Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 67: what you’re looking at

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

‘THE MAN WHO MASTERED TIME. could without arousing Bool, but we found no weapon of any kind. At last we were ready, I in my fur coat, Azeela in furs— shoes, trousers, and coat all one piece. She looked like a slender little Eskimo girl; and I smiled as she pulled up a fur hood that dangled at the back of her neck, and fitted it close about her face, tucking her hair up under it. I had been mistaken about head- gear. It just so happened that I had never seen any one of this time-world except when they had been bareheaded. “TI put on my own cap and we were ready. As we met in the main room, Koa nodded sourly for us to be gone. At that instant the dog, outside in the kennel, gave a long mournful howl. I don’t know why; I suppose it was just fate. Koa, waving us toward the doorway, hastened away to quiet the dog. ‘““ For a moment I hesitated. Should we start? Had the dog got loose? That mo- ment of hesitation was too long. Bool stood in the doorway, staring at our fur- covered figures. Astonishment, anger, rage swept over his face. His hand went to his belt; he jerked something loose. I heard Azeela give a sharp cry of warning. Bool’s hand held an object like a little crescent of glass, with a tiny wire connecting its horns. Sparks darted from the wire. ““T was about to leap forward when sud- -denly I was stricken. I can only describe it as paralysis. I stood stock-still; my arms dropped inert at my sides. I felt no pain; but I was rooted to the spot, without pow- er to lift my legs. Azeela beside me, was evidently within,the influence of the weapon also. She was standing rigid. Bool’s face held a leer of triumph. His left hand was fumbling at his belt for some other weapon. ft knew that in another moment he would have killed us. And still I could not move. I tell you, gentlemen, it was a ghastly feel- ing. There was a numbness creeping all over me. My hands were turning cold. My feet felt wooden. My legs were giving _ way under me, and in a few seconds more I think I should have fallen. “Tt all happened very quickly. Behind _ Bool, Koa had appeared. He did not hear her; and she darted forward and struck at his wrist. The little crescent of glass TOL dropped to the floor and was shattered. A wave of heat swept over me—the blood rushing again to my limbs. “Bool had turned furiously upon Koa, but my strength was coming back fast. IL jumped at them, caught Bool unprepared. My body struck his and we went down. He fell backward—I on top of him. His hand now held a metal cylinder; he was trying to get it up to my face. “ Azeela came darting across the room, threw herself upon us, and with her two hands twisted the weapon from Bool’s fin- gers. I did not know she had done it. [ was enraged. Bool was kicking, squirming, and his left hand had me by the forehead, pushing my head back to expose my face. I flung myself down on him, my forearm striking his head against the floor. His hold relaxed; he lay still. “When I got to my feet, Koa was stoop- ing over Bool. She seemed frightened at what she had done, although I knew well enough that the man had mistreated her constantly, and that she could bear him no great love. She waved us away—still with that same stolid grimness. “* Ask her if the dog is fast,’ I said. ‘Ask her, Azeela.’ “The woman nodded at me vehemently, and I gripped Azeela’s hand and we hurried out. It was just sunset. The sky was like blood; the snowy ground was all tinted with it. “We ran west, so fast that Azeela could hardly keep her feet. It seemed ten miles, but it wasn’t more than one or two. We slowed up and walked a little, then went back toa run. There was nothing but that unbroken expanse of snow, with the drop that was the river ahead of us. ‘““At last I could make out the break in the plateau surface that marked the gully. We were running, and were no more than fifty feet from it, when from behind us we heard the loud baying of the dog — that eager baying of a dog following a trail and close upon its quarry! I went cold all over. I knew what had happened. Bool had re- covered, and in spite of his daughter had let loose the dog upon us! & “T caught a glimpse of Azeela’s white, frightened face as I gripped her hand and CcomicboOokS. Com