Show ss s ADT JL by JEREMY LANE copyright by the tha century company YOU ARE CONDEMNED synopsis cornelius Cornel lu wellborn well born an orph orphin sn cornea comes to manhood through tm devious ways othe underworld he Is saved for or a hotter better life by andrew march the strange adventures of 0 yellow men steep sleep begin when con takes by torce force a small leather sack from chee ming mine the chinese cook of an acquaintance this sack contains cont alna a chinese map of the gobi desert which Is price to andrew march eighteen years before armed men in the gobi had taken marahs wife and infant daughter from him now he sends con in search of 0 them on the voyage con finds chee ming a fellow passenger con Is shot by a poisoned dart and while he la is in tho the consequent stupor his map Is stolen on the th river boat to peking he again sees chee ming mine and realizes they are seeking becking tho the same destination ti con keeps faith with andrew march anil and starts on his mission westward ft ith ath a caravan after weeks tek of difficult travel ho be reach reaches e a the th ill tittle t Us settlement of shan sung and reads instructions from andrew march to the effect that con has been made a federal agent to search out chee ming who has brought quantities of ct k koresh 0 a deadly drug tv to san francisco frano 1 at shan bunc con la Is unexpectedly joined by march the two americans press forward into the desert armed horsemen sw swoop 0 p down on them rob them of ove everything ro Y and leave them to die in the th desert march has a map tattooed on the sole of his foot they press on suffering incredible hardships again they are attacked by horsemen I 1 in command of a sentinel 1 in gray they are taken as prisoners to th the hidden city of tau xuan kuan of which chee ming Is vizier tho the sentinel in gray turns out to be the princess helen what would you hav hava a done con damned to die face to face with the incredible CHAPTER VII continued to 10 after one of the large riders had advanced salaamed sala amed before the prince and ald spoken and following him chee liling had concluded the evidence the prince moved nis ills robe tinkled with spangles its as he unfolded ills his long person and descended to the level of tits his courtiers chee sling ming bent down to the rug as this young royalty brushed past the prince wore no queue ile he looked a moment at the white prisoners close up tip much as a child regards two stuffed apes he gave no heed to the assembly the royal litter came gliding up carried by six slaves tn in this the prince reclined his length swiftly lie he was borne away his carriers moving like shadows ills his highness had uttered not it a word A dull confusion of voices closed in around march and levington what was our friend saying asked march daood mixing began march hurriedly but they were baited before lie he could explain ills hia meaning march was taken away and cons slave moved mored in closer beside him looking very burly and dull an order was given and levington was led away returning by the way he had come in his apartment after sunset lie he tried to think his way out but failed to understand why he was not killed at once instead a form of trial had been given them every physical comfort was bestowed courtesy was silent but unfailing when he had returned from court a tray of baked vegetables was awaiting him with a pot of tea a brazier and a salver of cool grapes yet tet he could not forget the violence of their reception at the head of the ravine and the refined hate of chee sling ming lit he sighed to recall that the princess had wearied of their presence before the alu thione oile and had taken leave without the conclusion of their trial their death had previously been delayon by her order plainly chee ming had his own will in matters brought before the prince who arid and where was the monarch for the central chair that had been vacant levington sat at the low stone table on the root roof to finish his dinner and try to study out a means of escape in the circumstances he be felt that their federal mission was doomed to remain unperformed ile he looked out into the misty low lowlands landt where the lifting vapors were colored by an afterglow of buset into drifting peacock plumes s strands of allu illusive violet and gold the flocks had disappeared A weighty silence pressed down o oter oer ter the valley a twilight ot of he started A curious object dropped at his feet it was the long tailed monkey with the white face inquisitive the creature had bad come to examine the new arrival but its eyes twitched with fear and childlike uncertainty levington tossed him a red plum the monkey seized the fruit and bit into it keeping his eyes eves fixed upon the kiver giver of the fru anit well little friend Is it all right the small beast stopped munching to think out a civil reply reflectively sadly he do dog out the seed of the plum inspected it lilt bit it cast it town down and forgot nil all about the question jle wiped ills his face upon ills his hairy forea formann for cann rib I 1 and came caine a dilill linking ing step nearer like a cur car i leaped upon the bench and began sd alis I 1 in the bobi bat hid had contained a tuberous vegetable new to the prisoner the monkey was disappointed then he looked up sharply shrieked and sprang across the space to the top of the wall tie he gave one backward glance whimpered and was gone cone over the edge of the wit wall 11 levington also turned to look and saw abee ming you are condemned said the chinese 1 I guessed it but why you hae come to tau kuan empire of the yellow sun its a good place said con here are all races of mankind continued chee liling here every blood Is blended in one true station ration man in time before time divided himself and his substance into many peoples it was folly and should never have occurred but in tan tail nunn kuan they are again united here is the perfect empire this sacred city Is older than the tower of babel all the other states of asia when the gobi was not a desert rushed into that folly of all the world only the of tau kuan had wisdom tau E kuan email mail alone did not enter into that confusion tau tail xuan kuan alone lias has remained holy and fertile you have seen the fate that befell the others they are but tombs forgotten beneath a sea of cursed sand here only sit ait green things and pure here only is the un tin broken tradition of light it Is a small thing to the die tor for tau kuan when necessary thanks I 1 suppose you wish me to die in a month two months not longer why the delay your hhite blood is to be preserved how do you mean blended replied the chinese an arab maid of purest strain will conle come to you when her child is born you work is ended but we do not wait tor for it to be born two moons shall suffice you tile the american amera an was caught by surprise and the coot cool statement of overhead arrangements left him speechless clice chee sling ming turned about and departed paL ted levington paced the roof in lits anger at the frn fantastic injustice from the words of tits his enemy concerning tau tail kuan he began to understand some ak T his first Impi ilse was to send her away at once thing of 0 why this inaccessible country had been so wonderful a magnet to ills spirit lie ile was glad he be had answered the draw of 0 this remote treas ure land in other circumstances he would have been deeply interested in the claims of antiquity and esoteric history but its plans and purposes meant nothing to him ne he had TO ro r o desire to aid jn io blending the races of the world particularly not at the command of his chinese enemy ills heart was western nod and demanded freedom twilight had deepened across the fertile valley when he heard footsteps and the soft jingle of bracelets A slave lending leading a girl approached him the ma maidens ideus robes were but veils her eyes a ere not covered but were intently regarding her new white toaster fear wits written there and fascination her der breathing was tremulous the slave withdrew and tile the girl cried out at being left alone averting her glance con did not move and presently slie she looked up again her cheeks nere cre brown alad smooth her lips rod red she was nearly as tall as himself its all right ho he said meaning well ills first impulse was to send her away at once but it occurred to him that this would not only hasten his own dernise demise but probably bring heavy dl disfavor favor upon the maid she was alss ing his hand ue lie raised her wishing ing that hat the tower of babel had not resulted in such a marked difference between english and arabic speech yet if she had bad known his language his task would have been no easier con meant no disrespect he be almott felt inferior to her but simply he did not want her the arab girl went into his apartment to await him the best lie he could do was to remain on tile the roof sitting beside the stona stone bench lie ile considered the odds the stars appeared and the final red and yellow gold was dimmed from the west somewhere beyond the rim of the valley a wolf howled its cry coming in very faintly having no further use for his slave who was also a spy upon him con sent his gray hoy boy away for the night tile the coolness of the fountains rose up about the palace find and in the infinite darken trig s sky innumerable night suns glittered ered the white milte man on the roof was lonely lie he wanted to talk to starch march the arab girl incident was depressing and something about the far cry of the waif brought to him bitterly the fact of tau euans isolation it was folly to think of escape con thought over ills his own life and it seemed a botch ile he had dreamed fought laughed flared dared ile he had penetrated a world from which strangers do not return was wag now at the source of lovely fables and many tales of terror it was all worth while and yet he had learned nothing of koresh lie he would be unable to report on it if he should they had taken hla his friend from him and the best that remained was death resting nesting his head upon his arms he beut bent over the stone table nod and ills his last thoughts were of a gray cloaked rider who inho had raised her arm the same princess who had glanced at him across the throne room he had intended to remain anake and devise it 11 possible a way uny out or move about the city if no one prevented but it was full daylight when a gentle pressure roused him collecting himself from brorn sleep he be felt something soft touching his face and raised its ills head from the uncomfortable position of the night it was the little white faced monkey chilled with the morning damp snuggling against his new friend to f t marath con nn took the animal in ills arms and stood up to find that his hack back ached ile he remembered and crossed the lie roof to glance into his apartment the girl was wide awake and staring at him her brown eyes eloquent with shame lie he nodded to her ber and smiled and she arose wondering at the door lie he endeavored to make plain to t her that tile the facts must be kept secret from all she comprehended as quickly as it if she had wished to warn him in the same way nay without knowing how she sighed and her low words levu were musical con smiled again swiftly she ran across the root roof to the stairway at which point she turned bowed deeply to him and then was gone CHAPTER vill VIII the princess levington was angry with himself for having hating slept for he had intended to spend the night hours in finding some chance of escape and now in daylight lie knew no more of the city chaa before ile he could not accept the impossibility of such a task for his thoughts ran continually upon plans for flight breakfast arrived fruit and tea nod and brown biscuit with the added courtesy of cigarettes in an ivory box the round headed gray negro squatted nearby while his master ate and con wondered how many kinds of blood were ol 01 ixta in its his heart the roof was blue with morning shadow the city seemed to lie ile chiefly on the opposite side of the palace out of Leving tons view tor for only a few poor houses bordered the edge of the fields lie he saw to west westward ivard A white fog was steaming up obscuring the low hills that marked the Nv western estern boundaries of tan tall kuln kuan the gray monkey was also present waiting nervously at one end of the bench for his bis share ile he grabbed up a biscuit but was as disappointed as con had been there was no salt sait in it cut but the tea nv was is fragrant and scalding and the tobacco was sun gold from you better go home to tug suggested ferington feving ton the little beast did not think so ile he stared nt at the white man illan his bendy beady bright eyes seeming to express a mute warning with centuries of regret when the gray boy had taken away the dishes con stretched aud and renewed the process of wondering ills his normal powers of thought that had been snatched away in surprise and fatigue had returned ue he wanted to talk to hi himself to quicken his own american identity ile he smiled to think of himself as a united states secret agent wolves or wine or the jab of a blade in the dail any fight in the opt hopun opun 11 con prayed tor these hearty strafes but the desert c city I 1 ty the be 1 alace anav maw e was against hope tills this evil ness vi rain aliu it ii lius tar far from cheering to remember that andrew march had bad lost his nerve con looked at himself in the c tear clear shield and lid did not recognize the hard brown face reflected the sun that had darkened lark ened his skin shin had bleached his soul the aaili of a tartar transformed inore more than mere appearance white blouse above a wide sas sash h legs wrapped from hip to knee in white lie he removed the snug turban an and d glanced again to see it if any semblance remal remained ned of himself he saw in his own eyes tile the tension of one who knows death to be near impatience seized him all and ile he crossed the roof to the stairway so no one prevented tits his going do down wn w n to tile tha left nere a walled garden the son sang ing of a bird and a dull i rhythmic 1110 sound like pumping ile he went to tile the open gate the garden close cloe walled was rooted roofed with vines which concealed the bird A bronzed slave nearly naked flaked lounged against the arch at the gate A radiance soft and cottony cotto nv was reflected upward from the smooth flagging of the path levington did not immediately understand the persistent beating this garden was a green and fragrant stillness in which rested a palanquin with curtains parted beside this on the gray stones men were kneeling five of them old warriors whose who e day was vias nearly done A second slave stood near thumping a bone drum the guard at the gateway did not trouble the white intruder for hla his chin was nodding with the drum again A gain the hidden bird spilled melody like shattering crystal the robes of tile the five who knelt were varicolored the palanquin was canopied cano pied with purple and silver and within it the cushions was wai a thick soft bundle of a man the bird and the gentle drum had lulled hilled him nis his cheeks were the pallid yellow of lemons overripe over ripe but his closed eyes were overcast and gray he was fat and royal tile the line of ills his mustaches was thin black and long down like ilke drooping floss ills queue was a black rope A hand wide and pale rested limp upon the silken arch of the abdomen something of ancestral quality was hid in tile the fat of ills his ane an essence of dominion and bitter statecraft a narrow regal brow a sharp nose a besotted jowl nil all the splendor of its his inheritance now dimmed under a perfumed por fumed monotony he had paid the full tribute to dru drug anil and food and senile pur pursuits levington was free to gaze the attention of all present had |