r-zone without too many accidents, the second zone, the
uncharted zone of Libyan desert which stretched before them now, had ten
times more of danger in it than the zone of danger from men. Whisky
could not chase away his gloom that night when he had come to camp from
the house of the sheikh who had entertained him at dinner in the
village, and to whom he had given valuable presents in exchange for help
expected. But if the liquor could not cheer him, it made him conscious
of his own bulldog tenacity.

"I'll show the ungrateful devils who is master," he thought as he
looked out from his tent door to the glow of the fire round which his
men had been watching some naked male dancers of Dardai. The dancers had
gone, but the watchers had not yet moved. They were talking together
more quietly than usual, in groups. Stanton wondered what they were
saying; and he stared, frowning, over their heads toward the east, where
lay the Libyan desert. They were practically out of the Sahara now.

As he gazed, Ahmara came flitting across a moonlit space of sand that
lay like a silver lake between the tent and the rest of the camp.

"Thou art back, O master of my heart, from thy visit to the sheikh," she
said. "Did it pass off well?"

"Well enough," Stanton answered mechanically. For the moment he was
indifferent to Ahmara, though her strange face was tragically beautiful.
In the pale light the figure of Max St. George became suddenly visible
to him. It moved out from behind the tents and walked over to the fire.
Stanton, on a quick impulse, called out to Max harshly:

"Come here, St. George! I want you; hurry up!"

Ahmara slipped behind Stanton, who took a step forward, and, as he
forgot her, she darted into his tent.

CHAPTER XXVIII

SANDA SPEAKS

It was Max's policy, for Sanda's sake, never to give Stanton a pretext
to send him away. He kept his temper under provocations almost
intolerable; and now he obeyed the truculent summons.

"What do you want?" he asked stiffly when he had come near enough to
speak in an ordinary tone.

"I'll tell you inside my tent," the explorer answered, stalking in first
and leaving his guest to follow. Stanton was somewhat surprised to see
Ahmara sitting on her feet, her ringed hands on her knees, her crowned
head thrown back against the canvas wall; but on the whole, he was not
sorry that she was there. She might be useful. He only smiled
sarcastically when, at sight of her, Max stopp