Adventure Magazine, April 10, 1924 — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

26 Adventure out for Will, who took it with misgivings, saying that it might do'to use from a horse’s back but was no thing to tickle the fancy of a Northumberland lad. He selected his ar- rows with care, choosing the longest he could find.*« Thus equipped he outdid the best of the Kankalis, who withdrew from the contest with as much dignity as they could muster, explaining loudly that the Frank was surely djinn-infested. Indeed Will was strutting about with a lop-sided grin, for he had more than his share of vanity. Inalzig had fal- Jen into a rage and nursed his wine-cup sul- lenly until Abdullah, who had followed the archery with mild interest, arose and de- clared that he had come from a country where men used bows otherwise. “Then put the fool to shame, O minstrel,” grunted the chief. “Nay,” responded the minstrel, “I lack his skill, yet have I learned a trick that your men know not.” Taking a small turban cloth, he walked to the nearest tree. Rolling the cotton strip tightly, he wrapped it around the bole of the tree so that a strip some {wo fingers in breadth showed white against the dark trunk. Then, calling for a saddled pony, he chose a short powerful bow and a quiver with six arrows. Mounting and riding off, he wheeled the pony some two hundred paces from his mark and set it to a gallop. One after the other he loosed three shafts rapidly as he rode, gripping the ends of the arrows between thumb and forefinger. Abreast the tree Abdullah swiftly un- strung the bow and used the flying cord on his pony as a whip. Then, stringing it taut again, he emptied his quiver as he drew away from the mark. It was no easy feat to loose the shafts over the pony’s rump, and the Kankalis raised a shout of gratifica- tion when it was seen that all but one of Abdullah’s arrows had struck the bole of the tree, and three were within the cotton band. “Such nimble finger work is not our way,” remarked Will, studying the hits made by the minstrel, “for we pull a long bow and draw each shait to the head. Yet no man can say Will Bunsley gave ground to him in honest yeoman sport.” The warriors crowded closer when they saw that the Frank would attempt to equal the minstrel’s feat. They had been weaned from boyhood with bows in their hands, but like Abdullah were accustomed to shoot from the saddle. Will signed for the bow Abdullah used to be brought him, and again selected a half- dozen arrows. Instead of standing, he knelt this time about a hundred yards from the trees and stuck the heads of the arrows lightly in the sand in a half-circle under his right hand. After testing the pull of the new bow, he thumbed the silk string and fitted an arrow, holding it in place between his first and second fingers which gripped the string. He let it fly and caught up an- other deftly. His long arms worked smooth- Jy, and he set his jaw stubbornly. It seemed to Robert that two arrows were in the air at once as his eye followed the first to the mark before looking for the sec- ond. When the last shaft was sped he shouted approval. Although Will had not tried his skill from a saddle, he had bet- tered Abdullah’s hits. All the arrows were in the tree and four in the white band. “Good!” grunted Inalzig. ‘The fool may live if he can; and it will be your turn, O - ameer, to think of a trick when we stand at the Gates.” CHAPTER VI THE WORD ON THE ROCKS OBERT frequently pondered the warn- ing of the khan as they made their way at a rapid pace through the wooded uplands that lay beyond the river. And he had other things to think about. To Wiill’s chagrin there was no sign of the maid or the priest in the raiding-party; nor would Abdullah give them any word of the fate of the captives. The minstrel fell into a moody silence, broken only by his harsh songs sometimes at evening when they lay at ease in the tent openings and listened to the gambling and gossip of the Kankalis. Abdullah became impatient at any de- lay—though these were few, because each day brought Inalzig fresh tidings of im- pending warfare and the chief was anxious to reach his destination, Bokhara, as quickly as possible. “The maid and the monk live yet,” he assured Robert, ‘and it may fortune that you will see them again. But who can foretc!! what the turn in the road will bring? COMICLOOCkKKS. GO