Part 19 (1/2)

'Then, by Crom, fortune has at last thrown the dice for me! A horse, Trocero, and the harness of a Free Co for me to overtake him, if I follow hi of the Dragon

At dawn Conan waded his horse across the shallows of the Alimane and struck the wide caravan trail which ran southeastward, and behind him, on the farther bank, Trocero sat his horse silently at the head of his steel-clad knights, with the cri folds over hi breeze Silently they sat, those dark-hairedhad vanished in the blue of distance that whitened toward sunrise

Conan rode a great black stallion, the gift of Trocero He no longer wore the armor of Aquilonia His harness proclaimed him a veteran of the Free Companies, ere of all races His headpiece was a plain morion, dented and battered The leather and mail-mesh of his hauberk orn and shi+ny as if bycarelessly from his mailed shoulders was tattered and stained

He looked the part of the hired fighting-man, who had known all vicissitudes of fortune, plunder and wealth one day, an empty purse and a close-drawn belt the next

Andof old lorious days of old before his feet were set on the i, brawling, guzzling, adventuring, with no thought for theale, red lips, and a keen sword to swing on all the battlefields of the world

Unconsciously he reverted to the old ways; a neagger beca, in the way he sat his horse; half-forgotten oaths rose naturally to his lips, and as he rode he hus that he had roared in chorus with his reckless companions in many a tavern and on many a dusty road or bloody field

It was an unquiet land through which he rode The companies of cavalry which usually patrolled the river, alert for raids out of Poitain, were nowhere in evidence Internal strife had left the borders unguarded The long white road stretched bare froons or lowing herds roups of horsemen in leather and steel, hawk-faced, hard-eyed ether and rode warily These swept Conan with their searching gaze but rode on, for the solitary rider's harness proes lay in ashes and deserted, the fields and meadows idle Only the boldest would ride the roads these days, and the native population had been decimated in the civil wars, and by raids froed with os, or back But now these found it wiser to follow the road that led east through Poitain, and then turned south down across Argos It was longer, but safer Only an extreoods on this road through Zingara

The southern horizon was fringed with fla pillars of smoke drifted upward; in the cities and plains to the southup in fla-, the pillaging and the looting as in the days of old Why should he toil to regain the rule of a people which had already forgotten him?--why chase a will-o'-the-wisp, why pursue a crown that was lost for ever? Why should he not seek forgetfulness, lose hiulfed him so often before? Could he not, indeed, carve out another kingdoe of war and iht well rise above the ruins of nations as a supreme conqueror Why should it not be himself? So his familiar devil whispered in his ear, and the phantoms of his lawless and bloody past crowded upon hi a quest that grew dimmer and dimmer as he advanced, until sometimes it seemed that he pursued a dream that never was

He pushed the black stallion as hard as he dared, but the long white road lay bare before hi start Zorathus had, but Conan rode steadily on, knowing that he was traveling faster than the burdened merchants could travel And so he came to the castle of Count Valbroso, perched like a vulture's eyrie on a bare hill overlooking the road

Valbroso rode doith hiseyes and a predatory beak of a nose He wore black plate-armor and was followed by thirty spearmen, black-mustached hawks of the border wars, as avaricious and ruthless as himself Of late the toll of the caravans had been slim, and Valbroso cursed the civil wars that stripped the roads of their fat traffic, even while he blessed thehbors

He had not hoped lirist that came to his mill With a practised eye he took in Conan's worn mail and dark, scarred face, and his conclusions were the same as those of the riders who had passed the Cimmerian on the road--an empty purse and a ready blade

'Who are you, knave?' he deos,' answered Conan 'Whatdirection for a Free Coood and also the plundering Join ry The road remains bare of fat ues and fare southward to sell our swords to whichever side see that if he refused outright, he ht be instantly attacked by Valbroso's aran spoke again:

'You rogues of the Free Companies always know tricks to ht, by Mitra, and the only one I've seen for a week--and the knave is stubborn He has an iron box, the secret of which defies us, and I've been unable to persuade hiht I knew all the modes of persuasion there are, but perhaps you, as a veteran Free Companion, know some that I do not At any rate come with me and see what you may do'

Valbroso's words instantly decided Conan That sounded a great deal like Zorathus Conan did not know the h to try to traverse the Zingaran road in tih to defy torture

He fell in beside Valbroso and rode up the straggling road to the top of the hill where the gaunt castle stood As a man-at-arms he should have ridden behind the count, but force of habit made him careless and Valbroso paid no heed Years of life on the border had taught the count that the frontier is not the royal court He are of the independence of thehad trodden the throne-path

There was a dry moat, half filled with debris in soh the arch of the gate Behind the They carass, and with a well in the led about the bailey wall, and woaudy finery, looked fro-s under the arches It was more like a bandit's hold than the castle of a nobleman

Valbroso dish a doorway and along a vaulted corridor, where they werea stone staircase--evidently the captain of the guard

'How, Beloso,' quoth Valbroso; 'has he spoken?'

'He is stubborn,' lance of suspicion at Conan

Valbroso ripped out an oath and sta stair, followed by Conan and the captain As they ony becah above the court, instead of in a dungeon below In that chaaunt, hairy beast of aa beef-bone voraciously, stood the machines of torture--racks, boots, hooks and all the implements that the human mind devises to tear flesh, break bones and rend and rupture veins and ligalance told Conan that he was dying The unnatural elongation of his lied joints and unnaent, aquiline face and quick dark eyes They were glazed and bloodshot noith pain, and the dew of agony glistened on his face His lips were drawn back froums