CHAPTER III.

THE MYSTERY AT THE OASIS.

There is something wonderfully exhilarating in night on the open desert. The boys felt it, so did Mr. Hampton. Who knows? Perhaps Ali and the Arabs were subject to this mysterious influence, too. Shortly, a little after seven as they knew from experience, the moon would be up, silvering the plain. All now, however, was in darkness except for the dim light of the stars. Yet it was a darkness filled with caressing breezes and the feeling of beauty.

Despite the adventurous quest upon which they were embarked, despite the possibility, nay, the probability, that in a moment the night would be shattered with strife and death, each found himself yielding insensibly to this softening influence.

Suddenly the howling of a dog broke the stillness. It was a long wailing cry that made the nerves quiver and caused each member of the party to grow tense. When does a dog howl like that? Ali and the Arabs knew. The rest, with their sensitive intelligences, guessed at the meaning. That howl meant mourning over a fallen master.

As if it were a signal, other dogs joined in. A whole chorus of wailing notes effectively shattered the stillness of night.

“Forward.”

Mr. Hampton’s whisper ran along the ragged line.

Again they advanced. Still not a sound from the oasis except the howls of dogs.

The trees were closer now. Their leafy tops stood out stark against the sky. Abruptly as the seashore meets the land and ends, sand, the desert sand, met the thick grass of the oasis and ended. They were under the trees, in the grass, pushing forward.

Suddenly the moon rose, and a new weird light fell over everything, bringing out the outlines of the trees, shedding a silver radiance between their tall trunks. Jack, who was in the middle of the advancing line, paused, startled. Some huge objects, black and indefinite in shape, seemed to rise out of the ground in front of him.

What were they? He glanced hastily at the shadowy forms of his companions, whom he could discern among the trees right and left of him. Evidently, they, too, had seen, for they also had paused.

The line moved forward, Ali and the Arabs taking the initiative. Jack advanced, too. If Ali felt no alarm, certainly he was not going to exhibit any. Bob and Frank experienced similar feelings.

Then, in a moment, the nature of those strange objects became apparent. They were tents—great rambling horsehair tents of the Bedouins or desert Arabs.

The howling of the dogs continued, at no great distance now, seeming to come from the other side of the tents which were a half dozen in number. Not a light was apparent. Not a human sound fell on their ears. A low command from Ali to his Arabs, from Mr. Hampton to the boys, drew in the scattered members of the line to a central group. They were at the rear of one of the Bedouin tents, the largest of all, probably that of the tribal sheik. So close were they that they could have put out their hands and touched it.

“Strangest thing I ever saw,” muttered Mr. Hampton. “Not a soul around apparently. Out with your flashlights now, fellows, and we’ll make a search. Keep your rifles ready to deal with emergencies.”

Around to the front of the tent they stole. The trees were thinned out. In the weird glow of the moon which penetrated to this open space, everything was plain to be seen. The five tents stood a little apart from each other, clustered to one side. On the other side could be seen a well, its water gleaming in the moonlight.

Not a soul advanced to meet them. Not a light showed in any tent.

The howling of the dogs continued, Ali with a muttered word of command to his Arabs strode forward, passing the well on his left. Two of his followers went at his heels. In a moment he was among the dogs, kicking them aside, as their sharper yelping testified.

Before Mr. Hampton or any of those left behind could begin an investigation of the tents, Ali came flying back, leaving his two Arabs behind him.

“Three men dead,” he declared tersely. “One the Professor, another Ben Hassim, the third a strange white man in strange clothes.”

“I’ll have a look,” said Mr. Hampton. “In the meantime, do you investigate the tents to see if there is anybody here.”

Ali nodded and Mr. Hampton strode away, calling the boys to follow. Jack turned as he passed the well. Already Ali, flashlight in hand, was diving into the biggest of the tents, with an Arab at his heels, while another was stationed in the open space on guard. The cautious Ali was taking no chance of being surprised in the rear.

A little beyond the well, they came upon the two Arabs left in charge of the dead by Ali, while the dogs, reduced to low whines, crouched or circled at a distance. The bodies of the fallen men had been straightened. They lay on their backs, their faces upturned to the moonlight.

Mr. Hampton knelt beside the body of the Professor, placing one hand on his forehead and the other on his wrist. He shook his head sorrowfully and raised a heavy glance toward the boys.

“Dead,” he said.

No sign of life could be discovered, either, in the body of Ben Hassim.

Then that of the third man was approached. As Ali had said, he was a white man, of medium height, with a sharp, hawk-like cast of features. Even in the weird moonlight, the strangeness of the white toga-like garment, belted in at the waist with a dark heavy cord, falling to a little below the knees and leaving the legs bare, could be seen. Unlike the others, whose eyes were opened in death, this man lay with his eyes closed. Mr. Hampton bent forward with a sharp exclamation.

After making a quick examination, during which the boys whispered to each other in comment on the man’s unusual dress and appearance, Mr. Hampton got quickly to his feet.

“This man shows signs of life,” he said. “Two of you carry him back to the tents.”

He turned to the Arabs and directed them to take up Ben Hassim’s body. Then he and Jack lifted that of the Professor. Bob and Frank, bearing the body of the third man, led the way, and the little procession moved back to the clearing.

They were met by Ali, who in the short time of their absence had managed to search all the tents, and had succeeded in finding neither living nor dead except for one old woman who could hardly be said to be either. Although alive, she was half dead from fright.