Emily and the Lost City of Urgup by Gerry Hotchkiss

thief at an inn in Cairo. The men were very upset when the thief was not at the inn and they talked, rather too loudly, about the jewels. Then they sought stolen gems at every jewelry store in Cairo. But none were found.
    Surmise, the first man had the jewels but lost them somewhere between the Lost City and Cairo.
    How far had the first thief traveled when the caravan was set to by robbers? Emily asked herself. The police noted the fifteen travelers had been wandering in the dessert for about four days. Emily thought some more. Let’s presume that these people were so confused that they traveled about the normal distance of one day in those four days since they did not have camels and they were lost. How long would the trip take normally? she wondered. Emily sought out the Professor who told her the trip usually took about a week.
    That means, thought Emily, the robbers were only one day out of Cairo when they stopped that caravan. “Professor Witherspoon,” Emily asked, “I would like to go to the Museum in Cairo to see so much of what has been found in other lost cities.” “A good idea,” the professor replied, “it is time to broaden your knowledge and besides we both need a break from living in these tents. But you must promise me you will not go far from my side. Remember three of those thieves by now have been released from the jail and are free to roam the city.”
    “I promise,” said Emily with her fingers crossed behind her back.
     

CHAPTER TEN: A Little White Lie

    “EMILY,” PROFESSOR WITHERSPOON announced, “I have great news. We shall not have to ride to Cairo on those bumpy camels. A large roadster is available for all of us to ride in. What a relief!”
    But Emily wasn’t relieved. The camel caravan took a week to get to Cairo, but what about the roadster? How fast would it go. How would she know when they were about one day’s camel ride from Cairo.
    “How long will it take us?” she asked the professor. “Actually I haven’t the faintest notion. Maybe a day or two shorter or a day or two longer than a week,” he answered.
    Emily was in a pickle. Should she tell the professor the real reason she wanted to go to Cairo - to find the missing jewels*. He might be angry that she was not forthright with him in the first place. Or he might think it a childish whim. Or worse, he might leave her here at the Lost City and go by himself, as a punishment for her not quite telling the truth. Emily decided the best course of action was to say nothing. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” she once heard her father say.
    The tents were taken down, folded and put away in large boxes along with the braziers, cots, bedding and rugs. Food was prepared for the journey together with large leather bags of water and several umbrellas to protect them from the constant sun so fierce in the daytime. Extra blankets were folded for the nights, so cold and ominous with just the sands of the desert and the wind whining under a moonless sky. Tonight was the dark of the moon when everything seemed most dangerous.
    Earlier that morning when Emily awoke, she looked outside her tent. There stood the roadster with its large wheels of solid rubber unlike today’s tires. There was no air inside to deflate from a puncture. In the front of the engine was an odd looking bar turned at right angles and stuck into the center of the grill. Despite her concerns, Emily was impressed. She inspected the car, the windows that were already open, the doors and running board and radiator cap on top of the hood. She asked the professor what the strange bar was doing, sticking out from the front of the automobile.
    “That is a crank, Emily,” he answered. “You turn it clockwise until your hear a spurt and a putter. You’ve turned the motor on. Now I have to be very careful, because I am left-handed and quite often when the engine starts that crank comes flying off right at me. Right-handed people are standing to the left of the