CHAPTER VIII.
SETTING THE TRAP.
Several hours later Jack and Lieutenant Edwards were taking coffee with the Sheik on a priceless rug before his tent in the desert. The lieutenant was too familiar with Arab customs to come to the object of his visit at once, so it was late in the afternoon when he finally brought up the subject.
“Sheik, what is the present attitude of your people toward the Italian aggressors?” he asked at length.
Abu ben Sedar was wary.
“Why do you ask that?” he demanded.
“Why,” explained the lieutenant, “I know that you have led more than one uprising, and I know the Arab nature too well to think they will kiss the hand that strikes them down. The spirit of the desert will rise again. Even now I have heard rumors——”
“'Tis as you say,” exclaimed the Sheik excitedly, springing to his feet. “We shall never submit to Italian rule. They have treated us like dogs. But we are biding our time. We need rifles, ammunition, money.”
“And that is why I have sought you out,” declared the lieutenant.
“You mean you have come to help us shake off the yoke of the oppressor?”
“Exactly. I am authorized to offer you arms for fifteen thousand men and silver enough to keep them all in the field for several months; in return for which, when victorious, you are to sign over eight hundred square miles of coast territory to the German government.
“But,” the Sheik protested, “I own no such land, nor do I know anyone who does. Even if the Italians were driven out I could not justly claim it.”
“But, Sheik,” said the lieutenant gravely, “when the Italians are driven out, you, the acknowledged leader of all the dissatisfied Arabs in the vicinity—the man who would be Sultan or Bey if successful—will have as good a title to the land as another, and the German government will accept it. Am I not right?” he asked, turning to Jack.
“You are,” Jack agreed.
The explanation was plausible, and the Sheik was flattered.
“They have heard of me in Germany, then?” he asked.
“Indeed they have,” said Jack, who from previous visits to Nalut knew something of the Sheik’s ancestry and fortunes. “They know that your genealogy runs back in an unbroken line far beyond the days of Carthage, and you are looked upon as the man of the hour in Tripoli.”
Greatly pleased to hear that his name was so well known in the land beyond the sea, the Sheik lost whatever suspicions he might have had and accepted the attractive proposition thus offered him.
“When will the arms be ready, and where will they be landed?” he asked.
“They will be landed in the Gulf of Sidra day after to-morrow,” was the lieutenant’s reply.
“Good!” exclaimed the Sheik. “I shall have them removed to a secret place in the desert, not to be used until we are fully prepared to strike. Now, about the money?”
“The silver will be turned over to you in Nalut to-morrow morning, if you will meet me there. Is that satisfactory?”
“Perfectly,” returned the Sheik, and he named a place and hour for the meeting the next day.
The Arab told off two of his men as an escort, and Jack and Lieutenant Edwards returned to the village, where they made their way to the house in which Jack had spent the previous night. There they turned in, satisfied that their end of the work had been satisfactorily accomplished.
While they were at breakfast in the morning, Hetherington burst into the room.
“Dellaya and Lord Hastings are in the village,” he exclaimed. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything is serene,” declared the lieutenant. “Is the money here?”
“Yes; it has been taken to the house of a man named Effidi. You are to take the Sheik there and turn it over to him. We will see that Dellaya is a witness of the transaction.”
“Good,” said the lieutenant, and he and Jack left the house to keep their appointment with Abu ben Sedar.
The Sheik was awaiting them, and the three made their way to the home of Effidi, where the money was formally turned over to the Arab.
Just as the transfer was being completed, the Sheik paused suddenly to listen. His keen ear had detected a sound in the next room. He approached the wall and peered through a crack.
“Dellaya,” he exclaimed in some alarm.
“What!” ejaculated Lieutenant Edwards, in well-feigned surprise.
“Dellaya,” repeated the Arab, “my good friend. If all Italians were like him, the Arabs would never resent the presence of Italian troops in Tripoli. But they are not, so we must make haste.”
Swiftly the three finished their business and Jack and the lieutenant left the house, leaving the Sheik in possession of the silver.
“Are you sure the arms will be landed to-morrow?” asked the Sheik, as they left.
“Sure,” replied the lieutenant. “They will be ready for you.”
“Good,” said the Arab. “I shall be there to get them.”
Hardly had Jack and the lieutenant disappeared when the great Italian diplomat, followed by Lord Hastings, made his way excitedly from the house.
“Did you catch the significance of what we have just overheard?” demanded Dellaya, of Lord Hastings, as they hurried away.
“I did,” replied Lord Hastings briefly. “It is fortunate we were here.”
“It is, indeed,” was the reply. “Italy has been the cat’spaw of the German emperor too long. Strive as she will, Italy cannot stand by her partners in the Triple Alliance in the face of such treachery. But I must make sure. This ammunition they spoke of—I must see it landed with my own eyes. I must find this rendezvous. Will you help me, Lord Hastings?”
“I shall be glad to,” was the reply. “My yacht is at your service.”
The two hurried on their way.
Returning to the house in which they had spent the night, Jack and the lieutenant removed their disguises, and the lieutenant made ready to take his departure.
“Well,” he said to Jack, “I want to thank you for your aid, and I guess it is good-by, now.”
“Why,” demanded Jack, “can’t you take me with you? I haven’t done much, but I might be of more use later on. I would like to go to England with you, so that I may offer my services to my country.”
The lieutenant hesitated.
“I guess it can be done,” he replied finally. “You are certainly entitled to go if you wish. Come along, then.”
Several hours later the two stood on the deck of Lord Hastings’ yacht Sylph. Lord Hastings and Dellaya were already there, and the lad was introduced as a young Englishman who wished to return to his home land. Frank already had been introduced as an American who was desirous of getting home. Lord Hastings declared that he was glad to be able to help them.
All that night and early the next morning the yacht cruised about, Dellaya always on the lookout for the sign of a ship bearing the arms and ammunition for the Arabs. It was almost noon before they sighted it, Dellaya still ignorant of the fact that he had been brought there purposely.
Small boats were rapidly landing arms from the ship, unmistakably a German vessel and flying a German flag, as the yacht bore down on it. Upon Dellaya’s request, the yacht sailed close enough for the Italian to see that the ship’s crew were apparently Germans.
Then the great Italian diplomat signified that he had seen enough. He turned to Lord Hastings.
“Would it be too great an inconvenience for you to cut short your cruise and take me back to Naples?” he asked.
“Certainly not,” was the reply. “But what is it you plan to do, signor?”
“I must report this strange proceeding to the Italian Foreign Office,” declared the Italian excitedly, “too long has Italy been a tool of Germany and Austria.”
“A tool!” exclaimed Lord Hastings in surprise.
“Yes; we have been suspicious, and now our suspicions have been confirmed. Beset by three countries as she is, Germany still has time to plot trouble for Italy!
“But I have seen enough to thwart this outrage. No longer will Italy be Germany’s cat’spaw. Probably we should have gone to the Kaiser’s aid if necessary. But now—no! So far as Italy is concerned, the Triple Alliance is dead!”
One week later, having just arrived in London, Frank and Jack learned of the success of the apparently trifling adventure in which they had taken a hand.
Despite repeated demands of the Kaiser that Italy live up to her obligations under the alliance, the Italian government had refused to support the German cause and take up arms against the Allies!