L. Frank Baum by The Master Key Page B

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. "They either belong in this city or have come to capture it,
so I can tell better what to dance when I find out what the band plays."
    The next moment he was sound asleep, sprawling upon his back in the
shade and slumbering as peacefully as an infant.
    And while he lay motionless three men dropped in quick succession from
the top of the city wall and hid among the low bushes, crawling
noiselessly from one to another and so approaching, by degrees, the
little group of trees.
    They were Turks, and had been sent by those in authority within the
city to climb the tallest tree of the group and discover if the enemy
was near. For Rob's conjecture had been correct, and the city of
Yarkand awaited, with more or less anxiety, a threatened assault from
its hereditary enemies, the Tatars.
    The three spies were not less forbidding in appearance than the horde
of warriors Rob had passed upon the desert. Their features were coarse
and swarthy, and their eyes had a most villainous glare. Old fashioned
pistols and double-edged daggers were stuck in their belts and their
clothing, though of gorgeous colors, was soiled and neglected.
    With all the caution of the American savage these Turks approached the
tree, where, to their unbounded amazement, they saw the boy lying
asleep. His dress and fairness of skin at once proclaimed him, in
their shrewd eyes, a European, and their first thought was to glance
around in search of his horse or dromedary. Seeing nothing of the kind
near they were much puzzled to account for his presence, and stood
looking down at him with evident curiosity.
    The sun struck the polished surface of the traveling machine which was
attached to Rob's wrist and made the metal glitter like silver. This
attracted the eyes of the tallest Turk, who stooped down and stealthily
unclasped the band of the machine from the boy's outstretched arm.
Then, after a hurried but puzzled examination of the little instrument,
he slipped it into the pocket of his jacket.
    Rob stirred uneasily in his sleep, and one of the Turks drew a slight
but stout rope from his breast and with gentle but deft movement passed
it around the boy's wrists and drew them together behind him. The
action was not swift enough to arouse the power of repulsion in the
Garment of Protection, but it awakened Rob effectually, so that he sat
up and stared hard at his captors.
    "What are you trying to do, anyhow?" he demanded.
    The Turks laughed and said something in their own language. They had
no knowledge of English.
    "You're only making fools of yourselves," continued the boy,
wrathfully. "It's impossible for you to injure me."
    The three paid no attention to his