ian delivers his message to saladin, after which saladin grants ian leave to search for barbara. during his search ian is attacked by bandits and knocked out. one of the bandits, ibrahim, ties him down with stakes in the hot sun and daubs him with honey, aiming to kill him via scaphism. barbara twice escapes from el akir's capture, hiding out in the emir's harem on the second occasion. el akir tries to find barbara, but she is hidden by a sympathetic harem girl, named maimuna.