And while he lay motionless three men dropped in quick succession fro. the top of the city wall and hid among the low bushes, crawlin. noiselessly from one to another and so approaching, by degrees, th. little group of trees.
They were Turks, and had been sent by those in authority within th. city to climb the tallest tree of the group and discover if the enem. was near. For Rob's conjecture had been correct, and the city o. Yarkand awaited, with more or less anxiety, a threatened assault fro. its hereditary enemies, the Tatars.
The three spies were not less forbidding in appearance than the hord. of warriors Rob had passed upon the desert. Their features wer. coarse and swarthy, and their eyes had a most villainous glare. Ol. fashioned pistols and double-edged daggers were stuck in their belt. and their clothing, though of gorgeous colors, was soiled and neglected.
With all the caution of the American savage these Turks approached th. tree, where, to their unbounded amazement, they saw the boy lyin. asleep. His dress and fairness of skin at once proclaimed him, i. their shrewd eyes, a European, and their first thought was to glanc. around in search of his horse or dromedary. Seeing nothing of th. kind near they were much puzzled to account for his presence, an. stood looking down at him with evident curiosity.
The sun struck the polished surface of the traveling machine which wa. attached to Rob's wrist and made the metal glitter like silver. Thi. attracted the eyes of the tallest Turk, who stooped down an. stealthily unclasped the band of the machine from the boy'. outstretched arm. Then, after a hurried but puzzled examination of th. little instrument, he slipped it into the pocket of his jacket.
Rob stirred uneasily in his sleep, and one of the Turks drew a sligh. but stout rope from his breast and with gentle but deft movemen. passed it around the boy's wrists and drew them together behind him.
The action was not swift enough to arouse the power of repulsion i. the Garment of Protection, but it awakened Rob effectually, so that h. sat up and stared hard at his captors.
"What are you trying to do, anyhow?" he demanded.
The Turks laughed and said something in their own language. They ha. no knowledge of English.
"You're only making fools of yourselves," continued the boy. wrathfully. "It's impossible for you to injure me."The three paid no attention to his words. One of them thrust his han. into Rob's pocket and drew out the electric tube. His ignorance o. modern appliances was so great that he did not know enough to pus. the button. Rob saw him looking down the hollow end of the tub. and murmured:
"I wish it would blow your ugly head off!"
But the fellow, thinking the shining metal might be of some value t. him, put the tube in his own pocket and then took from the prisone. the silver box of tablets.
Rob writhed and groaned at losing his possessions in this way, an. while his hands were fastened behind him tried to feel for and touc. the indicator of the traveling machine. When he found that th. machine also had been taken, his anger gave way to fear, for h. realized he was in a dangerously helpless condition.
The third Turk now drew the Record of Events from the boy's inne. pocket. He knew nothing of the springs that opened the lids, so. after a curious glance at it, he secreted the box in the folds of hi. sash and continued the search of the captive. The Character Markin. Spectacles were next abstracted, but the Turk, seeing in them nothin. but spectacles, scornfully thrust them back into Rob's pocket, whil. his comrades laughed at him. The boy was now rifled of seventee. cents in pennies, a broken pocket knife and a lead-pencil,the las. article seeming to be highly prized.
After they had secured all the booty they could find, the tall Turk. who seemed the leader of the three, violently kicked at the prisone. with his heavy boot. His surprise was great when the Garment o. Repulsion arrested the blow and nearly overthrew the aggressor i. turn. Snatching a dagger from his sash, he bounded upon the boy s. fiercely that the next instant the enraged Turk found himself lyin. upon his back three yards away, while his dagger flew through the ai. and landed deep in the desert sands.
"Keep it up!" cried Rob, bitterly. "I hope you'll enjoy yourself."The other Turks raised their comrade to his feet, and the three stare. at one another in surprise, being unable to understand how a boun. prisoner could so effectually defend himself. But at a whispered wor. from the leader, they drew their long pistols and fired point blan. into Rob's face. The volley echoed sharply from the city walls, bu. as the smoke drifted slowly away the Turks were horrified to see thei. intended victim laughing at them.
Uttering cries of terror and dismay, the three took to their heels an. bounded towards the wall, where a gate quickly opened to receive them. the populace feeling sure the Tatar horde was upon them.
Nor was this guess so very far wrong; for as Rob, sitting disconsolat. upon the sand, raised his eyes, he saw across the desert a dark lin. that marked the approach of the invaders.
Nearer and nearer they came, while Rob watched them and bemoaned th. foolish impulse that had led him to fall asleep in an unknown lan. where he could so easily be overpowered and robbed of his treasures.
"I always suspected these electrical inventions would be my ruin som. day," he reflected, sadly; "and now I'm side-tracked and left helples. in this outlandish country, without a single hope of ever getting hom. again. They probably won't be able to kill me, unless they find m. Garment of Repulsion and strip that off; but I never could cross thi. terrible desert on foot and, having lost my food tablets, I'd soo. starve if I attempted it."Fortunately, he had eaten one of the tablets just before going t. sleep, so there was no danger of immediate starvation. But he wa. miserable and unhappy, and remained brooding over his cruel fate unti. a sudden shout caused him to look up.
