Argosy, Vol. 123, No. 2 — page 55: what you’re looking at

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

THE MASTER OF MAGIC. him to picture to himself his own grief were his betrothal torn from him by vio- lence to be the unwilling bride of another, and though Ku-sen shook from head to foot and ground his teeth with rage at the thought, yet was his fear too great, his awe of the chieftain too deep for him to yield. At length Tah-né desisted and lay down to rest, turning over and over in her mind plan after plan, rejecting all, and at length falling asleep, her last memory the glowing fire illuminating with its ruddy glare the huge bulk of Ku-sen as he sat watching. When she woke Ku-sen was gone; it was morning, and the other guard had taken his place. Tah-né knew well it would be useless to try persuasion on this man; brutal, ignorant, of low intelligence, his chief characteristics were his doglike devotion to Tsu-ven and his hatred or Nan-a-ta—consequently, of her. Indeed, he had taunted her with her po- sition and with the outlawry of her lover till Tah-né had been*forced to keep silence lest she anger him beyond endurance; death was naught to her—in very truth, more welcome would it be than the arms of Tsu-ven—yet it lay ever in her mind that she might perchance aid Nan-a-ta. ' Therefore she spoke naught during the day, eating in silence and giving all her mind to working out a plan for escape. At length she hit on one; a device to mislead Ku-sen for the few moments necessary for her flight, and, all details perfected, she waited when the guard should be changed. The plan was a good one. The cave where Tah-né was held lay some distance down-stream beyond the other caves of the Ta-an; none of the tribesmen would be within call, and it was in the girl’s mind to feign illness, daubing her face with ashes from the fire mixed with water from her drinking-jar to give a haggard look, then crying to Ku-sen for aid, and by force of acting convincing him that she was dying. Then, while he sought some woman of the tribe, would Tah-né flee from the cave, making her way down the river, seeking Nan-a-ta. A perilous search, in truth, for the forests swarmed with savage beasts, ‘and Tah-né knew well that she would be followed. 189 Weaponless, dangers would beset her on every side, yet to these she gave no thought. Trained in wood-craft beyond any other of the women of the tribe, beloved pupil of Sar-no-m’rai and Kan-to, the most skilful hunters of the Ta-an, -taught also by the Lord of the Winged Death, she felt confi- dent that she could elude pursuit and wild beasts till she could overtake her lover. But as it chanced she had no need to practise the deceit she had planned. When Ku-sen came, in the evening, she sat by him talking for some time. It was good, she said, to have near her one with whom she could converse; the other guard was a savage, a wild beast. Ku-sen, flattered, allowed her to remain by the fire, she saying that the chill of autumn had bitten deep into her bones— her real reason, of course, to seek a chance at the ashes she desired. Chatting, Tah-né remarked that it was no slight matter for Ku-sen to walk to her prison-cave after dusk had fallen, when the hunting beasts and the devils of the night were abroad. “Nay,” replied Ku-sen, “by the river come I, in a cave that swims on the water.” And Tah-né bent her head to. hide the gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. A canoe! This was better than she had hoped. So, for a time, they talked pleasantly enough, Ku-sen laying aside his weapons for greater ease, and presenting to Tah-né a choice tidbit from a wild sheep he had . that day killed. This they roasted over the fire, sharing it. Outside lay the black- ness of night, little patch of deep-blue sky, thick sown with stars, showing through the mouth of the cave. The air was crisp and cool, and from time to time leaves, blown from the trees, drifted into the cave, swirl- ing and twisting till they came to rest on the hard stone floor. So passed the evening, and the middle hour of the night drew near. Tah-né, a handful of ashes tight clasped, rose to retire to her couch of ‘skins when, chancing to cast a look toward the cave-mouth, she Stopped suddenly, her gaze fixed by a Strange glow in the sky. The cave, unlike most of the caves of the Ta-an, fronted almost due north—indeed, the one fixed star, the guiding light of the night, the COnmiclboo S C@