| Show yellow c W men meirl slee I 1 19 by JEREMY LANE ba ne C amyy WHAT A WORLD synopsis cornelius Cornel lu nevington wellborn well born an orphan comes to manhood through the th devious ways ot of the underworld he Is saved for or a better life by andrew march the strange adventures of yellow tellow men sleep begin when con takes by force a small leather sack from chee chec ming mine the chinese cook of an acquaintance eq this sac sack k contains ft chinese map of tile the gobi desert which la is precious beyond price to andrew march eighteen years before armed men in the gobi had taken marahs wife and infant daughter from roni him now ile he sends con in search of them on the voyage con finds chee ming mine a fellow passenger con is shot by a poisoned dart and while he Is in the consequent stupor his map is stolen on the river boat to peking be again sees chee ming and realizes they are seeking the same destination ti con leeps keeps faith with andrew starch march and starts on his mission westward with a caravan atter after weeks of difficult travel he be reaches tile the little settlement of shan sung and reads instructions from andrew march to the effect that cn has been made a federal agent to search out chee mins ming who has brought quantities of koresh horesh a deadly drug to san ar francisco in at shan sung con is unexpectedly joined by match march the two americans press for forward vard into the desert armed horsemen swoop down on then them rob them of everything and leave thorn tham to dle die in the desert v t CHAPTER VI 8 trespass tills this shred of a chance chanc half humorous was deep set lu in singer anger and loss sand was a rasp to their bodies and the slashed clothing gave scant protection already in ili imagination con y was as in need of a drink the thought of brandy was a horror now and the idea of clear cool water like a knife in the throat andrew march sat d down nn and studied the bottom of his foot how much do 10 you think con inquired in miles oil not so very far it if we only find ove ore camel yos yes one with milk in her dont talk ILL that said the elder man sharply the subject of 0 drinkables drin kables ft as thus dismissed by the lie veteran and con bowed ills his lead in acknowledgment late in the day the sandstorm sand storm passed and the air cleared alicy vent up annl along the vanes of sand fresh drifted out of f the gully to gaze at large upon upon their world a prison as vast as the horizon circle the white race could wander in here flere aud and get lot loft said andrew lets not talk about ettan getting ft ett ln lost elther either said levington it was the elder mans turn to nod agreement I 1 the country was nas fantastic sn in formation and color reddish hills running in rovis rotis ahead like the spine of a world ro monster onster showing through at intervals were cuts showing the deeper layers of rocky blue and blood color not kot so much as a lead dead twig anywhere or a bird the skyline was notched with tilted rocks levington levin ton could not help wondering how soon he would wither and dry up to bleach beside some bome colorful boulder pain was gripping him it was neither grief nor illness but the current ot of life deeper than many are tailed called to feel lie ile met it silently with a fortitude that perhaps his mother end and father before him helped to into inte grate death had bad small part in this tit it was a matter ot of life help rue me to keep sane he said to starch march that Is sold said ills friend but you are not IF any don danger or I 1 watched you a long while mille before eho choosing osing you tor for this task you are not a materialist and only materialists materia lists go eo insane yes I 1 suppose sup poe all the lie others are born with a touch ot of some kind so ive alward lir ard replied march they walked through the sand sometimes their feet sank deep and threw them backward hut but perhaps the next step N would find smooth and solid rock progress was a rack of physical strain and pitifully slow the hills ahead so hard to reach wore on oil a diagonal across their route it startled levington to find that that this diagonal straightened out aery hundred pace this was simply the effect of the landscape upon their pies eyes the hills w were ere distinctly ills misleading loading having a tendency to deflect tile couri courie e that eliat should lie at an agle over them without strict attention to 10 their shadows the two pedestrians must certainly have wandered oft off into sandy oblivion the perennial hands of the ages had brou wrought cunningly to contuse confuse our path should lead across ilig these e big lumps to tile the southwest said march they suffered the illusion of growing smaller since once there was nothing anywhere ere to renew familiar as eions and comparisons night drew down before they had made any noticeable progress they rested upon tile the pink sands bands r and con had a pillow of proper shape restful tp t tl nc oaf v in iti ig imitation al skI thou 11 it was solid rock A dull substitute for sleep claimed their bodies lev ing tons dreams were wrecked by huge tumbling mountains that proved nt at the striking moment to be riders desert robbers with tile the fervor of a perverted religion in their lee ice colored eyes all through this wretched slumber the white man ached and burned from the lashing of the storm nerve torn by the thought of their capture and plight at daybreak the wind began again lets go sold ellid con my understanding as march larch studied his tattooed foot lie made tills this pun dictates plainly a continuance of that direction levington followed hira him over the unfriendly surfaces an old wind halt half asleep hissed against rocks an and d at moments burned their ankles by the flying dust the sun was diminished to a far red hot griddle con could not look at ills his f friend tor for the hurt it gave him lie ile knew that lie must himself look as bad it was vias not vanity that made anade him care but a simple desire to remain human and riot not become a thing of rags and beard and thirst tolling up the unequal slopes to arrive at a new point of confusion they would note that their shadows no longer fell true beside them and march would sit down and study the map in its inconvenient location then they would go on the erest crest of the first series of hills gave only a sharper wind a broader vista of desolation levington was desperately weary ills his step slouched and the once powerful shoulders lurched sidewise lonely thoughts pas passed sed through his mind like birds in a ruined hall ills his eyes nere ft ere puffed there was vas memphis and that mystic high board fence at the end of the blind alley there was bill the yellow cook twisting his hands together in such it a quick fascinating ran manner or laughing with a voice like the cry of gulls again intoning wonder tales in a language beyond translation A phantom sliest stood tit at moments on the edge of the world then the unclean woman of dowagiac Dowa Down giac appeared with inith oily black hair straggling upon her neer neck her body bulging with no neglect and suddenly levington was choking march pave gave him a hand control yourself whispered the elder man it can be done same As as walking straight when youre drunk ive seen men in india go tor for ten days without water and fifty days without food it can be done thanks muttered con hoarsely ill try ten days you say without water and they as good reason as 1 we I C after a time con turned again to march larch and the twist on ills his face was meant for a smile do you think it will be ten days this time they pressed down into the narrow valley the next miniature range did not lie ile parallel either to their course f ive seen men in india go for ter ten days without water fifty days daya without food it can be done or to its dry sister range CO complexity in of lines line and contours increased tile the to sun caught men could no longer rely upon their own shadows for time was vas pa passing aug and they could not doler delor minate initiate how much to allow for tile the shifting shit ting of the planet cons heart pounded with fear it seemed oli old earth hersell herself wits was no lunger longer tol tolerant e amrit I 1 much ot of the former LeNIng levington toil was broken down all the cells of ills his body that had ever cried for brandy were now lead dead and gone lie ile had beon been burned down to pure primitive thirst for water mater no trifling alloch merits could remain here to nettle A i man desire once red and full as llie ibe storms of summer night had filia hided l out con had been soured seared and whip ped to a plane of humanity banat an solid ind and basic a relation of man to the earth and sun where the heats of sex are but a I 1 new zero all tile the moist forces of levington were turned inward I 1 n to sustain life itself Is that lint that I 1 hear thunder maybe the pulse in your own ea ears rs answered march they staggered up a third series of hills which were spread fan shape in III the midst of the world looking back they noted that the first range appeared to have turned partly about since they passed that way the sun of afternoon showed I 1 in a tile wrong quarter qu or of the sky march sank to his knees and began to draw intersecting lines in ili the sand to I 1 con as he sprawled near his friend it was like forcing fill cing the solar system back into place west and an north were again established alax t against conviction they dragged across a cross the third range but the instinctive flutter of hope in their beat hearts is died quickly when they saw that had miscalculated across a deeper valley was another monster bank of dust another range abruptly con stopped and pointed down the slope directly below them something was moving stones were rolling down the hill jt was not clear from what point they started perhaps a dragon had burrowed into the hill and was kicking out the earth from his nest clods of red clay went flying down below tile the two watchers levington peered forgetting the awful awful sun it was like recovery from blindness to find something in motion in the dead world at length from a hole in the hillside a it ii ing creature appeared resembling somewhat som it a man now others of the same species emerged and stood on a sandy ledge halfway half way down the slope they seemed like fat misshapen children thin legged hunched of shoulder with heads set close their caps were coils cells of their own hair the arms of all were mere dwarfish s they had come out to take the air after th their 0 ar labors N within n the hill tile the falling clay had stopped more and yet more of these deml humans came out into the sunlight until the slope was der darkly kly patched with their leathern bodies march shook ills his head bead levington noted the first sign of fearin the elder man who remained silent from that distance they determined that the creatures incle naked above the waist but that they wore short dark skirts tit lik those pictured upon the he ancient walls of assyria their canes or staves proved to be implements resembling garden hoes the faint sound of their conversation drifted up to the americans rut but tilts tills was drowned in the slow thunder of cons temples ca cave ve men muttered levington witches children arent they solid have my eyes eves gone out I 1 march ma ach did not hear for he simply whispered to himself what a world A dromedary was coming across from froin the further hills leisurely it followed a slanting way up to the cluster of creatures around the pit on the beast were strapped four bas baskets Lets now many hands set about filling these with pebbles or so BO it appeared pe areil the canial driver was another of the crooked when tile baskets were full he led the animal down by the same path starting across the valley toward the opposite barrier of son sand the little men who had come out of 0 the till began to disappear their bare bodies were like rough nuggets of copper Leving tong eyes twitched and he brushed a hand across ills his face lie ile wanted to laugh and fling hinl himself Relt down hill he would ask them for water por for an instant he hated andrew march for being afraid ind and an instant later realized this feeling was its merely ills own deep stirring fear lie ile swallowed thickly illicitly A tear s tood stood in one eye making humorous tile the pain in ills heart know I 1 had it in me he said grinning march did not see the tear he had grown pale beneath tile the grime oh god he mumbled this hat we caine cam for suppose wed better not ask them for a drink sat said con well go on and hunt for it because it must grow groa natural somewhere around here ile follow the dromedary tilt little men had gone eone tn in dust rose ioe like smoke from ti the to ovell open shaft the laden a beat beast ans et etching citing ills his way across the i alley daliey march had roused from ills apathy lie ile looked at cou who asked can you make it down hll hill boy sold said march st steadily youve got ot a tungsten nervous Sj stent stein 11 commanding their E cant energies tile wit white lie men made it linal final play for life and walked along crest of the ridge to keep tile the animal ail linal in view ul tit nut tit exposing themselves the afternoon was M the slackened the valley bel bellento lenth the was painted I 1 ith soft purple shadow tile we little Il indians lyalls and the droane ellry turned into it ft left deft 11 in tit alie C great gr on I 1 bank ani aar veard there mut murt be something to drink 1101 biorn 1 1 eon said R 11 II coil dromey 16 oyes beenu because se the natural at least ast continued tinned boll yo might wa wait here make lgon and iii I 1 II run nl on 0 to sure sold march well go together they descended S to the valley con crossing entered tj I 1 0 ravine h bad no as betided now discovery thought of av further instinct 1 what eneany matter no by and even and ended if I 1 thirst began the idea de of death meant a possible drink k this pervasive dryness was ft a question ofine soul a thirst far deeper reckless intent shone than tile body in Leving tons eyes march hes he looked tit him sidewise s and con heard only tile lilt ter fragments ot of his speech cincinnati you were e going ni like ahik this when hen I 1 first saw you I 1 knew then how washington ington needed you in tte the gobi god needs need you yon this Is it cincinnati said con uncertainly netted me the best friend in the world he stumbled headlong in a returning wave vave of weakness quite the opposite of a moment since dust of the dromedary was rising not far ahead it required ft a furious expense of will power to gala gain upon I 1 lt tt then something like a loving hind hand touched their faces tills this was a cool breeze from the far upper end ot of the ravines ravine the pathway was wide ant and well graded in abi sunlight colored rz 11 V A rushing cloud of horsemen thundered into th the ravine from the upper levels strata walled high and various on oil either side ns as might appear to an tint ant traversing a lane of birthday birt liday cake the alie breeze was m as soft upon their cheeks perhaps the peculiar halting person beside the dromedary felt that lie he was being followed a most fabulous event to him some antenna of its his wretched consciousness was troubled and lie he glanced behl behind itil liim him through the dun cloud ills his throat closed upon a cry of horror convulsed he fled up the rise and out of sight ills his vale pale scream came caine back announcing us whispered con grimly cut but look ionic another figure waited at the end of the upward road some soine one upon a horse motionless the sunlight was a rain of f black dots tor for levington no now but ills his muscles were to a forward motion it was not in him to stop ile he took time to note stupidly that though liis ills feet were bleeding |
