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them, and they ran, terrified, in every direction, only to be cut down by

the revengeful Turkish simitars.

Rob was sitting upon the edge of a marble fountain in the center of the

square when a crowd of victorious Turks appeared and quickly

surrounded him. The boy paid no attention to their gestures and the

Turks feared to approach him nearly, so they stood a short distance

away and fired volleys at him from their rifles and pistols.

Rob glared at them scornfully, and seeing they could not injure him the

Turks desisted; but they still surrounded him, and the crowd grew

thicker every moment.

Women now came creeping from their hiding places and mingled with the

ranks of the men, and Rob guessed, from their joyous chattering, that

the Turks had regained the city and driven out or killed the Tatar

warriors. He reflected, gloomily, that this did not affect his own position

in any way, since he could not escape from the oasis.

Suddenly, on glancing at the crowd, Rob saw something that arrested his

attention. A young girl was fastening some article to the wrist of a burly,

villainous-looking Turk. The boy saw a glitter that reminded him of the

traveling machine, but immediately afterward the man and the girl bent

their heads over the fellow's wrist in such a way that Rob could see

nothing more.

While the couple were apparently examining the strange device, Rob

started to his feet and walked toward them. The crowd fell back at his

approach, but the man and the girl were so interested that they did not

notice him. He was still several paces away when the girl put out her

finger and touched the indicator on the dial.

To Rob's horror and consternation the big Turk began to rise slowly into

the air, while a howl of fear burst from the crowd. But the boy made a

mighty spring and caught the Turk by his foot, clinging to it with

desperate tenacity, while they both mounted steadily upward until they

were far above the city of the desert.

The big Turk screamed pitifully at first, and then actually fainted away

from fright. Rob was much frightened, on his part, for he knew if his

hands slipped from their hold he would fall to his death. Indeed, one

hand was slipping already, so he made a frantic clutch and caught firmly

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