Adventure Magazine Cover — page 140: what you’re looking at

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

133 | disguised—Chullunder Ghose to talk for him—Jeremy to be dumb faker—do tricks— Take the coins of course—Display them— By their means attract attention of these rascals = “Attention of the rascals—excellent!”’ Ghandava commented. “The others,” Cyprian continued, ““Rams- den, King, Grim, Ali of Sikunderam and all his sons—go to Benares, too—disguised 2s Hindus, naturally. Watch. When Jere- my attracts attention of the enemy, they watch—they watch. You understand me? Very well then. That was the plan: To watch, and then track down the enemy.”’ “T will help you to watch and track down the enemy,’ Ghandava said, as a man might who is promising to vote the party ticket. He was firm, and enthusiastic. Every one in the room believed him, even Cyprian. But to believe is not perforce to consent. “You understand? For my part, I have made no promises,” said Cyprian. “T have asked none,” said Ghandava. “What I have to give, I give. When do you propose to start? How will you travel? Where will you stay when you reach Benares? I will do this for you,” he said, unfolding his arms and sitting forward. When he opened his mouth suddenly in that way the outlines of his jaw and chin showed distinctly through the gray beard and altered his whole appearance. He seemed to age enormously—to be as old as Cyprian—to know, from having suf- fered it, the whole of earth’s iniquity— and yet to have retained (perhaps, though, to have gained) a knowledge and assurance beyond human means of measuring. When he moved his mouth again, enumerating what he would do, the look of old-age vanished and he was almost on apparent footing with Ramsden and Narayan Singh. “T will do these things for you; I will arrange for your protection——” Cyprian snorted, as if he had taken snuff. “How?” he demanded. ‘‘How?” But Ghandava waved aside the inter- ruption. “T will give you permission to say you represent the Nine Unknown. That will lend authority to Mr. Jeremy’s claims to be a wizard!”’ “We might say we represented the Nine Adventure Unknown without any one’s permission!” Cyprian objected acidly. “You might. But without permission it would be very dangerous,’ Ghandava as- sured him; and again there was none in the room, not even Cyprian, who doubted. Chullunder Ghose shivered and gasped like a fish out of water, and Narayan Singh, squatting on the floor, leaned forward that his eyes might look closer into Ghandava’s. Not that Ghandava minded any of those demonstrations. He seemed oblivious to praise as well as criticism of himself. “T will provide you with means of travel- ling to Benares,” he went on. “Oh for the wings of the spirit! Give us but a blessing, great Mahatma, and we shall be in Benares in a minute! Put power on us! Ouch!” King returned the window-pole to its place at rest beside him, and Ghandava continued, ignoring the babu’s rhapsody: “T will provide quarters for you in Be- nares. And a man shall guide you into secret places.” “What in return for all this?’ Jeff de- manded. “Nothing in return. I. am _ proposing to help you in tracking down your enemy,” Ghandava answered. “Protection? You spoke of protection,” said Cyprian. ‘How do you propose to do that? Black art?” Ghandava smiled back at him. “The enemy will use black art,” he answered. ‘““The enemy will destroy itself, At intervals it does. The hue and cry ac- cumulates, and grows so great at last that the Nine protect themselves by letting ever such a little knowledge pass out into the hands of the enemy. They try to use it, and they die. There was Sennacherib— you have heard of him and his army of Assyrians? I could cite you fifty instances from history, and for every one such there are a thousand that men never heard of.” “Then you mean, your Nine masters preserve their precious secrets merely for their own protection?’ Cyprian demanded. Mention of Sennacherib’s army and other Old Testament victims of imponder- able forces roused him like a watch-dog guarding against trespassers. That was his held. ‘No, but they protect the secrets, and the secrets them,” Ghandava answered. “I will show you why. If one of you will ECOMMICLOO® S r COLWL