Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 17, 2025
He came straight to Quest and Lenora and gripped the former by the arm. "Look!" he cried. "Look!" He held out a card. Quest read it aloud: "There is not one amongst you with the wit of a Mongar child. Good-bye!" "Where did you get it?" Quest demanded. "That's the point the whole point!" the Professor exclaimed excitedly. "He's done us! He's landed!
He held the book a little way away from him and read slowly and distinctly. "This," he began, "is the diary of a tour made by Craig and myself in Northern Egypt some fourteen years ago. Here is the first entry of import: "Monday. Twenty-nine miles south-east of Port Said. We have stayed for two days at a little Mongar village.
She was able to rise to her feet, however, without assistance. "I am all right now," she declared. Quest felt her pulse and her forehead. They moved back to the fire. "We are within a dozen miles or so of the Mongar village," Quest said grimly. "Do you suppose that fellow could have been watching?" They all talked together for a time in low voices.
"Those fellows are as superstitious as they can be, and Hassan's death has given them the scares. They have gone back to Port Said." "And what is worse," the Professor added, with a groan, "they have taken with them all our stores, our rifles and our water." "How far are we from the Mongar Camp?" Lenora asked. "About a day's tramp," Quest replied quickly. "We may reach there by nightfall."
"Professor," Quest asked, "how long would it take us to get to this Mongar village you spoke about?" "Two or three days, if we can get camels," the other replied. "I see you agree with me, then, as to Craig's probable destination?" Quest nodded. "What sort of fellows are they, any way?" he asked. "Will it be safe for us to push on alone?"
The Mongars, who were outnumbered by twenty to one, obeyed without hesitation. Their Chief seemed unconscious, even, of what had happened. He was on his knees, bending over the body of Feerda, half supported in Craig's arms. The officer turned to Quest. "Are you the party who left Port Said for the Mongar Camp?" he asked. Quest nodded. "They took us into the jungle just escaped.
"The Mongar village," he explained, "is placed practically at a cul-de-sac so far as regards further progress southwards without making a detour. It is flanked by a strip of jungle and desert on either side, in which there are no wells for many miles. We shall find Craig with the Mongars." They made their way back to the hotel, dined in a cool, bare room, and sauntered out again into the streets.
We shall have four of the best camels and a small escort ready to start to-morrow morning. Furthermore, I have news. An Englishman whose description precisely tallies with Craig's, started off, only an hour ago, in the same direction. This time, at any rate, Craig cannot escape us." "He might go on past the Mongar camp," Quest suggested. The Professor shook his head.
"A lion's been here all right," he said, "and he has finished our little job for us. That was Craig. I saw him come out of Craig's tent." The Professor was dubious. "My friend," he said, "you are mistaken. There is nothing more characteristic and distinct than the Mongar cry of fear. They seldom use it except in the face of death. That was the cry of a native Mongar.
The Professor was inclined to scout the theory of Craig having approached them. "You must remember," he pointed out, "that the Mongars hate these fellows. It was part of my arrangement with Hassan that they should leave us when we got in sight of the Mongar Encampment. It may have been meant for Hassan. The Mongars hate the dragomen who bring tourists in this direction at all."
Word Of The Day
Others Looking