Captured by the Arabs

CHAPTER XIX

Searching for the Ancient

“NOT a lake,” said Fekmah, shaking his head. “Only another mirage. They are rather common all through this region, and we may see much more short time.”

“Well, if there was a real lake there beside that mirage, I wouldn’t know which to pick,” confessed Joe. “And look! Even waves are there. And foam caps!”

“Wonderful facsimile, all right,” remarked Dr. Kirshner. “Old Nature is capable of playing mighty big jokes on us sometimes.”

For over a half-hour the illusion was visible to the explorers; then, when they rounded a large pile of rocks, it could no longer be seen.

“And I’m glad,” said Bob. “Now maybe I can get my mind away from thinking only of water. It wasn’t very pleasant to see what looked like it and not be able to have it.”

“When do we come to another oasis?” inquired Joe of Fekmah.

“Tishmak say within next fifty miles,” was the response. “It be very small, but there be much water to drink.”

Late that evening they came to the foothills of the Ahaggars. Majestic Mount Oudane was directly before them, and the whole Ahaggar range appeared to be only a few miles away in the clear desert air.

They at last reached the small oasis among the many red boulders. After filling their containers, they continued toward the mountains, greatly refreshed and ready for action. But darkness was rapidly falling, and it would be necessary to stop before long for the night.

Tishmak, however, thought it best to travel in the moonlight. The others were more than willing to do this, for now that they were so near their goal they hesitated to lose any precious time.

“We can go on for a while,” said Mr. Lewis, as daylight rapidly faded. “Then we’ll turn in and get a few hours of sleep.”

Soon it became dark, making it necessary to stop. But before long the moon came out in full splendor, flooding the rocky vastness with enchanting light. The distant needle-like peaks took on a strange appearance, like mysterious towers of a fairyland.

The scene was unusual and slightly weird, resembling the rough surface of the moon. For some time the Americans were silent, absorbed in thought. Finally Bob roused himself.

“Those mountains seem rather intangible, or ghost-like,” he remarked, as he and Joe rode at the rear of the caravan.

Joe nodded.

“It’s like we’re the characters of an Arabian Nights story,” he muttered. “No vegetation, no life of any kind around anywhere. Gets under my skin a little.”

Through the early part of the night they rode ever on, on toward the mysterious Ahaggars. One question stood out in the minds of all. What did the future hold in store?

Finally Tishmak brought his dromedary to a halt beside a huge boulder. He motioned for the others to follow suit.

“We’ll stop here for the night,” announced Fekmah, after conversing with the guide. “But we must be up very early in morning and get on way to mountains.”

That night everyone slept soundly, anxious to refresh themselves thoroughly for the tiresome march through the Ahaggars.

“Let’s go,” urged Joe, as he dressed the next morning at dawn. “We can’t get to those hidden riches any too soon for me.”

Mr. Holton laughed unwillingly.

“Who ever heard of fast traveling in the mountains?” he asked. “If we make ten or fifteen miles in a day we’ll be lucky.”

“There are stretches of smooth country, though,” Dr. Kirshner put in. “And when we get to the central plateau of the Ahaggars, it won’t be so hard to cover territory.”

A breakfast of limited food but a bountiful supply of water was prepared by Mr. Lewis, and then camp was broken.

In the early-morning light the peaks ahead looked pale purple, but, said Fekmah, this color would gradually change to mauve and blue as the sunlight became more radiant.

As they rounded a tall, red boulder, Tishmak suddenly halted his camel and pointed to a little crevice between the rocks.

“Well, as I live!” murmured the archæologist in surprise. “Camels – dead, mummified camels.”

The beasts had evidently been dead a long time, for their skins were extremely dry and cracked. The fierce desert sun had preserved their bodies for an indefinite period.

“And look, they’ve got their mouths down to the ground, as if they were searching for water,” observed Joe.

“They were,” affirmed Fekmah. “There once a well here, but it dried up just before camels got to it.”

“Perhaps they wandered for days searching for it, and then finally found it – dry.” Bob shuddered.

It was a pitiable sight, particularly to the Americans. They half expected to come across the mummified body of some unfortunate explorer who had died a tragic death from thirst.

“We must be doubly careful to have the containers filled with water,” warned Mr. Holton. “This is a dangerous region, and disaster could easily come upon our little expedition.”

They trudged on in the rapidly rising temperature of the terrible sun, keeping their eyes off the ground as much as possible to escape the glare. They could easily have worn sun glasses, but hesitated to do so because of the rather obstructed vision.

“What’s this!” cried Dr. Kirshner, as they came to a huge rock that was directly in their path.

“Some kind of an inscription, isn’t it?” inquired Bob.

“It is that!” came the excited reply. “An ancient Libyan record, perhaps of a noteworthy event that took place in this vicinity. If you will give me a few minutes I’ll copy this down. It may prove of great interest in my future study of early Sahara peoples.”

The others waited for the archæologist to transcribe the writing. It proved very difficult to read offhand, but that a full translation would eventually come to light was not in the least doubted by the other Americans. In fact they had come to regard Dr. Kirshner as a wonder among men of his profession.

At last he put the paper back in its place and made a sign to Tishmak that he was ready to continue the journey.

“Now let’s make time,” said Bob anxiously. “We ought to get over a good many more miles before time for the noon rest.”

And they did. The country had not yet become rough enough to hinder the progress of the dromedaries, even though huge boulders were strewn about. By ten o’clock they had reached the base of the Plateau of the Mouydir, a thousand-foot-high wall of solid stone.

“Tuaregs have many superstitious legends about this rock,” said Fekmah, after talking several minutes with Tishmak. “They believe evil spirits up in great caves come down and kill travelers. They too think sandstorms and whirlwinds are caused by spirits hiding up in large cracks there.”

“How interesting,” said Dr. Kirshner, getting out his small portable typewriter.

Bob and Joe had taken motion pictures along the journey, and now they saw another opportunity to film a scenic wonder.

“I’d like for you to do a little acting,” said Bob to Fekmah, as the youth turned his camera in the direction of the mammoth wall of rock.

The Arab looked up in some surprise.

“I want you to point to the Plateau of Mouydir and talk to Dr. Kirshner,” the young man explained. “Tell him about the legend of the Tuaregs. Meanwhile I’ll be photographing you. Too bad this can’t be a talking picture. All right. Let’s go.”

Fekmah understood and smiled. Dr. Kirshner was also willing to assist the young photographers in their work.

The Arab and the American engaged in conversation, while Bob took movies of them pointing to the high rock. When it was finished, Bob and Joe smiled in satisfaction.

“That’s the kind of scenes we ought to have more of,” Joe said. “They’re different from the usual monotony of ‘shooting’ the country alone.”

“Gives a sort of individuality, huh?” laughed Mr. Holton. “Well, any time we can be of use to you, let us know.”

Camp was made at the very base of the huge rock. Then the usual meal was prepared.

“Use water sparingly,” cautioned Mr. Lewis, as they sat down on the cool sand in the shade of the tent. “Tishmak says we will not come to another well till tomorrow afternoon.”

“That’s a long time to wait,” said Dr. Kirshner gravely. “Can we make what we have hold out?”

“We’ve got to,” Joe’s father returned. “We’ll have to restrain from taking any undue exercise in the heat of the sun.”

“Hum-m!” Dr. Kirshner looked disappointed. “That seems to want to spoil my plans for this afternoon.”

“How’s that?”

“I had intended to do a little exploring up on top of that wall of stone.”

There were exclamations of surprise and anxiety.

“What!” cried Mr. Lewis. “Why, you couldn’t scale that steep cliff with ladders and ropes!”

“Maybe not in some places,” the archæologist smiled. “But I have noticed that there are large fissures that would offer footholds with comparative ease, and I’m going to chance it. There’s no telling what I may bring to light from up on that lofty rock.”

There was a period of silence, finally broken by Bob.

“May Joe and I go with you?” he asked.

There were loud protests from the youths’ fathers, who thought it almost madness to attempt to climb the steep slope. But Dr. Kirshner held up a hand for silence.

“Wait till we finish this meal and I’ll show you a place where it will be more or less easy to get to the top,” he said.

“If it’s there, I’d like to see it,” came from Mr. Holton.

When the noon meal was over, the archæologist led them to a point perhaps a quarter of a mile from the camp. He pointed up and smiled.

“Doesn’t that look like an easy climb?” he asked. “Plenty of safe footholds and cracks to grasp. I’m going up.”

Bob and Joe put in a request to their fathers to accompany the scientist and were finally given permission.

“But be careful,” warned Mr. Lewis. “And don’t wander too far away.”

Dr. Kirshner led the way up the side of the cliff, followed by Joe and Bob. The climb was in some places difficult and a little dangerous, but they plodded surely up.

At last, panting and perspiring, they came to the last foothold and pulled themselves up to the top. Then they turned to take in the view below.

Cries of astonishment came from all at the wonderful panorama that stretched out before them. Hundreds of feet down and to their right was the camp, and a short distance away were Mr. Holton and Mr. Lewis. The dromedaries were tethered beside a large rock near the cliff.

“I suppose Fekmah and Tishmak are in the tent,” remarked the scientist, scanning the landscape.

With the aid of his powerful binoculars the camp was made to appear quite near, and the features of the naturalists were easily made out.

At last Dr. Kirshner turned about.

“A fine view,” he said. “But let us not spend too much time here. I want to explore the roof of this cliff.”

The rocky surface was in most places flat, but there were a few huge fissures that apparently extended far into the rock.

They had come to one unusually deep crack when Dr. Kirshner stopped and slid down the steep side, desirous of seeing the unusual.

He reached the bottom some fifteen feet below, sending a score of small rocks down the side of the crevice.

“What’s there?” Joe called down, bending over the side.

“Nothing, I guess. There is – Wait a minute!”

The next moment he was all excitement, having evidently come across something on the side of the rock.

“Drawings!” he cried animatedly, pointing to the wall about him. “Prehistoric drawings of – of elephants!”

CHAPTER XX

The Horror of Thirst

“ELEPHANTS?” asked Bob, almost bursting out in laughter.

“Come on,” suggested Joe, moving slowly down the side of the fissure. “Let’s have a look at the strange drawings.”

The youths slid to the bottom, where Dr. Kirshner stood staring at the wall.

Bob nodded.

“Drawings of elephants, all right,” he said, his eyes on the etched rock. “And look how plain they are.”

The archæologist took out his notebook and copied the sketches as best he could. Then he turned to the youths.

“Here is proof that the desert was not always a desert,” he said, his eyes becoming bright with interest. “Thousands of years ago this region was green with tropical vegetation, like the dense forests of East Africa. It was probably inhabited by tribes of people much different from the Arabs and Tuaregs who now live here. Then came a gradual dry spell, and in time the luxurious growth gave way to a hot desert of sand and rocks.”

“Those drawings of elephants, then, were made while this region was covered with forests?” questioned Joe, becoming as interested as the scientist.

The latter nodded.

“Elephants and other wild game probably roamed about here in great numbers,” he explained.

After one last look at the strange sketches, the explorers began the task of climbing up the side of the ravine. It was not easy to pull themselves up out of the steep crevice, but the rocky walls were solid, not even threatening to give way.

Then followed an hour of exploration about the top of the cliff, during which time the archæologist came upon the remains of many other ancient drawings and inscriptions. By the time that they were ready to begin the descent of the cliff, he had filled his notebook.

“But when we get to the Ahaggars we’ll undoubtedly find many more,” he said, slowly leading the way down.

After what seemed a long time, they came to the bottom of the precipice and lost no time in getting back to camp.

“Have any luck?” asked Mr. Holton, looking up with interest as the three explorers moved toward the tent.

“Did we!” laughed Joe and proceeded to tell of the many drawings and inscriptions.

“You boys should have taken the motion-picture cameras with you,” Mr. Lewis said. “They would have furnished proof to the outside world.”

“Perhaps we can yet,” said Joe.

“No, you can’t,” protested Mr. Holton. “We must not waste any time here, if we are to find the hidden riches. Right now,” he added, “you three had better turn in and take your afternoon rest. That sun is terrible!”

Dr. Kirshner and the youths did as suggested, glad to rest their tired limbs. But they were up promptly at three, packing the tent and provisions on the dromedaries.

Now, as they continued farther toward the barren mountains, they began to realize what thirst really meant. As Tishmak had told them, no well would be reached until late the next afternoon, and their water containers were none too full. Their throats were parched, and their tongues began to feel numb. The fierce sun seemed all the hotter, greatly stimulating thirst.

All through that day they rode onward, the Ahaggars gradually becoming nearer. It was late that night when they finally stopped and camped in a wild region of large red rocks.

The next day their thirst became almost overpowering, even though they did not exercise. It seemed that they could stand it no longer, but they rode continually on toward the well that was located at the foot of the mountains.

The noon meal was almost without water. They did, however, sip a small amount of the precious fluid.

“Oh, if we could only drink all we want!” groaned Joe, hesitating to eat the beans that had been prepared. “Everything is so dry without water.”

But although the explorers were extremely anxious to come to the well, they gave full consideration to the midday rest. It would have meant destruction to ride under that terrible desert sun.

“Before long we’ll come to the well,” said Fekmah, as they prepared to continue the journey. “In an hour it be seen.”