Lindisl pounded his desk in fury, “Idiots! Imbeciles!” he shouted at the line of unfortunate soldiers, one of whom was still shirtless. “How could you let one dumkopff American outsmart all of you and escape?” The German soldiers stood stiffly at attention while Abu tried to become invisible. “I will deal with all of you personally when I return,” he said threatening. “Captain Heidelstrauss!” he roared. When the captain ran in, Lindisl issued orders to him, “Make ready my kubelwagon and driver, and another kubelwagon and five soldiers who share half a brain between them. That dog will come too,” pointing to Abu.
Within half an hour, they left the city. In the growing dusk, they drove to where the driver had been dumped, and they started trailing the truck. After a couple of miles, they came to a place where there was an overhang. Part of the overhang had collapsed, and they could see the tracks of the truck heading north. Lindisl worried about that, where could they be going in that direction? He looked suspiciously at the fresh collapsed dirt, “See what is under there,” he ordered.
While some of the men dug into the fresh dirt, Abu wandered around trying to make sense of the footprints. He found the camel tracks and wondered about them. Scouting around, he found a bloodstain on the ground. He realized that a battle must have been fought here. He heard a shout from the digging men and turned around. In front of him were five Arabs. “Ali,” Abu happily greeted the leader. “Abu, my brother,” the leader just as happily greeted the other.
“Ali, do you know who was here?” Abu asked. Ali’s face darkened as he recounted the events of the afternoon. “Why are you here, my brother?” Ali asked. Abu explained his presence, and then went on. “There is money involved. The German leader has a halftrack loaded with treasure somewhere out here.”
“Treasure?” That word caught Ali’s attention. His agile mind put two and two together and he realized what must have happened. “Not any more, he doesn’t,” he answered his brother. “Those American’s took it. We followed the trail to the road between Kairouan and Sfax and lost it.” The two men’s faces turned greedy. “What if we join forces with the German’s until the money is found? Then we shall see who the sly one that keeps the treasure is.”
They could hear Lindisl bellowing for Abu, and the group of Arabs walked out. They could see the disinterred body of Tielson with the Germans surrounding it. “Who is this?” Lindisl demanded of Abu.
“This is my brother, Ali, effendi. The American dogs attacked them and killed some of his men. His blood is hot for revenge, and he is volunteering to help track them, effendi.”
“For a price, no doubt,” Lindisl sneered.
“A very modest price,” Ali bowed. “As he said, my blood is hot. Shall we say, a hundred francs?”
“Shall we say forty francs?” Lindisl smiled wolfishly. They agreed on sixty-five. The Arabs went and got their camels and joined the Germans and led off into the night.