[Octavian-users] quite right;

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Nor was this guess so very far wrong; for as Rob, sitting disconsolate upon
the sand, raised his eyes, he saw across the desert a dark line that marked
the approach of the invaders Nearer and nearer they came, while Rob watched
them and bemoaned the foolish impulse that had led him to fall asleep in an
unknown land where he could so easily be overpowered and robbed of his
treasures.<br>
I always suspected these electrical inventions would be my ruin some day,
he reflected, sadly; and now I'm side-tracked and left helpless in this
outlandish country, without a single hope of ever getting home again.<br>
They probably won't be able to kill me, unless they find my Garment of
Repulsion and strip that off; but I never could cross this terrible desert
on foot and, having lost my food tablets, I'd soon starve if I attempted it
Fortunately, he had eaten one of the tablets just before going to sleep, so
there was no danger of immediate starvation, But he was miserable and
unhappy, and remained brooding over his cruel fate until a sudden shout
caused him to look up.<br>
14.<br>
Turk and Tatar The Tatars had arrived, swiftly and noiselessly, and a dozen
of the warriors, still mounted, were surrounding him.<br>
His helpless condition aroused their curiosity, and while some of them
hastily cut away his bonds and raised him to his feet, other plied him with
questions in their own language, Rob shook his head to indicate that he
could not understand; so they led him to the chief--an immense, bearded
representative of the tribe of Kara-Khitai, the terrible and relentless
Black Tatars of Thibet.<br>
The huge frame of this fellow was clothed in flowing robes of
cloth-of-gold, braided with jewels, and he sat majestically upon the back of
a jet-black camel.<br>
Under ordinary circumstances the stern features and flashing black eyes of
this redoubtable warrior would have struck a chill of fear to the boy's
heart; but now under the influence of the crushing misfortunes he had
experienced, he was able to gaze with indifference upon the terrible visage
of the desert chief The Tatar seemed not to consider Rob an enemy.<br>
Instead, he looked upon him as an ally, since the Turks had bound and
robbed him, Finding it impossible to converse with the chief, Rob took
refuge in the sign language.<br>
He turned his pockets wrong side out, showed the red welts left upon his
wrists by the tight cord, and then shook his fists angrily in the direction
of the town.<br>
In return the Tatar nodded gravely and issued an order to his men.<br>
By this time the warriors were busily pitching tents before the walls of
Yarkand and making preparations for a formal siege, In obedience to the
chieftain's orders, Rob was given a place within one of the tents nearest
the wall and supplied with a brace of brass-mounted pistols and a dagger
with a sharp, zigzag edge These were evidently to assist the boy in fighting
the Turks, and he was well pleased to have them.<br>
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