Part 15 (1/2)

Now the back of the tent drops into place, and all is darkness again--whatever it is is inside the tent with hi close to him--now it is beside hihty paw Upon his upturned face falls the gentle touch of a soft hand groping in the dark, and then a girl's voice in a scarcely audible whisper pronounces his name

”Yes, it is I,” he whispers in reply ”But in the name of Heaven who are you?”

”The Ouled-Nail of Sisi Aissa,” ca about his bonds Occasionally the cold steel of a knife touched his flesh A moment later he was free

”Come!” she whispered

On hands and knees he followed her out of the tent by the way she had coround until she reached a little patch of shrub There she halted until he gained her side

For a moment he looked at her before he spoke

”I cannot understand,” he said at last ”Why are you here? How did you know that I was a prisoner in that tent? How does it happen that it is you who have saved ht,” she said, ”and we have a long way to go before we shall be out of danger Coether they rose and set off across the desert in the direction of the mountains

”I was not quite sure that I should ever reach you,” she said at last

”EL ADREA is abroad tonight, and after I left the horses I think he winded htened”

”What a brave girl,” he said ”And you ran all that risk for a stranger--an alien--an unbeliever?”

She drew herself up very proudly

”I ahter of the Sheik Kabour ben Saden,” she answered ”I should be no fit daughter of his if I would not risk my life to save that of the ht that I was but a common Ouled-Nail”

”Nevertheless,” he insisted, ”you are a very brave girl But how did you know that I was a prisoner back there?”

”Achmet-din-Taieb, who isso to the tribe that captured you He was at the DOUAR when you were brought in When he reached ho Frenchman who had been captured by Ali-ben-Ahmed for another Frenchman ished to kill him From the description I knew that it must be you My father ay I tried to persuade some of the : 'Let the unbelievers kill one another if they wish It is none of our affair, and if we go and interfere with Ali-ben-Ahht with our own people'

”So when it was dark I ca another for you They are tethered not far fro we shall be within my father's DOUAR He should be there himself by now--then let them come and try to take Kadour ben Saden's friend”

For a few moments they walked on in silence

”We should be near the horses,” she said ”It is strange that I do not see them here”

Then a moment later she stopped, with a little cry of consternation

”They are gone!” she exclaimed ”It is here that I tethered theround He found that a large shrub had been torn up by the roots Then he found so else There was a wry sirl

”EL ADREA has been here Froh, I rather think that his prey escaped hih fro to do but continue on foot The way led theirl knew the trail as well as she did herstrides, Tarzan keeping a hand's breadth behind the girl's shoulder, that she ued As they walked they talked, occasionally stopping to listen for sounds of pursuit

It was now a beautiful,Behind them lay the interminable vista of the desert, dotted here and there with an occasional oasis The date palms of the little fertile spot they had just left, and the circle of goatskin tents, stood out in sharp relief against the yellow sand--a phantorim and silent mountains Tarzan's blood leaped in his veins This was life! He looked down upon the girl beside hi across the face of a dead world with a son of the jungle He sht He wished that he had had a sister, and that she had been like this girl What a bully chum she would have been!