Adventure Magazine Cover — page 59: what you’re looking at

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

The Wolf-Chaser “Fie was a paladin of the Franks. But now he has no tribe to follow him. Still, there is gold in his girdle and costly gar- ments in the packs on the horses. I wil tell Cheke Noyon, the khan of the Altai, in the city of Kob, to let out his life, so I will have some of the gold———”’ ‘Hai,’ Aruk grunted, “where are you from, dog-face?” The Mongol’s eyes shifted. “Tt was a captive of the Christian Poles. ‘This warrior was fighting under their banner. He freed me, telling me to guide him to Tartary. When I saw first him he lived in a castle with servants. Now he has only one dog to follow him. As he makes his bed, he shall lie in it.’’ Aruk’s lined face twisted reflectively. “Vou are a jackal, and the skies will spew out your soul when it leaves your body. Kat, It is so.” “Nay,” the servant grinned surlily, “TI will tell my tale to the baksa, the witch- doctors, and they will make a sacrifice for me to the spirits. They have no love for the Krits* who come here and say that they can work wonders. It is so.”’ “What is the name of the Frank?” “He calls himself Hu-go.”’ Impatiently the archer moved to the side of the Frank as the latter gathered up his reins. ‘“‘An hour’s ride, Sir Hu-go, will bring you io the hut of Ostrim, the falconer. He is a Krit, like you, and he will not steal. Beware of the baksa, for they will strip you of wealth and skin.” When the three riders had vanished around a bend in the gorge, Aruk settled himself in his saddle to watch the Urkho- eaitu. He wanted to be very sure that no Kalmucks were coming behind the stranger called Hugo. Although the spot was exposed to the icy winds that made a channel of the pass, the archer did not move for hours. He watched the golden eagle circling over the network of forest, muttering the while a song that was half a prayer chant: “Oh, bright falcon, My own brother, Thou soarest high. Thou seest far 4 A slight sound on the mountainside be- hind him caused Aruk at length to wheel *Christians. 93 and ride swiftly down in the trail left by the three travelers. Other ears might have caught it as an echo, but Aruk was sure that a shot had been fired near the hut of Ostrim the falconer. ") THE reason for his haste was soon G44 apparent. Half-way down the “=~ mountainside, where the snow lay only in patches in the gullies and the larch thickets, Aruk came upon a brown-faced maiden no larger than he. From a clump of larches she was peering, bow in hand, her slant eyes intent on the trail, teeth gleaming between full, red lips. “Ohat, Yulga, daughter of Ostrim,” he hailed her, slowing his pony at once in an effort to appear unconcerned, ‘“‘was the devil firing off his popgun down here, or did a boulder crash from the cliff? I hear g ‘“‘A splendid protector, you,” the girl mocked him, unstringing her bow. The sight of the hunter had relieved her fear and now she teased him. “You come nimbly after the fight is finished, like a jackal instead of a wolf. Our heads might have been hanging to the saddle-peak of the robber band who just passed this way, for all the aid we had from you!” Aruk grew red and muttered beneath his breath. Under Yulga’s laughter the hunter always waxed clumsy as a bear cub. He despaired of ever gathering together the horses and furs necessary to buy Yulga for his wife from the old Ostrim. In like de- zree he had small hope that the fair child of the falconer would ever look upon him and smile without mockery. “Perhaps,” pursued Yulga, tossing her long black hair back from her eyes, “‘it is because you are so tiny that you dare sit up yonder to watch the pass. You think that anybody will take you for a ferret, or a fox looking out of its hole a “Peace, little woodpecker,” growled the hunter. His lined cheeks grew red, for he was acutely conscious of his small figure. Al- though no man might belie Aruk’s boldness, or hope to outdo his ready tongue, he was at a loss for words before Yulga. “Did the Frank draw sword on Ostrim?” he demanded. ‘“‘TI will let the life out of him for that % “Ohail’’ GOmiilcoooks (C@