Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 16, 1921 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

4 ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. imperial capitol, embracing the island of Hiranur located in the sea itself, and Nodhur to the west and south. From the central sea a narrow strait led into an outer ocean to the west. This was known as the Gateway. To-the north was Cathur, a rugged, mountainous state, the seat of national learning, in its university at the capitol city of Scira, and east of Cathur was Mazhur, known as the Lost State at the time of Croft’s first ar- rival, because it bad been wrested from the empire some fifty years before, in a war with Zollaria, a hostile nation to the north. Croft, after gaining physical life on Palos, succeeded in winning it back, and in gaining thereby the consent of Naia’s fa- ther, Prince Lakkon, and her uncle, Jad- | gor, King of Aphur, to their marriage. It was at that point his narrative had ended first. East of Mazhur, still hugging the sea and extending into the hinterland of the conti- nent, was Bithur. And Milidhur joined Bithur to the south. West of Milidhur, completing the circle, was Aphur—the name meaning literally ‘“ the land to the west ” or “toward the sun.” Aphur was the south- ern pillar of the Gateway, ending at the western strait. Nodhur lay south of Aphur, gaining access to the sea by the navigable river Na, on ‘whose yellow flood moved a steady stream of commerce driven by sail and oar until Croft revolutionized trans- portation by producing alcohol-driven mo- tors. And—if I were to believe his second aocount—since then he had actually elec- trified the nation, harnessing mountain streams to generate the force. Except for the waterways, traffic prior to Croft’s innovations was by conveyances drawn by the gnuppa—a creature half deer, half horse, in appearance—or by means of caravans of the enormous beast called sar- pelca, resembling some huge Silurian lizard, twice the size of an elephant, with a pointed tail, scale-armored back, camel-like neck, and the head of a marine serpent tentacle- fringed about the mouth. They were driven by reins affixed to these fleshy appendages, and streamed across the Palosian deserts, bearing huge merchandise cargoes upon their massive baeks. Indeed, it was a wonderful world into which Croft had projected himself. Baby- lonian in seeming he had described it to me at first. North of Tamarizia was Zollaria, inhab- ited by a far more warlike race. Its despotic government had long cast a cov- etous eye on the Central Sea, through which and the rivers emptying into its ex- panse most of the profitable trade lanes were reached. Tamarizia, controlling the western Gateway, had remained master even: after the fall of Mazhur, collecting toll from the Zollarian craft on her rivers de- spite the foothold gained on her northern coast. Milidhur, lay Mazzeria, peopled by a race little above the aborigine in their social life. Tatar-like, the Mazzerians shaved their heads of all save a single tuft of hair, with a most remarkable effect, since the race was blue of complexion and the pre- vailing color of their hair was red. Mazzeria, at the time of Croft’s incur- sion into the planet’s affairs, was the ac- knowledged ally of Zollaria, although at peace with Tamarizia. In earlier times, however, numbers of them had been taken captive in border wars and brought to both nations as slaves. These, in so far as Tam- arizia was concerned, had later been freed and given citizenship of a degree consti- tuting in their ranks the lowest or serving caste. ; Each state was governed by a king, by hereditary succession, in conjunction with a national assembly consisting of a delegate elected by each ten thousand or deckteron of civil population. The occupant of the imperial throne was elected for a period of ten years by vote of the several states. On Croft’s advent, Scythys—a dotard— chad been king of Cathur, with his son Kyphallos, the crown prince, a profligate of the worst type, sunk under the charms of Kalamita, a Zollarian adventuress of great beauty, with whom he had plotted the surrender of Cathur to her nation in return for the Tamarizian throne with Kal- amita by his side. CO NOOK East of Tamarizia, beyond Bithur and C©