The King's Talisman — page 169: what you’re looking at

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

160 THE KINGS TALISMAN. Ahab turned quickly away from his monarch’s presence, and Modad thought his servant made haste to serve him. He little thought that Ahab had hastened to hide emo- tions which, had they been seen, might have looked like budding treason. The day crept slowly on to its night, and as the royal palace was shut in by the gloom of approaching midnight, the king sought the rest of his couch, and soon lost his senses in an uneasy, dreamy slumber. In an apartment not far situated from the royal chamber the king’s two mutes had sought their quarters for the night, and after a few moments’ hurried consultation by signs and nervous gestures, which could be intelligible to none but themselves, one of them threw himself upon the couch, while the other remained motionless in the center of the room till his companion had ceased his movements, and then gazing about attentively till he seemed assured that no one was stirring, he stooped down and unloosed the san- dals from his feet. This having been done, he stepped noiselessly to where stood a small ottoman, which he took and placed carefully against the door, in such a manne= as to impede its opening, but at the same time not sufficient to give the appearance of an intentional fastening. The floor of the apartment was a mosaic pavement of black and white marble, each separate block being some ten inches square. ‘The mute bent his cheek attentively to the door for several moments after he had placed the obstruc-~ tion against it, but no breathing of the air betokened any movement without, and dropping upon his hands and knees, he crept stealthily to a remote corner of the room. Here, mute as he was, with the avenue of sound forever closed to his brain, he ‘again stopped, as though a noise could have warned him; then drawing his yataghan from its sheath, he inserted its point into an almost imper- ceptible crevice between two of the paving blocks, and one Eomichbooks (Eo)