A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, February 1950 — page 50: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A. MERRITT’S FANTASY CHAPTER 14 Justice of the Goddess S YOU can see, it was not only the voice that appealed to me, but it was the words that it spoke. I took a half step forward, and the hooks of two halberds axes appeared in front of me, ready to jerk me back if I made a jump for the priestess. “This is all so strange to me,” I said, “that I don’t know where to begin, except with the truth, and if I tell the truth, it will sound so strange that I-don’t think you can believe me. But it appears that I am here in danger of my life. Is that true?” “This is a strange manner of speech,” said she, “‘but it is spoken by a stranger. The singular pronoun becomes the plural on his lips, and that is odd. But it is true that thou art in danger of thy life. How else should it be, seeing that thou hast defiled the herd of the goddess, the name- less name ?”’ “T understood that at second-hand be- fore,” said I, “but I’m glad to hear it with authority. And furthermore, [ un- derstand that if I die, I’m to be burned.”’ “So it is ordained,” said the girl. Then she said, ‘Come nearer, that the fire may strike against thy face.”’ I stepped right up where the light of the fire could shine well on me and let her have a look. Then she said: “Do the people of thy country resemble thee, stranger?” “I pass with the crowd,” I answered. “There are some like me.” “That is strange, also,”’ said she, “and even as strange as thy speech, which alters the good English somewhat. But let all be, and proceed with thy defense, however strange.” She was 4s lovely as carved crystal, as purely beautiful, as lucent—and as cold. Then I took a breath, and hope leaped out of me through the soles of my slippers. I began at the beginning, and the tale took me two hours. For two mortal hours I talked and talked and talked. I started right at the start, so to speak, and I painted my friendship with Darrell, and told of my cow-punching days, and the days I had spent like'a fool chipping rock with a prospector’s hammer and trying to find wealth, and going on to the ranch, and then the dude-ranching. And so I came to the night at the laboratory, and after that, I built up a pretty good yarn, I think, elaborating on the work that I had done along the trail to the north. I kept right on with every important detail, and some that were not so important, either, and finally I got down to Scanderov, and my departure for the Ice Pole, and I put in my landing, and my walk inland with Murder, and the reaching of the cattle, and the bullet I had put through one of them, and the fact that I had never even heard of the goddess, whom I was entirely prepared to respect from the bottom of my soul. I had de- cided not to go on with that fool yarn about having been given a sign from the goddess herself. When I had finished, she looked at me for a while, and then she asked to see the things that had been brought with me. They brought tn my clothes, my re- volver, my rifle, my cuirass and my knife. She looked them over, one by one. She asked to see what the revolver was use- ful for. The Colt was handed to me. I can’t tell you what it meant to have an old friend like that back once more in my hand. I looked around, feeling half grim and half relieved. And I wondered why I should not shoot down the pair of hal- berdiers and take my chance with the rest ; for the others had been on their knees for all those two hours, and they were wavering back and forth—their bones would ache for the next month, at least. They would be no more capable of run- ning after me than one-legged men. But I realized that the way was long, and full of labyrinthine windings before I could get out of the cave. And more than that, I trusted that giri, the priestess, in spite of the coldness of her expression. At least, she had listened, still as a stone. Then I asked for the captain’s hat. It was brought, a beautiful black hat, soft as silk, with a white plume curling down the side of it, a plume that was not one feather, but seemed to have been built up of many bits afi down of the softest breast feathers, =. bas:! COMic aoa <S) (©