"Yes, I know," said the doctor; "you are unprepared; the difficulties seem out here insuperable; but a man's life is at stake, so is our reputation amongst these people, for one failure will balance a hundred cures, just as at home one evil deed stands out strongly against so many good which pass unnoticed. It is barely possible, but we must try." Frank stood for a few moments thinking, and then turned his eyes upon those of his friend. "Think, my dear boy," said the latter; "it may be a step nearer to finding Hal." Frank still remained silent. He needed no such stimulus as that, though; he was only shrinking for fear that he would fail in his part of the experiment that was to be tried. At last his face lit-up, and signing to the professor and the Sheikh to follow him he hurried back to their part of the palace, where a leathern case that had travelled so far on the big camel, and remained unopened, was rapidly unstrapped, and one by one the carefully packed portions of some new scientific apparatus were undone and arranged upon one of the rugs placed for the purpose. Frank worked hard, and the professor aided him with all the energy he could throw into the task, first one and then the other uttering a word or two of satisfaction to find that everything was intact. "Is this the apparatus with which you experimented at your place?" said the professor. They were alone, and Frank answered in a low tone full of excitement-- "Yes," he said; "again and again with perfect success." "But you are nervous about it now?" "Yes, there seems to be so much at stake. Suppose we fail?" "The best thing Lytton ever wrote, Frank, lad," said the professor: "`In the bright Lexicon of youth, there is no such word as fail.'" "Then you would try?" whispered Frank. "Try? Yes, and succeed, my lad. Why should you not?" "I don't know," sighed the young man, "unless I dread that anything should go wrong, for Morris's sake." "And he would be sorry for yours. There, work. Everything seems right: battery, wires, vacuum tubes--all looking new and perfect." "Yes," said Frank, whose voice trembled a little; "but if we could put the experiment off for a while, so as to test it first." "It might be wiser, but while we are trying the apparatus that man's life may ebb away." "Then you would not wait?" "No. Test it upon the patient. It may save him." Taking heart as he fully grasped the need for immediate action, Frank toiled away till he was able to say that he was ready, the Sheikh looking on in silent wonder and admiration the while.