Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 146 No. 4 — page 75: what you’re looking at

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

the scuffle ar iets upon the earth; it was ik a horrible nightmare, a Rantustic orgy of murderous fiends. The flame of the camp fire flickered sneers, drawn torture, red and green shadows in the staring faces of the men who lay upon the ground, and the figures of the stranglers glowed red in its light, like devils who danced in hell. Hunsa had turned the merchant upon his back, and his evil gorilla face was thrust into the face of his victim. No breath passed the thick, protruding lips, upon which was the froth of death. As the jamadar tore the keys from the waist band, snapping a silver chain that was about the body, he said: ‘“ Sookdee, be quick. Have the bodies carried to the pits. Do not forget to drive a spear through each belly, lest they swell up and burst open the earth.” “You have the keys to the chest, Hunsa?” Sookdee said, with suspicion in his voice. “Yes, jamadar. Iwill openit. We will empty it, and place the iron box on top of the bodies in a pit, for it is too heavy to carry, and if we are stopped it might be observed.” “Take the dead,” Sookdee commanded the Bagrees, “lay them out, take down the tents that are over the pits, and by that time I will be there to count these dead things in the way of surety that not one has escaped with the tale. “Come,” he said to Hunsa, “together _ we will go to the iron box and open it; then there can be no suspicion that the men of a3 have been defrauded.” turned malignant eyes upon Sook-~ dee, but, keys in hand, strode toward the tent. : Sookdee, thrusting in the fire a torch made from the feathery bark of the kujoor tree, followed. Hunsa, kneeling before the iron box, was fitting the keys into the double locks. Then he threw the lid backward, and the two - gasped at a glitter of precious stones that lay beneath a black velvet cloth Hunsa sokdee cried out in wonderment; and asa, slobberi guttural of avarice, pat with his gorilla paws. He . a al ‘tp & . hee, (CASTE . . . a, lifted a large square emerald entwined in a tracery of gold, delicate as the crisscross of a spider’s web, and held it to his thick lips. “A bribe for a princess!” he gloated. “Take you this, Sookdee, and hide it as you would your life, for as gift to the son of the Peshwa, who, methinks, is behind the Dewan in this, we will be men ‘of honor. And this ”’—a gleaming diamond in a cir- clet of gold—* for Sirdar Baptiste,” and he rolled it in his loin cloth. “ And this ” —a string of pearls, that as he Jaid it on the black velvet, was like the tears of angels—* this for the fat pig of a Dewan to set his four wives at each other’s throats. Let not the others know of these, Sookdee, of these that we have taken for the ac- count.” Suddenly there was a clamor of voices, cries, the clang of swords, the sharp crash of a shot, and the two jamadars, startled, eyes staring, stood with ears cocked toward the tumult. ‘“ Soldiers!’”? Sookdee gasped. His hand brushed Hunsa’s bare arm as he thrust it into the chest and brought it forth clasp- ing jewels, which he tied in a knot of his waistcloth. “ Take you something, Hunsa, and lock the box till we see,” he said, dart- ing from the tent. Hunsa filled a pocket of his brocaded jacket, but he was looking for the Akbar Lamp, the ruby. He lifted out a tray and ran his grimy hands through the maze of gold- and silver-wrought ornaments below. His fingers touched, at the very bottom, a bag of leather. He tore it open, and a blaze of blood-red light glinted at him evilly where a ruby caught the flame of the torch that Sookdee had thrown to the earth floor as he fled. With a snarl of gloating he rolled the ruby in a fold of his turban, locked the box, and darted after Sookdee. He all but fell over the seven dead bodies of the merchant and his men as he raced to where a group was standing beyond. And there three more bodies lay upon the ground, and beside them, held, were two horses. “Tt is Ajeet Singh,” Sookdee said , point= ing to where the chief lay we ede mn a