Avon Murder Mystery Monthly No. 41 — page 149: what you’re looking at

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

A. MERRITT 151 The black talons of Yuruk stretched around his throat. — of unclean dogs!” he whined. “You dare blaspheme the God- dess!” | He snapped the soldier’s neck as though it had been a rotten twig. At the callous cruelty I stood for an instant petrified; I heard Drake swear wildly, saw his pistol flash up. Norhala struck down his arm. . “Your chance has passed,” she said, “and not for that shall you slay im. And now Yuruk had cast that body upon the others; the pile was complete. “Mount!” commanded Norhala, and pointed. He cast himself at her feet, writhing, moaning, imploring. She looked at one of the great Shapes; something of command passed from her, something it under- stood plainly. _ The'star slipped forward—there was an almost imperceptible move- ment of its side points. The twitching form of the black seemed to leap up from the floor, to throw itself like a bag upon the mound of the dead. -Norhala threw up her hands. Out of the violet ovals beneath the up- per tips of the Things spurted streams of blue flame. They fell upon Yuruk and splashed over him upon the heap of the slain. In the mound was a dreadful movement, a contortion; the bodies stiffened, seemed to try to rise, to push away—dead nerves and muscles responding to the blasting energy passing through them. Out from the stars rained bolt upon bolt. In the chamber was the sound of thunder, crackling like broken glass. The bodies flamed, crum- bled. There was a little smoke—nauseous, feebly protesting, beaten out by the consuming fires almost before it could rise. Where had been the heap of slain capped by the black eunuch there was but a little whirling cloud of sad gray dust. Caught by a passing draft, it. eddied, slipped over the floor, vanished through the doorway. Motionless stood the blasting stars, contemplating us. Motionless stood Norhala, her wrath,no whit abated by the ghastly sacrifice. And para- lyzed by what we had beheld, motionless stood we. “Listen,” she said. “You two who love the maid. What you have seen is- nothing to that which you shall see—a wisp of mist to the. storm cloud.” “Norhala”—I found spéech—‘“can you tell us when it was that the maid was captured?” | Perhaps there was still time to overtake the abductors before Ruth was thrust into the worse peril waiting where she was being carried. Crossed this thought another—puzzling, bafling. The clifis Yuruk had pointed out to me as those through which the hidden way passed were, GOGO .S (GO)