ed off in the rear
by a couple of priceless Persian rugs to form a partition. In these
quarters she had dwelt with Mabunu alone, for The Sheik had no wives.
Nor were conditions altered now after the years of her absence--she and
Mabunu were alone in the women's quarters.

Presently The Sheik came and parted the rugs. He glared through the
dim light of the interior.

"Meriem!" he called. "Come hither."

The girl arose and came into the front of the tent. There the light of
a fire illuminated the interior. She saw Ali ben Kadin, The Sheik's
half brother, squatted upon a rug, smoking. The Sheik was standing.
The Sheik and Ali ben Kadin had had the same father, but Ali ben
Kadin's mother had been a slave--a West Coast Negress. Ali ben Kadin
was old and hideous and almost black. His nose and part of one cheek
were eaten away by disease. He looked up and grinned as Meriem entered.

The Sheik jerked his thumb toward Ali ben Kadin and addressed Meriem.

"I am getting old," he said, "I shall not live much longer. Therefore
I have given you to Ali ben Kadin, my brother."

That was all. Ali ben Kadin rose and came toward her. Meriem shrank
back, horrified. The man seized her wrist.

"Come!" he commanded, and dragged her from The Sheik's tent and to his
own.

After they had gone The Sheik chuckled. "When I send her north in a
few months," he soliloquized, "they will know the reward for slaying
the son of the sister of Amor ben Khatour."

And in Ali ben Kadin's tent Meriem pleaded and threatened, but all to
no avail. The hideous old halfcaste spoke soft words at first, but
when Meriem loosed upon him the vials of her horror and loathing he
became enraged, and rushing upon her seized her in his arms. Twice she
tore away from him, and in one of the intervals during which she
managed to elude him she heard Baynes' voice humming the tune that she
knew was meant for her ears. At her reply Ali ben Kadin rushed upon
her once again. This time he dragged her back into the rear apartment
of his tent where three Negresses looked up in stolid indifference to
the tragedy being enacted before them.

As the Hon. Morison saw his way blocked by the huge frame of the giant
black his disappointment and rage filled him with a bestial fury that
transformed him into a savage beast. With an oath he leaped upon the
man before him, the momentum of his body hurling the black to the
ground. There they fought, the black to draw