed me here!" she declared nervously.
"Oh, he has, has he?" growled the Texan, his face flushing with anger."Well, I sure am going to interview him some, right away."
He brushed off her hand and started toward the mysterious stranger.
Immediately the unknown turned and disappeared beyond the corner of thewall.
Dick had seen the stranger, also, and he joined Buckhart at once,saying:
"Come ahead, Brad. It's time to find out if he's following us round."
Budthorne had hastened to his sister's side.
The boys ran to the point of the wall. When they reached the spot, theycould see nothing of the man.
"He can't be far away," said Dick.
A few moments later they discovered the man walking hastily down thehill. Unless they chose to run after him, there was no prospect ofovertaking him.
"Better let him go this time," advised Dick.
"All right," muttered the Texan; "but he is causing me to wax wrothsome, and I'll give him a game of talk the next time I find him doggingus. Who do you reckon he is, pard?"
"I am unable to answer the question," admitted Dick; "but, by hisappearance, he seems to be a Turk."
"That's right. I don't fancy being spied on by a Turk, just at present.We're not far enough away from Damascus. He may be one of the sultan'ssecret police, sent after us for that little affair in which we wererecently involved."
"I thought of that myself. I'm not anxious to be arrested and carriedback to Damascus."
"I should say not! That would be mighty bad business. Still, I don'tthink----"
Dick checked his companion with an exclamation. Another man had joinedthe one who was rapidly descending the hill. Both boys obtained aglimpse of this second person before both disappeared into the shadowsbelow.
"Did you see him, Brad?" asked Dick. "Did you get a fair view of him?"
"Just a look, partner, but I swear there was something a heap familiarabout him. The way he carried his head--his walk---- I've seen thatgaloot before."
"And so have I. Shall we attempt to overtake them? I'd give something toget a look at his face."
But they decided it was too late, as there was little chance ofovertaking those men in the narrow and gloomy streets of Cairo. Besides,in order to pursue the mysterious ones, they would be compelled toabandon Nadia and her brother.
So they returned and found Dunbar and Nadia waiting, and a triflenervous.
"It's all right," declared Dick diplomatically. "Of course, the man hada right to come up here and view the sunset. He's gone."
"I'm glad," said the girl. "But it is growing dark. Let's return to thehotel right away. I do not fancy being out in the streets of Cairo afterdark."
They descended the hill and found the donkeys and the boy driverswaiting for them. Two of the boys were asleep, their hands pillowed onthe bodies of their reclining donkeys.
"Poor little fellows!" murmured Nadia, sympathetically. "They should behome now. It's a shame to keep them out so late."
The boys woke up promptly on hearing the voices of their companions. Ourfriends mounted, and away they went, through the dim streets of thequeer, old city, the boys running after the trotting donkeys and givingan occasional twist at the tails of the little beasts.
Both Dick and Brad kept a sharp lookout for possible trouble, but thereturn to the hotel was made without incident.
Brad lingered to talk with Dunbar and Nadia, in Budthorne's room. Notthat the pleasures of a chat with Budthorne attracted him so much, butthere was again a complete understanding between himself and Nadia.
Dick sought Professor Gunn, but failed to discover the old man. He thendescended to look for him below.
On the way down, the sound of laughter coming from a suite of rooms, theouter door of which was slightly ajar, attracted his attention. He hadheard Zenas laugh that way before, and he knew the old pedagogue was inthere.
Dick stepped to the door, lifting his hand to knock. He paused, his handuplifted.
"He! he! he!" again sounded that well-known laugh. "A harem containing adozen pretty girls! My! my! But you must have been a gay boy in thosedays, colonel."
"Well, suh," said a mellow, yet somewhat husky voice, "yo' see, suh, aman had to have some enjoyment in this infernal country. I was young,suh, and it was just after the Civil War in America. Scores of officersfrom the South entered the Egyptian service. Some swore nevah again toset foot on American soil. We felt that we were exiles. But we made thekhedive's army spruce up wonderfully. The pay was good, and all that;but the cursed heat, the monotony, the homesickness, made us allreckless, and set us to longing fo' diversion. I'll guarantee, suh, thatthe most of us found our only diversions in gathering wives fo' ourharems. Those boys were connoisseurs in female beauty, and the wives ofmany of them would have created a sensation, suh, in New York, London orParis."
"He! he! he!" again laughed Zenas. "Oh, you rascal! Oh, you sly dog! Butit must have been pleasant. What did you do with your harem when you gottired and decided to leave the Egyptian service and the country?"
"Why, I sold it, of course."
"Sold it? Sold your wives, colonel?"
"Certainly, suh. That was the proper course to pursue, professah. Therewere plenty of others who were ready to buy, in case you had a bargainto offah, and--as I was anxious to sell--a new recruit in the armyobtained my harem fo' a mere song. Of course, I regretted to part withmy beautiful wives, and especially with Fatima, my favorite; but I couldnot take them with me, on account of the laws of the United States, andso, suh, I kissed Fatima good-by and turned the whole lot ovah to mysuccessor."
"Er--er--ahem! Colonel, does the custom of selling harems still continuein this country, can you say?"
"Why, certainly, suh, to a certain extent, suh. Are yo' thinking ofmaking a purchase, suh?"
"Well, I--er--ahem!--I don't know, exactly. You see, I--I'm likely toinvestigate. I wouldn't mind looking a few harems over. If I found abargain--er--ahem!--I might---- Well, you understand, colonel."
"The old reprobate!" exclaimed Dick, in a whisper. "So this is what he'sup to! This is why he wants to take an excursion trip up the Nile! Ithink I'll have to find a way to teach him a lesson."
"Yes, suh," said the voice of the professor's companion; "I think Iunderstand, suh. But it is possible, professah, that you do notunderstand yo'self, suh. When yo' were a boy, did yo' evah tradejackknives or anything of that sort, 'unsight, unseen,' suh?"
"Why, yes, I----"
"Well, suh, that's the rule in purchasing a harem. It is the law of thecountry, professah, that no one save the ownah of a harem shall evah seethe uncovered faces of its inmates. If yo' make a purchase, yo' have totake a chance on it. Yo' may see the ladies in advance, but yo'll not bepermitted to see their faces."
"He! he!" again laughed Gunn. "That will make the game all the morefascinating. It adds an element of mystery and suspense. It piques me.If you don't mind, colonel, I'll have another nip from the decanter. Itake it as a tonic, you know--merely as a tonic."
"Certainly, suh; help yo'self, suh."
"Do you think, colonel, that you might assist me in investigating a fewharems?"
"Why, yes, suh, it is quite likely I might. Having an extensiveacquaintance in Cairo, it will be easy fo' me to help yo'. I'
ll find outwhat harems are on the market, suh. Drink hearty, professah."
"Well, here is luck and hoping I'll strike a good bargain."
Dick did not linger longer. He returned to his room and was just in timeto find Brad coming in from Budthorne's room.
"The old salamander!" cried the Texan, after listening to Dick's story."The old Mormon! Why, he's married! He has a wife in the United States."
"Exactly."
"What does he think he's doing, anyhow?"
"He thinks he's going to have a gay time in Cairo, evidently."
"We'll have to stop it, pard."
"Oh, no!"
"What?"
"On the contrary, we'll have to help it along."
"Hey?" shouted Buckhart, aghast. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Just what I said."
"But it's a crime! It's scandalous! I'm astonished at you!"
"It's not a crime in this country to be the proprietor of a harem."
"But----"
"We're in Egypt, and the law of the land----"
"Look here, Dick Merriwell," blazed Brad, in sudden indignation. "I'vegenerally backed you up in anything you've said or done; but, by theeverlasting Rockies, if you've become so depraved and degenerate thatyou can regard an affair like this as anything but a crime, I want youto understand that I think you've lost your senses!"
Dick dropped on a chair and laughed heartily.
"I mean it!" roared the Texan. "It's shameful! You hear me chirp! Thatdoddering old chump has a wife in America! Now he wants to buy a haremin Egypt! And you're willing to aid him in his polygamous design! Waugh!Laugh! laugh! But you're not the sort of pard I took you for! This is myfirst disappointment in you! I'll block the old roue's game, I will!I'll spoil his scheme, or I'm not the Unbranded Maverick of the RioPecos!"
The Texan was greatly wrought up. He stamped up and down the room in atempest, while Merriwell continued to laugh.
"I don't see where the joke comes in!" snarled Buckhart. "Ha, ha! Isn'tit funny? I suppose you'll be in for buying a harem next? That's a fineidea! Perhaps you'll take a half interest in old Gunn's bunch ofbeauties? Wow! I sure am a heap disgusted!"
"Cool down a little, Brad," said Dick, still smiling. "I hardly thinkI'll invest in a harem. Why, you excitable longhorn, don't you knowharems are not sold that way here?"
"Hey?"
"A man may purchase wives for his harem, but he can't sell the wholeoutfit when he gets tired of it."
"Can't?"
"Of course not."
"Then what--what----"
"The whole thing is some kind of a game."
"But you--you said you were going to help the business along."
"So I am. I want to teach the professor a lesson."
"I don't think I catch on, Dick."
"Let me tell you something."
"Fire away."
"To begin with, I don't believe Colonel Stringer ever was in theEgyptian service."
"Don't you?"
"No. He's a great bluffer. He likes to make people believe he has donewonderful things and been a gay old rascal in his day. I am satisfiedthat his story about having a harem once was pure fabrication."
"Mebbe you're right."
"I'm confident of it."
"What's his graft?"
"Perhaps it's graft, perhaps it's joking. It may be that he simplyenjoys leading the professor on. But I have a scheme. If we can carry itout, we'll teach Zenas Gunn a lesson and have some fun on our own hook.He'll never contemplate buying another harem."
The Texan was keenly interested now.
"What's the scheme, pard?"
"If we can rig up a job with Colonel Stringer, we'll furnish a harem forthe professor to purchase, and we'll give him the shock of his life."
Brad's face began to glow and his eyes to gleam. His mouth expanded in asmile.
"Mebbe that's a good idea," he nodded. "Just tell me how it can bedone."
He drew up a chair and sat down near Dick. For fully thirty minutes theboys had their heads close together, talking in low tones.
At intervals Buckhart laughed heartily.
The professor came in and found them thus.
"What are you up to now, boys?" he asked. "What are you whisperingabout?"
"You will find out in time, professor," answered Dick.
And both lads laughed.