Adventure Magazine Cover — page 120: what you’re looking at

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

= Se we on = A <at> aa Pe nae" seas SS. << a Se 53 ‘ Pn a < = ar. 3 pe chance that recognizing in him the exalted of Allah to whom their loyalty was due, they would rally to him. He even thought it might be probable. Yet the stake he put oo upon the board was too vast. The game appalled him, whom nothing yet had ap- palled, and it scarce needed a muttered caution from Biskaine to determine him to hold his hand. He looked at Sakr-el-Bahr again, his glance now sullen. — “T will consider thy words,’’ he announced in a. voice that was unsteady. “T would not be unjust not steer My course by ap- penne alone. Allah forbid!” CHAPTER XXV SHEIK MAT | ENDER the inquisitive gaping stare of - him. all about them stood° Rosamund and Sakr-el-Bahr regarding each other in silence for a little spell after the Basha’s departure. The very galley-slaves, stirred from their habitual lethargy by happenings-so curious and unusual, craned their sinewy necks to peer at them with a flicker“of interest in their dull, weary eyes. Sakr-el-Bahr’s feelings as he considered s oe Rosamund’s white face in the fading light were most oddly conflicting. Dismay at what had befallen and some anxious dread of what must follow were leavened by a certain measure of relief. He realized that in no case could her con- cealment have continued long. Eleven mortal hours had she spent in the cramped - and almost suffocating space of that pannier, in-which he had intended to do no more than carry her aboard. The uneasiness which had been occasioned him by the impos- _ sibility to deliver her from that close con- finement when Asad had. announced his resolve to accompany them upon that voyage, had steadily been increasing as hour succeeded hour, and still he found no way to release her from -a situation in which sooner or later, when the limits of her endurance were reached, her presence must be betrayed. _ This velease which i oon not have contrived had been contrived for him by the suspicions and malice of Marzak. That was the one grain of consolation in the “present peril—to himself, who mattered nothing and to her who mattered all. Ad- » sé Se in Ogee — ee e ies : r a et ae es rf eo. es ton tm Pe pay rs z oe te: et ae ae Adventure’ EF Boom << -_ > versity had taught him to. prize benefits however slight and to confront perils: how- ever overwhelming. So he hugged the pres- ent slender benefit, and resolutely braced himself to deal with the situation as he found it, taking the fullest advantage of the hesitancy which his words had sown in the heart of the Basha. He hugged, too, the thought that as things had fallen out, from being oppressor and oppressed, Rosamund and he were be-. come fellows in misfortune, sharing now, a common peril. He found it a sweet thought to dwellon. Therefore was it that he faintly smiled as he looked into Rosamund’s white, strained face. That smile evoked from her the question that had been burdening her mind. “What now? . What now?” she asked huskily, and held out appealing hands to ‘Now,’ said he coolly, “‘let us be thankful that you are delivered from quarters de- structive both.to comfort and to’ dignity. Let me lead you to those. I had prepared for you, which you would have occupied long since but for the. ill-timed coming of Asad. Come.” And he waved an inviting hand toward the gangway leading to the poop. She shrank back at that, for there on the poop sat Asad under his awning with Mar- zak, Biskaine, and his other mae: in attendance. | ep ame,” to fear so that you keep a bold countenance. For. the moment it is Sheik Mat—check to the king.” “Naught to fear?” she echoed staring. “For the moment, naught,”’ he answered firmly. “Against what, the future may hold, we must determine. Be sure that fear will not assist our judgment.”’ She stiffened as if he had charged her unjustly. “TY do not fear,” she assured him, and if her face continued white, her eyes grew steady, her voice was resolute. “Then come,’ he repeated, and she obeyed him instantly now as if to prove the absence of all fear. Side by side they passed up the gangway and mounted the steps of the companion to the poop, their approach watched by the group that was in possession of it with glances at once of astonishment and resentment. : COME IOOKk he repeated, ete: is naught ~ Ol