For the first time a shadow had risen between him and the man whose
friendship had meant everything to him since, as a lad of fifteen, he
had come under the influence of the young Frenchman, who was three
years his senior. He realized that since the night of Raoul's arrival
he had been seething with insensate jealousy. He had relied on the
Western tendencies that prompted him to carry off the difficult
situation, but his ingrained Orientalism had broken through the
superficial veneer. He was jealous of every word, every look she gave
Saint Hubert. Pride had prevented an open rupture with the Vicomte this
morning, but he had ridden away filled with a cold rage that had
augmented every hour and finally driven him back earlier than he had
intended, riding with a recklessness that had been apparent even to his
men. The sight of Raoul sitting alone absorbed in his work had in part
allayed his suspicions, and he had gone on into the other room with a
feeling of new expectancy that had changed to a sudden chill at its
emptiness. The vacant room had brought home to him abruptly all that
the girl meant to him. A latent anxiety crept into his eyes.
He went out under the awning and clapped his hands, and a servant
answered the summons almost immediately. He gave an order and waited,
his hands thrust into the folds of his waist-cloth and his teeth
clenched on a cigarette that he had forgotten to light.
Saint Hubert joined him. "What do you think?" he asked, with a touch of
diffidence.
"I don't know what to think," replied the Sheik shortly.
"But is there any real danger?"
"There is always danger in the desert, particularly when that devil is
abroad." He motioned to the south with an impatient jerk of his head.
Saint Hubert's breath whistled sharply through his teeth. "My God! You
don't imagine----"
But the Sheik only shrugged his shoulders and turned to Yusef, who had
come up with half-a-dozen men. There was a rapid interchange of
questions and answers, some brief orders, and the men hurried away in
different directions, while Ahmed Ben Hassan turned again to Saint
Hubert.
"They were seen by three of the southern patrols this morning, but of
course it was nobody's business to find out if they had come back or
not. I will start at once--in about ten minutes. You will come with me?
Good! I have sent for reinforcements, who are to follow us if we are
not back in twelve hours." His voice was expressionless, and only Raoul
de Saint Hubert, who had known him since boyhood, could and did
appreciate the significance of a fleeting look that crossed his face as
he went back into the tent.