Adventure Magazine, April 10, 1924 — page 31: what you’re looking at

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

The Making of the Morning Star stalwart Kankali at his heels noticed his interest and enlightened him. "Tis but one word, O Cairene and that is— ~ 7 “* ‘Victory.’ ’ “How old is the word?” ‘Am I a prophet, that I should know? Some say it was carved so by the men of the hero Iskander in the elder days, when news came to him of the death of his foe the lord of Parthia.* But now leave your horse and climb, for these are the Gates.” Robert looked ahead and found that Wi!l was already scrambling up what seemed to be a solid wall of rock, in reality a mass of boulders, up which the Kankalis were swarming. Whether the rocks had been piled there or had fallen from above, Robert cared little.’ So steep was the ascent that he was forced to use hands and knees, and water trickled down on his shoulders as he pulled himself up to where a line of men were standing with torches. ‘This proved to be the crest of the natural rampart, and the knight saw that a score of bowmen placed here could hold back an army. The wind smote him full force and staggered him. A spearman reached out an arm and steadied him, thrusting him beside Will, facing the leader of the guards. ’ On the other side the boulders fell away to the dark surface of water, and Robert suspected that the stream flowing down the gorge had been penned back by the wall of rocks, forming a pool on the upper side. He was surprized to observe a number of women ranged beside the defenders of the pass—veiled women, variously garbed, but all slender and long-haired, unmistakably youthful. He noticed, too, that the Kan- kalis had passed on save for Inalzig, who stood beside the captain of the warders. Abdullah was not to be seen, although Will stared about hopefully. “Would I had a good yew staff at hand!” the archer sighed. “Aye, to make the sign of the cross, and so— Ha, look below!” Near the surface of the water they saw a white face surrounded by a mesh of dark hair, and—in the glow of the torches—the silk clad limbs of a woman moving gently with the currents of the pool. A moment more and she sank out of sight, but Will stared wide-eyed at the spot. “You are from Egypt?” a courteous voice questioned the knight. ‘And alone—yct * Darius. 29 sent by the lords of Cairo? Verily, riders are coming from the far ends of the earth to the Throne of Gold. A strange sword!’ The speaker was a handsome Moslem, - who made a respectful salaam and studied Robert with unwilling admiration. “‘T had it from an unbeliever—who died,” responded the knight quietly. “And from the lords who sent you, O ameer—have you a token or a written word?” “The word is—victory. The swords of the faithful have scattered the host of the Franks, and the day of the unbeliever in Jerusalem is at an end.’ “Mashaliah! So, too, will the Protector of the Faith, the King of the Age, of Time and the Tide, smite the other infidels who dared to mount for war upon the northern border. And your token, O captain of men?” Robert drew the chain of rubies from his girdle, and the chief of the guards glanced - Others craned their at the miniature roses at Inalzig curiously. heads to look threaded on gold. ‘“‘Where had you that?” demanded the Kankali, frowning. “From one who brooks no questioning of his messengers, and who has a whip for a churlish slave,” hazarded the knight, aware that this was a reasonably good charac- terisation of any Moslem noble. “Upon whom be peace,” assented the officer. ‘‘Well do I know the ruby chain that is a token given by the King of kings, the Shah of shahs, the favored of Allah, the sword arm of the faithful,, Alai ud- deen Mohammad, master of Khar. Aye, this token he gives to the amzis-al-jalis, the favorites, the cup companions of his hours of pleasure. He bowed profoundly. ‘And the ruby chain admits whoever bears it to the Gates, but no more than one. Yet it is passing strange, O favored of the Shah, that you, who have not passed this way going from Bokhara, should have the chain when you enter the inner country of Khar.” Robert glanced at the chain with some interest and returned it to his girdle. Then he turned suddenly on the Moslem. “O brother to a parrot, O pack-saddle of an ass = He had learned a fair flood of forcible insults during his captivity, and he called S| COMICLOOCkKS.CGO