Avon Murder Mystery Monthly No. 41 — page 159: what you’re looking at

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

A. MERRITT 161 “Little man whose words are so big! Fly who thunders! What are you called, little man?” Her raillery bit deep—but its menace passed unheeded in the rage it called forth. “fl am Kulun,” shouted the man in scarlet armor. “Kulun, the son of Cherkis the Mighty, and captain of his hosts. Kulun—who will cast your skin under my mares in stall for them to trample and thrust your red flayed body upon a pole in the grain fields to frighten away the crows! Does that answer your” | Her laughter ceased; her eyes dwelt upon him—filled with an infernal joy. “The son of Cherkis!” I heard her murmur. “He has a son—” There was a sneer on the cruel face; clearly he thought her awed. Quick was his disillusionment. “Listen, Kulun,” she cried. “I am Norhala—daughter of another Nor- hala and of Rustum, whom Cherkis tortured and slew. Now go, you lying spawn of unclean toads—go and tell your father that I, Norhala, am at his gates. And bring back with you the maid and the man. Go, T say!” | | CHAPTER XXV Cherkis. HERE was stark amazement on Kulun’s face; and fear now enough. He dropped from the parapet among his men. There came one loud trumpet blast. : Out from the battlements poured a storm of arrows, a cloud of iavelins. The squat catapults leaped forward. From them came a hail of boulders. Before that onrushing tempest of death I flinched. I heard Norhala’s golden laughter and before they could reach us arrow and javelin and boulder were checked as though myriads of hands reached out from the Thing under us and caught them. Down they dropped. - 3 ) | | Forth from the great spindle shot a gigantic arm, hammer tipped with cubes. It struck the wall close to where the scarlet armored Kulun had vanished. | Under ‘its blow the stones crumbled. With the fragments fell the soldiers; were buried beneath them. A hundred feet in width a breach gaped in the battlements. Out GOGO .S (GO)