Tahara Among African Tribes Read online

  CHAPTER III

  ARAB RAIDERS

  Dan came running to Dick Oakwood and cried, "Say it looks to me like asandstorm over there. Maybe we had all better get under cover!"

  Across the desert, far away, Dick saw a cloud of dust rising into thehot blue sky and called Raal.

  "Is that a sandstorm?" he asked.

  Raal studied the horizon carefully with narrowed eyes. "No, Master.When the sandstorm comes from the desert, it is not like that.Overhead the color changes and threatens danger. It may be a herd ofwild horses that raises the dust."

  "Do wild horses run about on the desert?" asked Dan.

  "Never before have I seen them, but of late I have seen many strangethings. I have seen birds that carry men and I have seen the sundarkened."

  Dick took his binoculars and studied the morning cloud, but it was toofar for him to make out what was kicking up the dust. Dan lookedwithout success, and Dick turned to the natives.

  "You try what you can see," he said to Raal, handing over thebinoculars.

  The Taharan took the "magic glasses" with awe. Never could he outgrowthe superstitious terror that they aroused.

  "They won't hurt you," laughed Dan. "Take a chance! You saw me usethem."

  "Yet they are strong magic. I fear them because I do not understand."

  "It's all right. They are harmless to you. Look!" And as Dick helpedhim to focus the binoculars, Raal cried out in amazement.

  "Ah-woe, ah-woe! I see warriors!--Or demons, mounted on horses! Themagic brings them close! Ah-woe!"

  Dick took the glasses and thought he could make out what the sharp-eyedsavage had seen.

  "Arabs!" he gasped. "A wild tribe of nomads!"

  "Arabs, Master?"

  Raal did not know what he was talking about. Never had raiding Arabsfound this spot so far from the caravan trails. In the history of thetribe, no strangers had ever visited the land until the airplanes hadbrought Dick and those others from the sky. Yet with the instinct ofthe savage, Raal was quick to grasp the idea of a raid by enemies.

  "Arabs! If they be men, we will fight them!"

  "Lucky for you we are here to protect you!" said Dan.

  "Quick, Raal!" cried Dick. "Assemble the warriors with all theirweapons. Spears, bows and arrows, stone hatchets and knives! Orderthe war drums to be sounded!"

  "I hear, O Master!"

  Raal hurried to obey. Shaggy blond tribesmen sprang to the hollowlogs, with tightly stretched hides and soon the roll of the drumsbrought Taharan warriors hurrying from the fields. The alarm throbbeduntil the air was vibrating with a feeling of menace. The call tobattle carried over the cliffs and beyond to the Gorol tree dwellings,and soon the ape-men were seen, scrambling down the steep rocks, withtheir war chief, Kulki, among them.

  Their thin figures, covered with a fine growth of dark hair, made themresemble something more than beast and less than man. Like goats theyfound a footing on the steep sides. Their bodies were stringy andtough-muscled; light in weight, they were far stronger than the averagecivilized man, and more agile even than the Taharans.

  As warriors they were formidable, and Kulki, their leader, was fearlessand a tricky fighter.

  Raal, too, was brave in battle and the Taharans were superb warriors.With their throwing sticks they could hurl a lance with such force thatit would go right through a man's body, and as archers they could bringdown a bird in flight with their flint-tipped arrows.

  "There's trouble coming, sure!" exclaimed Dan Carter. "Jiminy, I'dhate to be an Arab and get crowned with Raal's flint hatchet."

  But the Arabs were not fighting with such Stone-Age weapons. Theycarried long-barreled guns, that could pick off a bowman far beyondarrow range, and their swift horses and camels could keep them safefrom attack.

  "Dan, you keep close to me!" exclaimed Dick. "I'll need you to act asmy lieutenant. This is going to be a real scrap!"

  Dick saw at a glance that the battle would have to be carried on fromthe cliffs. There the Taharans and Gorols would have the advantage ofcover and the Arab horses would be useless in fighting.

  Yet he knew that a sharp resistance would weaken the Arab force andlessen their confidence. The first line of battle he entrusted to Raaland a force of picked Taharan archers.

  "Post your men between the desert sands and the Sacred Spring," Dickordered. "Let each man find shelter behind a rock and see to it thathe can retreat to the cliffs at top speed. Then as soon as the enemycomes within bow-shot let drive at him with arrows and retreat, stillshooting. Post a second line closer to the spring. And a third besidethe water."

  "I hear, O Master. I obey!"

  Without losing a moment Raal ordered his archers to find an ambushshutting off the invaders from the spring. Dick knew well that thecool water would be the first thing these raiders would want after thelong trip across the blistering hot sands. No matter how full theirwater bags had been at the start, they would be empty now.

  The spring would be the first point of attack.

  Dan studied the Arabs through the binoculars. "There are hundreds ofthem," he cried, "on horses and camels! They are a fierce looking gangof bandits."

  "Raal will tame them when they get within bowshot," said Dick.

  Meanwhile Kulki in command of the Gorols, took up a position on thecliff edge, while all the small children and old people of the cavedwellers, hurried to find shelter in the mountains.

  The older children and the women brought big stones to the edge of thecliff to roll down upon the invaders.

  All these preparations had gone forward with breathless haste, for theArab raiders were closing in fast.

  Leaving Dan behind, Dick advanced to meet them, carrying a white flag;one of the first fabrics woven on his looms. He did not want to beginhostilities until he was quite certain that the Arabs were bent on war,and waved the flag as a signal.

  But Dick was not long left in doubt as to their hostile purpose.

  The Arabs began shooting at the flag of truce long before they werewithin rifle range. Bullets threw up puffs of dust in the desert andDick retreated to the first line, where archers were crouching behindscattered boulders, and took refuge.

  The thunder of hoof beats was loud in his ears, the tossing heads andflying foam of the horses showed clearly, before Dick shouted:

  "Let them have it!"

  Raal echoed his command. "Let them have it! Tahara, hal!"

  Instantly the band of horsemen was stung by a cloud of arrows. Horsesand riders were pierced by the flint-tipped arrows and a dozen saddlesshowed empty as the horses galloped on.

  There was a shout of rage and surprise. The raiders had expected nosuch fierce resistance and some shrieked to Allah and Mohammed, hisprophet, while others vented screams of pain.

  "Slay them! The dogs of unbelievers!" shouted Abdul, their leader.

  A crackling volley of rifle shots rang out, bullets whined through theair and flattened themselves upon the boulders and the troop swervedsharply to one side.

  "Another!" cried Dick. "Give it to them!"

  Again arrows stung them like hornets and the Bedouins, firing wildly,were thrown into confusion.

  Then as the charge broke and the riflemen galloped away to reload theirweapons, Dick gave the signal to retreat to the second line of defense.

  The Taharans fell back, keeping close to the ground and taking shelterat every bush and boulder.

  So far the battle had been in their favor. The black-bearded ruffianshad been repulsed with dead and wounded, while the Taharans had escapedwithout loss of a man.

  Of course, luck could not favor them always. The raiders had withdrawnto take counsel with Abdul and that ferocious chieftain swore by thebeard of the Prophet that he would show no mercy to the "infidel dogs"who had dared to resist him. His hawk eyes stared furiously at thecliffs, then at the boulders, behind each of which lurked a bowman.

  "We will not make another charge!" he ordered. "This time ea
chhorseman will ride warily, rifle ready for action. Make a detour!Ride to one side of the rocks and try to pick off the archers one byone."

  Suli, who rode beside Abdul, searched the horizon with black, angryeyes.

  "Where is Slythe?" he muttered. "The winged warrior has failed us!"

  Abdul heard him and vented a hearty curse upon the missing airman.

  "He has led us into a trap! May he perish and the dogs devour him!"

  "He did not warn us that the savages of this tribe would fight likedemons!" put in a wounded Arab, knotting a strip of linen about hisbleeding arm.

  "If we had known that they could fight like tigers, we would haveraided them by night when they slept," growled Abdul. "Now it is toolate for a surprise or a parley. We must fight it through."

  "And first of all we must have water for ourselves and our horses!"grumbled Suli.

  "Yes, by the Prophet! First we shall capture the spring. But not bystorm! Ride warily and pick off the dogs one at a time!"

  Carefully the troop approached and this time Dick used anotherstrategy. As an Arab rider would approach a rock, a Taharan wouldbreak and run back to another shelter. But when the Arab chased him,firing his rifle, a second tribesman still hiding behind the rock wouldtake a shot at the Arab at close range.

  So keen and clever were the Taharan archers, that few arrows missed.But the tribesmen were not so fortunate as to go unscathed through thesecond attack. More than one was dropped by an Arab bullet, some torise no more.

  Dick Oakwood directed the running fight, giving orders to Raal, whoshouted them to his men in a voice that rang out like the bellowing ofa bull. Though he might be frightened at evil magic and things that hedid not understand, Raal was brave as a lion when it came to battle.

  Dan Carter had stayed in the rear according to Dick's orders until thethrill of watching the fight got his nerves on edge with excitement.Then, armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows, he ran from one shelterto another until he was among the fighting men. At the last rock wherehe took refuge, a Taharan archer was already hidden, driving his arrowsto the mark every time an Arab rider came within range.

  Dan saw it was Kurt, one of Dick's most trusted henchmen, and with aword of encouragement, the boy took up his position on the other sideof the big rock.

  "Let 'em have it!" said Dan.

  "Let 'em have it!" Kurt repeated and both marksmen let fly at aBedouin, mounted on a splendid gray horse that came charging toward therock.

  The arrows whizzed through the air, but the rider was on guard anddropped from his saddle, hanging to the side of his horse and protectedby its body.

  Then before the archers could shoot again he was right beside the rockand slashing out with his curving sword, struck at Kurt with a blowthat laid open the tribesman's shoulder.

  Dan was ready with his second arrow by that time and let drive a dartthat caught the Arab in the throat and dropped him to the ground. Thehorse galloped on, while Kurt and Dan ran back toward the cliffs, fornow other Arabs were close by and their position was too hot to keep.

  "_Allah il allah!_" shouted the raiders, galloping to head off thefugitives.

  "Slay the dogs of unbelievers!"

  Their howls of fury rose shrill and high amid the rattling of rifleshots, the whinnying of horses and the war cry of the tribesmen,"Tahara, hal! Tahara!"

  Dan was racing for life, when he saw that Kurt was lagging. Loss ofblood from the gash on his shoulder had weakened the Taharan warriorand it seemed as if he might fall from exhaustion, so Dan forgot hisown danger to help Kurt escape.

  The Arab pursuers saw that the two enemies were having a hard time toget away and let out yells of triumph.

  "Allah! Down with the unbelievers!"

  A couple of horsemen sped toward the fugitives and their rifles sentthe echoes flying back from the cliffs, though the bullets missed theirmark and sent puffs of dust from the ground to either side.

  "Run, Kurt! Run for your life!" gasped Dan Carter.

  "Leave me! I grow weak, but I can die like a man," answered Kurt,brave to the last.

  "You're not going to die!" said Dan. "Here, put your weight on myshoulder. I'll help you!"

  Their situation was desperate. Behind them came the two Arabs, tuggingat their scimiters to release them from the scabbards and eager to cutthe fugitives to bits.

  Before them raced the riderless horse, zig-zagging to avoid thetribesmen who yelled and waved their arms at it. The animal was tryingto reach the spring, for it was eager for water after the long trip.

  In desperation Dan dragged his wounded comrade back of a small boulderand took up his position beside him. His bow was already sending aswift arrow at the foremost rider when a yell behind him caused him tolook over his shoulder.

  Dick Oakwood had seen the danger that his friends were in and actedpromptly. He had snatched a coiled rope, carried by one of thetribesmen, and now ran toward the riderless horse, loosening the loopas he ran. Then as the animal swerved and passed, not far away, Dickwhirled the lariat, sent it flying and braced himself for the shock.

  It was a good throw.

  The loop settled around the animal's neck and as Dick put his weightagainst it the noose tightened and the horse came down, half choked andterrified.

  Before the animal could scramble to its feet, Dick was in the saddle,loosening the lariat and seizing the reins. A moment later with a newrider on its back, the Arab horse was heading back to where Dan andKurt were standing off the Bedouin attackers.