Argosy All-Story Weekly — "The Purple Limited" — page 82: what you’re looking at

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

648 Instantly the hunter swung to the left to intercept his prey, and soon he saw the reason for the change. Directly across the trail Tu-sen had taken there yawned a vast’ crevasse, ten spears’ length from lip to lip —far too wide to leap—and Tu-sen sought for a bridge of snow on which to pass, even as he had passed other and smaller open- ings in the ice. But Ku-ro miscalculated and failed to cut in front of Tu-sen, though the change had brought him within fifty paces of the latter, and glancing forward he could see Tu-sen’s face, turned backward over his shoulder—pictured on it, hatred, despair, utter terror. “More like hunted beast than man,”’ thought Ku-ro, noting the blackened lips drawn back in a snarl from the white teeth, noting also the raw and bleeding cheeks, | - black from frost-bite, and the eyes, deep- sunk in the head, yet blazing with the flame of madness. And he chuckled to himself as he thought of his dagger driving between those gaunt ribs. He flung his lagging forces into a des- perate effort to close, but Tu-sen called up another ounce of strength, and held his distance, and now the long-sought bridge of snow was at hand. Broad and smooth it stretched from edge to edge of the chasm, and with a beastlike cry, half snarl, half gasp, Tu-sen turned to cross, mounting with bitter struggle the slight crown of the Coming up, Ku-ro swung in on the bloody trail to follow, though his head swam at the thought of what lay below— darkness and depth and death! Shudder- ing, he drew back from the crossing and looked about, then gathered himself to- gether and started once more—drew back again and looked around. It was late afternoon, and heavy gray clouds covered the sky, precursors of a storm. All about stretched the merciless ice, broken by hummocks and ridges—far off, the mountains reared peak after peak white against the gloomy sky, far as the eye could see. In all that vast expanse no living thing was to be seen save only the two men, hurried and driven by fear and hate—the fugitive and the avenger. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. Ku-ro shuddered at the relentless desert, and the feeling came over him that he, too, would die here—but first he must slay Tu- sen! He looked and saw that the gap be- tween him and his prey had widened— with a snarl he flung himself forward to pursue—but halted, just in time. From the bridge there came a strange groaning sound—a quiver—a creak—an agonized scream—and Ku-ro saw, like. some strange picture, that the bridge was slowly changing its form. Instead of lying flat from brink to brink, it now sagged in the middle, and Tu-sen, clawing frantical- ly, strove in vain to climb the slope that lay before him. Wondering, Ku-ro drew back, eyes wide, and as he did there came a rending, tearing sound, the span sagged still further—Tu- sen slipped back — and with a snapping, crackling noise the hard snow gave—the bridge caved in and fell. Ku-ro heard one awful, despairing scream—had an instant’s glimpse of a dark form spinning. downward, arms-and legs awhirl— tons and tons of ice and snow hurtled into the crevasse—and before him yawned the empty air! Long after there ‘echoed faintly from that vast abyss a muf- fled, deep-toned, thunderous roar—and si- — lence settled over all, the utter silence of the mighty peaks, the silence of desola- tion, of the desert of ice and snow. Ku-ro.sank fainting on the very edge of the crevasse. CHAPTER III. THE MIRACLE. HEN Ku-ro-came to himself he found that he lay on the very mar- gin of the frightful abyss into which Tu-sen had been hurled. At first his recollections were blurred and _ indis- tinct; he could not recognize where he was, nor could he remember how he came there or what had passed. Gradually, however, his mind cleared - and he recalled what had gone before. Head on one side, he lay prone and listened over the lip of the crevasse, but no sound drifted up from those awful depths; he comicloookks CO