Adventure Magazine Cover, August 18, 1921 — page 19: what you’re looking at

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

Murkwood Spears adjoining, Sir Richard stepped softly into the room. He was enveloped in a great cloak, for he felt the chill of dawn and had spent the night in prayer before the symbol of the Lord’s Passion. Man he feared not, _ but God he feared terribly. Yawning, he set down the candle and sank into the one comfortable chair. The steady beat outside grew louder, sharper, and turned up the stone ramp. It was a ringing drum of hoofs, the sound of a heavy horse galloping up the slope. Sir Richard crossed himself and com- posed his hands in his lap, as if waiting for some one who must see no signs of agita- tion. The darkness was gone; a faint warmth pervaded the air; a single early sunbeam struck through an arrow-slit full on the Rotten Reiver’s face. It was a calm face now, stately, sure of itself. A low knock beat on his door. rising, he called softly— “Enter, and be swift!” The door swung open on noiseless hinges. A burly red-haired man in a stained mail hauberk entered, steel cap in hand. His bestial face, seared with brutality, wore an air of furtive triumph. “Ts it done, Odo?” Sir Richard’s voice was gentle as a woman’s. The fellow nodded. “Done, and well done,” he answered. “Vou are certain?” The man-at-arms held out, butt first, a heavy javelin, cut down from a lance. Its point was red with blood that had dripped and clotted halfway down the shaft. “TI drove it through mail and bone,’ he boasted, “and passed my knife through his throat to make sure. He will give you no more trouble.” “And then?” “As you bade me, I rode to the forest as fast as horse would carry me, roused the foresters and told them I had found the corpse on Gislac’s land. They will be here with the body within two hours. I went not back with them, but came straight to TOU.” : Sir Richard rose. “You have done well,” he said with a strangely dragging voice. “Where did you wait while he stayed with Gislac?” “In the field back of High Tower with Arlotta. She warned me when to start for my ambush. She knows his hours well.” Without 13 “Good! Take this purse; it holds twenty marks, Leave your weapon here, lest it be seen. Send me Blaise.” As Odo’s steps died away down the cor- ridor, Sir Richard stood looking out upon the soft morning. “It is a pity,” he mused. “TI think I could trust the man, but—the clack of one heedless tongue might cost me my earldom.” With the freedom of a confidential serv- ant, Blaise entered. The Rotten Reiver beckoned the black-browed giant closer, grasped his shoulder and whispered in his ear. Blaise grinned. “T never loved the hound,” he said contemptuously. “That is well. to drinking.” Blaise tiptoed out. For perhaps a quarter of an hour Sir Richard sat alone in his chamber. He was startled suddenly by a shout from the wall, a shout shrill with alarm. Mail-clad feet rang in the corridors; a heavy fist thundered at the door. Sir Richard sprang to his feet, his well- controlled face simulating angry astonish- ment. “‘What is it, ye dogs, that ye bay at my door?” he demanded. A soldier stumbled in, gasping with excitement. “Tf it please my lord, Odo the groom has fallen from the wall and lies broken on the rock.”’ The knight’s jaw dropped. “Is he dead?” he asked soberly. “Dead as carrion.” “‘Take his body to the armory and bid Father Ambrose say masses for his soul. I will pay for a trental. He was a faithful man.” The man-at-arms sped away on his er- rand. Left to himself, the Rotten Reiver threw back his bearded chin and laughed silently. Be swift, before he gets CHAPTER IV LOADED DICE QP sentry posted at the northeast angle of High Tower shifted his weight from one foot to the other, yawned pro- digiously and leaned against the cool stone merlon. He was weary, for his relief was near due. Yet, weary as he was, his eyes kept a sharp watch of the dark plain below, comicloooks C©