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"This is my greatest German friend, Naoum," he said, "and I brought him with me that he might meet the man who has done so much for a stranger in a strange land; his name is Charlie Osterberg." Naoum acknowledged the introduction cordially, and begged them to rest. "I was surprised when Belbeis told me that you had returned to Cairo again so quickly.
When the boat is launched, keep her a few yards out from the bank and wait for me. Hurry up; here they come." Thus exhorted, Mark and Osterberg ran on without further demur, and Helmar followed them until he reached the edge of the camping-ground. Here he seized the bough from which he had broken his club, and flung it across the pathway, and stood waiting the approach of the brigands.
Osterberg, as he said, had now endured it for three days and so didn't mind the imprisonment; but with George it was different, and he had yet to get used to it. The next two days were passed in this miserable captivity. Helmar chafed at the confinement, but was forced to put up with it.
"My words may have been untimely as uttered in this room, and for that I apologize; but my opinion of the last speaker, friend Osterberg, remains the same, and what I am not allowed to express here I shall take the earliest opportunity of doing elsewhere." He turned, and, followed by the youth he had addressed as Maurice, left the room.
In fact, news came through this morning that the British warships were bombarding the place already, and if that is so, the blue-jackets will soon clear the town of the rabble. In the meantime provision will be made for him." Osterberg thanked him for his kind words, and the trio fell to discussing their journey from Varna to Constantinople.
Helmar, on the other hand, was entirely unknown in the use of the weapon, and was naturally pitied by his comrades. But the students admired bravery, especially when in a good cause. In this case they unanimously condemned Landauer's conduct in selecting Osterberg for the object of his assault. "The fellow's a bully, whatever else he is, and no doubt thought his insult would go unchallenged.
"Being Germans, possibly we shall be sent about our business," said Osterberg, "and after all, it's only to be expected." "I don't think so," replied his friend; "you don't know these people. I'll bet something will be done for us." At this moment he caught sight, through the window, of a man dressed in European clothes crossing the square.
The officer expressed his willingness to listen, and George recounted to him all that had occurred from the time the three companions left Germany. The latter part of the story was new to Osterberg, and he exclaimed in horror and indignation at the villainous way Arden had persecuted his friend. When our hero came to the flogging, the officer's face became hard and stern.
Charlie Osterberg was now his constant companion, and tried by every means in his power, but without avail, to cheer his friend and distract his mind from the gloom and despondency that had taken hold of him. It was on the evening of the fourth day since the duel, young Osterberg, after a visit to the wounded man, returned hastily to George's rooms. Helmar looked up as his friend entered.
John Landauer, the man who had uttered the offensive words, turned on hearing the President's mandate. With flashing eyes he glanced in the direction of Osterberg.
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