Inside the hut, the men are on their feet in one movement.
“Do not talk nonsense, Podolski,” Catroux says sharply. “The wind could not have blown Petacci away, as he has been standing guard outside the hut!”
“He is not there now, mon Sergent,” Podolski persists. “I have walked around the hut and even called out his name, but there is no answer.”
mon Sergent“Then this Harba must be haunted,” Catroux says doubtfully. “Petacci would not have absconded. He could not have disappeared into thin air. The earth could not have swallowed him, and the Arabs…”
The sergeant stops speaking all of a sudden. The Arabs? He feels cold where he is standing, and he hears the heavy breathing of the men around him.
“Let us go and search for him at once,” Fritz Mundts says and moves to the door.
“Mundt, st
