Show IL X I 1 90 Z low men M sleep S I 1 aal aa E M au by JE REMY JEREMY LANE Cyri tbt lot kr tb a century co C CHAPTER IX continued 13 con lini haj not known where ills cours con rude rode WILS lodged ile he became suro sure if t the voice the three guards perhaps thirst or for somo some like reason holly valid with trios of men at aura ucro not holding their post of duty lot oi the lie was empty A talk willi ml hi andrew lasworth ans was worth a risk li IC was as in necessary nry it if they were to work together for escape they would treed a pulley policy to guide their remaining clayn in ili captivity anything was inetter than linn these brooding meditations alone tito tho fire in the ho young soung prisoners veltis veins focused to some purpose ile ho descended ed the he mairs but tit at the foot of 0 them discovered that they lind had braught jilin him no 09 nearer tile the voice in fact there were 1 other voices unpleasantly near lie went up again still and leaded over ills ilia wall to t learn liow how the monkey climbed up aal down so readily quito quite certain ly now lie heard lils friend talking the stars were it 11 cool faint light upon the walls which were rough liean ile ho could the lie lodge ledro of ft a winslow below linof wily to tile tho gromad lie knotted the silken cleths cloths from tile lo 10 0 the lie first room loom and fast cited one of tills soft rope to tile tho stone hench it t was not difficult to let litin gelf doam over tile lie rim alin of at wall kitsing tio file by pressing lila bla knees into the depressions of nin soury ills tova found the ledge ilo grimily hope limped that he hall heard aright that hut march was eally piear tito the window wits open tho the pin or stopped I 1 alic Pt illness of the whole enith earth seemed 1 14 to 01 originate just tit nt this window ledge ludw cheh a hand cincher cinched ailin and march whispered dont talk tito elder prisoner moved back into the lie darkness while con came in nt at the minnow suddenly there bornn began a scramble with stormy blows and it 11 rattle imrch was n nt at grips with ills kimaid having taken for hut I a levington to attempt escape con coil sensed tills lila mI but it was not a time for lie he stopped orMi fd uncertainly ills his linnas land feint in 06 1 gloom he leapt at the larger form I 1 a desert soldier whose arms anna whip whipped ped about like falling trees ing tor or battle in the gloom ho he leaped at the larger fortu form a desert soldier irnia whipped about like falling trees three throats strained for bu it was the warrior who smothered under a white mans hand no ho mt bit cons palm and that closed the arldt battle tor for it angered levington and pe he sent bent la in his freit free hand tho huge son tt rif tau xuan kunn collapsed the figure of ft a woman darted from ft 0 shadowy cornor she was moaning softly and her rde fluttered ns as sho she ran out c she will give an alarm said march your kurdish friend yes yei she hates tile nio as aa much ns as they ac flo do i because you refused i without further words tho two prisoners mounted tile the window ledge glanc glanco gl ancl Td back through the darkness nt at the motionless gatt guard ird it hulking silent figuro agero in dense shadow and dropped to tho cirth their fall ans considerable it rocked their legs but rain was overlook looked cd in haste they ran close under uie tile western wall of tho the pul aultice tice turning i 1 at the north end across the broad 1 lawn to tho the lone inne beyond which were i the of the lighters fighters all was i A dark they met no sentinel tho ilia des ert scarcely required watching they sped over the henvy heavy dust duat of the street anit gained tho the bagh arched gate A ind ler er was hooked booked hero here for an lilue tl tue bottle uses from the top odthe ot tho forliti cation they glanced down tit at no th tha 1 awn jorno and took it side by tilde side they ran following tile trull trall of the pack dainels behind them within the walls tile tho aged crier of the hours sent up ills olac voice full to trout rein bling with tile the news and arousing every soldier a bar of hollow brass clanged out into the sleeping Ble city we upped tipped over the bumble becs said con coa CHAPTER X gemmed gemmec eyes square patches of koresh lay iny on each side of the trail tito mines were perhaps perli tips it a mile or lossa less to eastward tind beyond that ridge an infinity of shifting dry naught tile the stars sent a pallor that wits was diffused in tile tho fog front the tha ditches at night these lowlands about tho the city were cool tile tho black vigue vague hill that was the palace was receding into the ile gloom us its tile tho two hastened on oil tho the net of distant cries wan wag spreading do you ion suppose hup suggested lev ington that we can keep keel under cover aind manage to get a cast beast of some kind and then hen sprint for the water hole con realized vor very well that the nearest yater holo hole was a matter of days once they left tho the zone of fertility food was yet to be considered and it city was rising to seek them thein out and punish hut but ho felt tile the need of cheering ills his friend wo we can get into tile lie vineyard 11 lie he continued with enthusiasm lie ho did not feel and find the fruit will serve for water too tind lay for a camel and you still havo tit the guidebook on your foot andrew march laughed miserably lie ile naw what ills friend was trying to do why not knock tit at tile gates sold march and nd demand water and provisions for our return trip well we blundered out hero here said lovington and half tho the planet was bucking us its atones for rain spinning ing dust instead of it breeze with a few robber grantson giants glant son on tho side so maybo maybe wo we can break away for homo again 1 I dont mean to bo be sarcastic sold said march very humbly 1 I understand you you nio are trying to make me ino feel happier but I 1 do not dodge tho the re I 1 was grossly selfish my work anil and till all my hopes led mo me hero her and I 1 wanted a partner to face tho the gobi some one strong nil and young who take himself seriously some ono one with tho ilia ability to lose logo decently it had to bo be nit an artist you were tile lie ono one I 1 found but I 1 did not want it to mean Rac sacrifice I 1 mado made myself believe wo we should not actually lose I 1 held certain dreams they were beautiful they batted baited you its as they batted baited tile mo long ago and always hut but I 1 am dono with dren dreaming ining tau tan kunn kuan Is death to all dreams except that yellow fantasy itself it Is so cold do you know kaw what I 1 mean the bond that guides it Is tho the archetype of inflexible purpose tito tho empire la Is not contained within tho the walls it spreads beyond tile the gobi into dory street yes and further it web of horror it does not spring from life tito only hist human stan being with in those walls has been slowly ond fully pol soAd site she can never know life you leavo been that march paused and irvington shivered they peered into tile darkness ahead ono one direction seemed as tin profitable us as another par fur to the rear tile the buso base of the palace showed red it in torch rel lection and the brazen gong censed censer its pulse of alarm march asked will you try to forgive tile me con spoke quietly you tire are forgetting somo something thIng you tire aro the difference between the past and future to me inc suppose I 1 had found my man that night away back in cincinnati s I 1 should have far thicker walls bothering me ino tonight and till all tile the rest lest of my nights why do you forget that you are the man who got me out of nil all that thail you wore it n federal of officer licer and ought to have jailed me instead I 1 owe every minute of 0 my freedora to you I 1 dont know now why I 1 wanted to shoot him up I 1 cant recoil recall ills name or ills his face but I 1 was out to get him and would have firstal finished wd strong only you came in front of 0 me and why I 1 never began to live until sifter after you took tile me homo home that night I 1 1 I used tu to stand on ibish street bridge in chicago and tt if I 1 wits was far enough gone I 1 could think I 1 was looking at tho alio thomas thames and the lights of at tho the shipping or rd id think I 1 was an Aril blan caliph nosing about my own city at only it needed a big thirst to shift tho the globo globe around that way and make n greek watter waiter look like the king of Asti amedo in disguise ive looked over toward brooklyn and told myrtlf I 1 was on the dun nt at shanghai but it bo be done that way I 1 yas was close to the rocks you seemed onto to know what I 1 wanted you opened tho world do you think I 1 would back up even it if I 1 could you did not balt wo me it wits was understood that I 1 shail probably dlo along tile the A vay ay in flie alio gobi its been a grand passage 0 boy returned the older elder most man and in the twilight their hands met and gripped tin an instant whatever turmoil was waa imaginable within the city the americans were too far awny away io to hoar henr it and tho the secrecy of the dark gave gae them a wall kind of lel leisure sure with also a n stimulation they continued rapidly beside tho the gray ditches not particularly heedful of direction lon they jumped over the intersecting arnis of irrigation and at moments caught the low gurgle of springwater it occurred to con that his borrowed pastern eastern garments were very cry practical the inn brond broad basil and twisted broc clies gave support as aa ho to cleared the ditches the alio sandals band als yera snug tind and curlious ly satisfactory no was not so sure that lie he was wholly a western person lie ile no longer marveled sit at ills blouse with its inner pockets and folds once lie he thought that tin an advance guard of tile tho pursuers had overtaken them they stopped short to listen but heard nothing march was li uneasy neasy con who felt that there was nothing further to bo be lost loat was almost indifferent ent lie ile could not think ills his way oy clear it was grimly unpleasant to remember what they had done to marahs guard but one crime moro more or less in the eyes of tau xuan kuan did not matter now there camo came the sense of some one behind them hem but there was no sound in the pale breath of tho the ditches con coil noted a low shape like a dog across the nearest ditel quickly a second joined it two figures hurtled out of the gloom and landed tit nt the white mails feet they were the hunched and aad deformed little men of the annd tills hills a dozen or more and they broke into talking their arms were like metal bands upon levington tito the gong lind had reached them and brought fivel up tip out of their warrens it seemed they were animated by curios ity abid a natural malice more than by the idea of reward struggle was unavailing those miners lind terrible arms despite bodies that were shrunken and grotesque barcli was mas speaking in native dialect irvington was homo borno off ills his feet lifted over tho the last ditch and then deftly stretched face downward upon ilia sand march was pleading tile hills bills were near con did not understand the appeal larch waa va 9 i aflak ing but wits was surprised tit at the force of it they rhey were listening like some blind evil turned aside for a moment march went on fervently fenon tty points of light were low toward the city the torches coming out it seemed that tit lie 0 gray haired mans argument had nn nit effect affect for levington was picked up tip ns as before and carried in the confusion lie saw that they were not going ID fit the direction of the city the bones of their shoulders hurt ills back ile iio was unable pliable to turn forty paces of tilts tills and they paused altkirch reben repented relented ted his phrases levington was allowed to stand upon ills his feet hut but ills hands were held then the group ran alth ith him up lip the till hill what did you sou say inquired con 1 I reminded them that they have hai no more lovo love for tile tho city than we e and that our enemy Is their enemy what mado made you think of alint they are slaves worse tills this was cut short as tile tho workers let go cons wrists and lio lie pitched feet first into perfect blackness tile the fall was wag giddy then it scramble down domi tin an incline of loose earth choking 1 with ith tile dust lie he could not guess to what depth lio lie was sliding Sot something nothIng cate down upon his head and this was waa andrew march you asked them to tako take us in yet yea it occurred to me that they do a not love loo their masters I 1 referred to that and promised everything thing I 1 could think of it 1 they would not turn us over to tho the horsemen the center of tho world gave forth a speck of light that was a torch the party parti that lind como come up tip tit at the summons of the distant gong was waa close about the white men again nt at the base of tho the which seemed endlessly largo large and other torches were ere coming nearer out of blai moss still it was waa not clear to con why the miners did not take them to tho the city tho the hovering figures in ili tho the cavern seemed halt half afraid half march was ans doing ills his ost best in bitt chinese lese the torches throw threw it serried glare on the rock walls of tho the underground passage it was low but very ery wide hide in it another chamber to which the prisoners were led the root roof was higher lil gher of ragged sandstone abd the floor had been swept hire was s the settlement of workers every one deformed below the shoulders out of the red lighted press of these come a 1 eguro but slightly more erect than ills follows fellows lie ile was waa dark ot of skin but his eyes PI es were full fall and did not slant or pinch itin ills bored bared thront throat was significant leant of strength and poise from no menu mears but his knees locked and jointed pitifully as from some solite calamitous accident friend ho he said in n low voice olce it was music to hear the ward w ord tito th miners were waving torches of oc over 01 cr their large heads tito the length and of their arms wits ape ike ie they looked to be a race ot of asiatic changelings chang elings their hair colled into little cops caps one or two showing bowing li queues and all with the ho peculiar mal formation of spine H every very ye eye gleamed upon levinston Levi neton 17 Tr tend replica USO am they come for you said the dark skinned person who stood before the th crowd down hero here yes all where llado us give us protection friend yes you say you befriend us tito the turned to If march who answered yes we vo will it if you pro hect us now wo como come from tile most powerful country in the world heir us return to it no nol said the dark faced man 1 11 I beg of you I 1 urged march gobi too big too big talk of that later hut but tilde hide n u awny away now 11 they see your footprints and asti ask us what say that we were killed and thrown in the lie ditches ditche 9 1 yes said tile tho speaker of rn english glish ile ho turned to confer with several others in a rapid monotone con said to ills his friend what la Is he be looks arabian Ara binn replied march the speaker lind and hoard the word and ho he turned sharply with a smile parting ills his lips from the waist up lie ho was a handsome man of forty yes arab lie he said bald fifteen big I 1 was at sea I 1 know your country country saint lawrence buffalo P niagara St agara rails falls offered lovington ali ah yes besl I 1 exclaimed tho the sailor bailor from araby ile ho smiled more broadly ut at tile tho recollection twenty year yes twenty that does docs she fall continue yes yea replied con joining in tile the smile ilow how did you come here caravan the sea weary me fifteen teen years more now caravan from 0 P friend in a low voice Dja |