Adventure Magazine Cover — page 45: what you’re looking at

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

The King and when we have done the work and they want to booty let them be made aware that animals must eat! We will set our own price on that document.’ ‘“ “And as for this Yussuf Dakmar,’ said another man, ‘let him take a back seat un- Jess he is willing to share and share alike with us. He is not difficult to kill! ‘“‘And at that, sab, Yussuf Dakmar flew into a great rage and called them fools of complicated kinds. “Like hounds without a huntsman, ye will overrun the scent!’ said he; and he spoke more like a man than any of them, although not as a man to be liked or trusted. ‘Who are ye to clap your fat noses on the scent I found and tell me the how and whither of it? It may be that I can get that letter tonight. Surely I can get it between - this place and Damascus; and no other can do that, for I, and I only, know where it is. Nor will I tell? And they answered all together, ‘We will make you tell!’ “But he said, ‘All that ye five fools can do is to interfere. Easy to kill me, is it? Well; perhaps. It has been tried. But, if so then though ye are jackals, kites. and vultures all in one with the skill of ¢hemists added, ye can never extract secret knowl- edge from a dead man’s brain. Then that letter will reach Feisul tomorrow night; and the French, who speak of you now as of animals, will call you what? Princes? Noblemen?’ “T suppose they saw the point of that, sahib, for they changed their tone without, however, becoming friendly to Yussuf~ Dakimar. Thieves of that sort know one another, and trust none, and it is all a lie, sahib, about there being any honor among them. Fear is the only tie that binds thieves and they proceeded to make Yussuf Dakmar afraid. “There seems to be one among them, sahid, who is leader. He has a thin voice like a eunuch’s, and unlike the others swears seldom. “This father of a thin voice accepted the situation. He said: ‘Well and good. Let Yussuf Dakmar do the hunting for us. It is sufficient that we hunt Yussuf Dakmar. Two of us occupy the room next to Ramsden’s. If Yussuf Dakmar needs aid in the night, let him summon us by scratching with his nails on the closet door. The rest will be simple. There are four in this besides us five; so if in Check 39 we count Yussuf Dakmar that makes ten who share the reward. Shall Yussuf Dakmar grow fat, while nine of us starve? I think not! Let him get the letter, and give it to me. We will hide it, and I will deal with the French. If he fails tonight, let him try again tomorrow on the train. But we five will also take that train to Damascus, and unless that letter is in my hands before the journey’s end, then Yussuf Dakmar dies! Is that agreed?’ ‘All except Yussuf Dakmar agreed to it. He was very angry and called them leeches, whereat they laughed, saying that leeches only suck enough and then fall off, whereas they would take all or kill, They made him - understand it, taking a great oath together to slay him without mercy unless he should get the letter and give it to them before the train reaches Damascus tomorrow evening. “Well, sahib; he agreed presently, not with any effort at good grace, but cursing while he yielded. “In truth, sahid, it is less fear than lack of sleep that YVussuf Dakmar feels. I could hear him yawn through the window lattice. Now a man in that condition is likely to act early in the night for fear that sleep may otherwise get the better of him, and the sald wiil do well to be keenly alert from the first. I shall be asleep on that couch out- side the door and will come if cailed, so the sahib would better not lock the door but should call loud in case of need, because I also have been long awake and may sleep heavily.” 2 “Suppose I walk the streets all night?” said I. “Wouldn’t that foil them?” “Nay, said, but the reverse; for if Yussuf Dakmar should miss you after midnight he would go in search of you, with those five in turn tracking him. And as for finding you, that would be a simple matter for every night-thief and beggar waiting for the dawn would give attention to such a big man as you and would report your movements. All six would come on you in the dark and would kill you surely. Then, as if that were not bad enough, having searched you they would learn that the let- ter in your possession is not the right one; and the trail of the right one would be that much easier to detect.” “Then come with me,” said I, “‘and we'll make a night of it together. You and I can cefend ourselves against those six.” “Doubtless, said. But my place is within MICLOOOKS (C©@