A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine, April 1950 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

14 A. MERRITT’S FANTASY green, and the pupils appeared almost ab- normally small—yet they were very lovely eyes. She was bizarre, un-English—and queenly. Tott had said that her passport declared her as twenty-three, but in poise and dignity she appeared far beyond that age. BC iiciully slender, she was sinuous, too; she flexed in movement to an unusual degree. His first thought as she neared them was that Tony had won a first prize out of life; his second that, before she spoke a word, he disliked the girl—or woman. Beside him Miss Brandon made an utter contrast, as of normality facing the almost-impossible he felt that he had never liked Miss Brandon quite so well, and trusted her so fully, as in this moment —and the green-flecked, amber eyes read all his thoughts and feelings, he realized, while their pupils dilated suddenly, rend- ering them darkly lustrous as she gazed at him. “We're a trifle late, I’m afraid,” Tony Briggs began. “Cleo, my two very good friends, Miss Brandon, and Mr. Green—’”’ The strange girl’s hand, Gees realized as he held it for a moment, was very cold. She smiled at him, confidently—as might a duellist coming on guard. “TI have been looking forward to meeting you, Mr. Green.”’ Perfect English, with no trace of ac- cent. And a perfect voice, low-pitched, soft, and yet resonant. Her smile was the smile of—Gees faltered—of eternity. CHAPTER 2 The Lady of the Lion T THE corner table, Gees faced A Tony Briggs with Cleo Keira on his right, and Miss Brandon fac- ing her. Some dozen tables away, he could see his father and Colonel Fare- brother, and noticed that the general kept staring at them, uneasily. Cleo Kefra talked well, with the as- surance of a woman of the world; Tony Briggs’ gaze at her proved him hopeless- ly, fatuously in love—Gees felt rather grimly that he had never seen a worse case. Miss Brandon appeared divided between nervousness and amusement. A mention of Egypt, toward the end of the meal, evoked from Gees the re- mark that he had never been there, and Cleo’s dark eyebrows lifted in slight sur- prise, “TI gathered from Tony that you had been everywhere,” she said. : “I was going to Egypt the year I joined the police force,” he answered. “As it is, I haven’t been there in this incarnation.” ~ “Then you believe we live more than once?’ she asked. “An open mind,” he answered, “is al- ways useful.” “What do you do—your work, I mean,” she asked. “Tony said something about an agency, but he was terribly vague about it.” “T’ve got a four-roomed flat within shouting distance of the Haymarket, and half of it is my office. I started by ad- vertising that I'd tackle anything from mumps to murder.” “And how many cases of mumps have you attended?” she asked. “T’ve had one murder—two murders, in fact,’’ he said. “‘The others—the ones worth considering, that is—have been worse.” “Do go on,” she begged. She spoke lightly enough, but Gees heard a chal- lenge in her tone. “Well,” he said slowly, “there was a man who made shadows.” Her fine brows drew down. Then she smiled and nodded. Every movement, every gesture, was graceful. “T know,” she said. “TI saw it once at a party, a man who made shadows of ducks and giraffes and all sort of things with his hands.” “Not that, Miss Kefra,” he said. “T mean that old shadow magic—older than Egypt, even. Each shadow’s a life.” “{—” She began, and stopped. Again he saw the pupils of her eyes dilate, and knew he had, as he had intended, roused fear in her. “You—what did you do?” she asked, after a pause in which the other two, silent and listening, sensed the ten- sion. “That man will make no more shad- ows,” he said, rather grimly. “How very thrilling!” She had re- covered her composure, and even man- aged a laugh. Tony Briggs drew an au- > “EcOomichooks.co