Adventure Magazine, April 10, 1924 — page 51: what you’re looking at

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

The Making of the Morning Star Robert held up his hand. “Is a promise made at sunrise to be broken at sundown?” “‘Not the promise of a true man.” “Then I will defend Bokhara. My word is passed, and I will not unsay it.” yar FOR a full moment Chepe Noyon cy gazed up at the vault of the sky and Ry A meet A sniffed into his nostrils the odor of the warm sand. “Tell me this, O companion of the road. Can one man cast himself into the water and so stem the rush of a river in flood?” The crusader was silent, having no an- swer, and Chepe Noyon did not seem ill pleased. ‘The men of Khar are foxes, apt at steal- ing and flying to cover. I have lived among foxes on the steppe. You know not the depth of treachery in these Moslems as I do, who have sung my songs in diwan and yiwan—in council and feast. Each one lusts for the treasure of Khar.” “Ts the throne of gold in Bokhara?” “Aye, well hidden. It lies below ground —so much a drunken priest babbled. The wazir knows the way to it, but the priests stand guard over it, and Osman can not hew them down because his foes would cry sacrilege and muster enough Moslems to cut him and his men to pieces.” He laughed again shortly. “Q fool—to think they gave you honor in good faith! I overheard the talk be- tween Muhammad and his advisors in the righistan where his elephant took stand. He would have waited to bear off the treasure, but Osman’s men declared that he must leave the gold as surety that Bokhara would be relieved by him. He fears Osman and his own mother.” The Mongol looked long at Robert. “Your eyes would be opened in time, but then it would be too late,” he added. “The Shah left you behind as a figurehead, to deprive Osman of honor. The muliah took your part because he has a dread of the Kankalis—without some one to hold them in check. Osman is shrewd; you can not deal with him. Bokhara is doomed. We are clear of the gate. Ride then with me. I go to Genghis Khan and the fellow- ship of true men.” - “Go!” said Robert briefly. “TI will keep to my place.” ay the eyes of ——!’’ cried the Mongol. 49 “Bold words, but what deeds will follow? Summon your men—or they will question you about me. Hai—I will lead them a chase.”’ He gathered up his reins, and the horse, sensing the purpose of its rider, reared impatiently. “Nay, there is peace between us, for you saved my life.” ‘The debt is even, since you shielded me in Palestine. Now the sword is between He lifted his muscular hand to his fore- bead and lips. “Ahatou koke Mongku-hai!”’ Although Robert did not know it, Chepe Noyon had given him the salute of the royal Mongols. He listened a while to the drumming of hoofs on the baked clay of the road and then turned back to the gate reflectively. Abdullah, or Chepe Noyon, had been a wayward kind of friend, but Robert found that he missed the minstrel now that the Mongol was gone for good. a of Bokhara watched columns of Mongols move up from the east and spread out over the plain. All day the dust hung in clouds over masses of riders and herds of horses. The sun gleamed on the horns of cattle and the spears of the guards that shepherded thousands of cap- tives from Otrar. Robert, studying the array, saw that the Mongol warriors were all mounted, and all looked the same. He could not pick out the leaders. All wore the dust-stained leather and skins, and crude, rusted armor was on a few; here and there above the masses of the Horde moved immense stand- ards—the horns of a stag or buffalo, trimmed with streaming tails, on long poles. When the dust settled, lines of gray tents, built over a wooden framework, stood in place; back of these the captives and the cattle were herded on the open plain, with ithe heavy carts of the Horde forming fences around them. Robert bade Will try to count the warriors, and the yeoman esti- mated a trifle over a hundred thousand, the knight somewhat less. “By the foul fiend, his cloven hoof!” muttered the archer. ‘“‘Here is woundy work, i’ faith. Our foes be quartered al- ready, and the day is not yet done. A true THE next day the men on the walls COnMICLOOO C S (C@