Argosy All-Story Weekly — "The Purple Limited" — page 78: what you’re looking at

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

644 There was some talk, some whispering, among the warriors, then one stepped for- ward and stood beside Ku-ro. “JT go,” he said. ‘I, Menzono-nan, Son of the Wolf..—Mine be it to aid Ku- ro! ” “IT also!” cried another, leaving the crowd. ‘‘ I, Do-m’rai-men, Slayer of Mam- moths, if but Ku-ro will have me!” But the remainder after further talk drew off, turning to go once more to the homes of the tribesmen. Ku-ro and his two companions made camp where they - stood, ready to take up the chase again with the coming of daylight. _ Long the Carver of Ivory lay awake, for it seemed as though a voice cried ever in his ears: “‘ Dead! The Lance of Dawn is dead!”” Over and over and over, dully, monotonously, unchanging, the voice re- peated these words, till it seemed to Ku-ro that he would go mad; that he must scream -and leap to his feet and run from the per- sistent, recurring sound, from the ghastly thought. Never to hold that lovely form in his arms, never to feel those soft lips against his own, or those arms about his neck! Never again to look into those brown eyes he loved so well! And Ku-ro groaned aloud, rolling from side to side on the earth where he lay— had it not been for his vengeance he would have run on his lance and died in the for- est! But his oath restrained him; that and his thirst for the blood of Tu-sen, and to himself he pictured the end of the hunt, when he, coming up with the fleeing man, should strike home, crying as he struck: “ This for the Lance of Dawn!” And his sorrow eased a trifle—the mer- est trifle—as he imagined the crunch and grind of the sharp flint blade, shearing and piercing through flesh and bone; never once did it cross his mind that his venge- ance might fail; that he might come with- in striking reach yet not slay his enemy! So at long last he slept. When light came once more to_the for- est, Ku-ro and his two companions, the Son .of thé Wolf and the Slayer of Mam- moths, took up the trail again. They vreakfasted lightly, on a hare which one of them slew, and set out in pursuit of Tu- ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. sen, following by the bent grass where nis 7 foot had trod, by the broken twigs o bushes, pressed aside in passing—at times by scent alone, for the hunters of the Ta-4 an had scent well-nigh as keen as a wolf's; and Menzono-nan was a famous tracker.! Often in the days that came did Ku-ragg wish he had by him that marvelous trailer, Sar-no-m’rai, the Eyes. That Walk Bygig Night, of whom even yet tales were told} among the People of the Mountain Caves. i But Sar-no-m’rai had long been at rest ir the burial cave far up the mountain, the three must perforce depend on them] - selves. ’ It soon became apparent that Tu-seny was pressing eastward toward the Rising Sun, toward the High Mountains where lays the Great River of Ice, for though he twist ed and turned to confuse his trail—thus proving that he knew of the pursuit—ye - a in the main the trend of his footsteps bore: OU to the east. I At times the fugitive took to the water,# wading up-stream along the Great River = 7% which watered the Valley of the Ta-an, or following its course down-stream. At such § times the party split up, one going in one # direction, the other in a different, each % scanning closely the banks for. sign where & the hunted man had left the water, and:@ig signaling to the other by the how! of the ; i wolf when thé trail was found. _ At times, too, the trail was lost when ¥ Tu-sen, coming to a rocky ridge, made his | | way along it, and then the party cast ina 3 wide circle, seeking sign where he had left the rocks and taken once more to the soft- er going of the forest floor. So day after day the hunt was out, pur- suing ever while the daylight held, and, it was soon evident that Tu-sen meant not to be taken without a struggle; that the pur- suit held danger for hunters as well as for _ hunted. One day as the three companions were pushing through a particularly thick mass of underbrush, where the tangled vines grew rank and close, impeding the feet, it chanced that Do-m’rai-men was in the lead. Suddenly he tripped over a strand of vine which lay across the trail, a foot or so above the earth, completely hidden. t uy le comicloookks Conn