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Page 100
Desperately Billy gripped his bridle rope, and with a wrenching pull
and a whack of his guiding stick he turned his camel sharply to the
left, snatching at Arlee's bridle rope as the beasts bumped against
each other in their surprise.
"Quick--this way," Billy commanded, and with the left hand clutching
the girl's rope, with the right he wielded the stick furiously. Out
over the sand both camels plunged, goaded into wild speed by such
violent measures, and a cheated yell broke from the horsemen and the
outcries of pursuit.
While rage at such unreason lasted the camels went like mad, but
such speed could not be for long. They had been hard ridden for two
days and they were nearly spent. The horsemen behind had drawn
together and hung on their trail like three hounds, riding
cautiously in the rear, but easily keeping the distance. It occurred
to Billy that these pursuers could have changed horses on the way,
and must inevitably tire them out. And then?
On and on he beat his poor beasts, racing toward the hills that,
just ahead of them, rose sharply from the broken ground, seeking
among them some fortress of rocks for a defiant stand.
A tug on the bridle rope nearly jerked it from his hand. Arlee's
camel had stumbled; the poor thing was lurching wearily.
"He can't go--any more," the girl cried out pitifully. "He--he's
sobbing. Don't beat him--I won't have him beaten!"
"We must get there," he called back, waving at the cliff-like rocks.
"Then go--on foot. I could--run faster."
"No, you couldn't," he shouted fiercely back.
She flared. "Don't you hit him again!"
The maddening absurdity of the quarrel in the face of hostile Africa
filled Billy with the futile fury of exasperation. He ground his
teeth, glowering at her, and wound her halter rope about his
smarting hand. All his hope was concentrated upon the necessity of
winning to that rocky shelter before their pursuers overtook them.
To him the camels were nothing in the face of such necessity.
They were going slower and slower; his blows had no avail now on
either beast. They plodded on. He turned suddenly in his saddle and
saw the three riders spreading fan-shape around them, the one in the
center nearest. He whipped out his gun and fired at the horse.
His own motion made the ball fly wild, but the horseman drew up
instantly, and the other edged discreetly away. And in the ensuing
moments the two fugitives gained the base of those cliff-like hills
and perceived the dark oblong of a cave mouth.
Down from their exhausted camels they flung themselves, and hand in
hand raced to the entrance of the cave. Coolness and blackness
received them. Their eyes discovered nothing of the tunnel-like
interior.
Putting Arlee some distance within, Billy went to the mouth and
stood, his gun in his hand, peering watchfully out. He saw the
horsemen draw together for a parley, then one remained on guard
while the others circled on separate ways beyond his range of sight.
His fear was that one of them might steal alongside the cave and
leap unexpectedly into its very mouth upon him, so with taut nerves
he crouched expectant.
Behind him Arlee gave a sudden shriek.
[Illustration: "Billy went to the mouth, peering watchfully out"]
CHAPTER XX
A FRIEND IN NEED
He whirled. "I'll fire!" he warned, staring into the dark, but his
eyes, dazed with the sun, discerned nothing, and in utter ignorance
he faced the black possibilities.
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