Subject: fate to

From: "victoria freeman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:06:55 +0600

He turned the indicator to zero, and was relieved to find it obey with
customary quickness In a few moments he had slowed up and stopped, when he
found himself suspended above another stretch of sandy plain.

Being too high to see the surface of the plain distinctly he dropped down a
few hundred feet to a lower level, where he discovered he was surrounded by
billows of sand as far as his eye could reach.

It's a desert, all right, was his comment; perhaps old Sahara herself He
started the machine again towards the east, and at a more moderate rate of
speed skimmed over the surface of the desert, Before long he noticed a dark
spot ahead of him which proved to be a large body of fierce looking men,
riding upon dromedaries and slender, spirited horses and armed with long
rifles and crookedly shaped simitars.

Those fellows seem to be looking for trouble, remarked the boy, as he
glided over them, and it wouldn't be exactly healthy for an enemy to get in
their way.

But I haven't time to stop, so I'm not likely to get mixed up in any rumpus
with them.

However, the armed caravan was scarcely out of sight before Rob discovered
he was approaching a rich, wooded oasis of the desert, in the midst of which
was built the walled city of Yarkand, Not that he had ever heard of the
place, or knew its name; for few Europeans and only one American traveler
had ever visited it.

But he guessed it was a city of some importance from its size and beauty,
and resolved to make a stop there.

Above the high walls projected many slender, white minarets, indicating
that the inhabitants were either Turks or some race of Mohammedans; so Rob
decided to make investigations before trusting himself to their company A
cluster of tall trees with leafy tops stood a short distance outside the
walls, and here the boy landed and sat down to rest in the refreshing
shade.

The city seemed as hushed and still as if it were deserted, and before him
stretched the vast plain of white, heated sands, He strained his eyes to
catch a glimpse of the band of warriors he had passed, but they were moving
slowly and had not yet appeared.

The trees that sheltered Rob were the only ones without the city, although
many low bushes or shrubs grew scattering over the space between him and the
walls.

An arched gateway broke the enclosure at his left, but the gates were
tightly shut.

Something in the stillness and the intense heat of the mid-day sun made the
boy drowsy, He stretched himself upon the ground beneath the dense foliage
of the biggest tree and abandoned himself to the languor that was creeping
over him I'll wait until that army of the desert arrives, he thought,
sleepily.