Part 23 (1/2)

The king of Aquilonia cruures panted in the gloom

'Strike off his head,' runted another 'Help me tie up my wounds before I bleed to death The tide ash hie His skull's split; no man could live after such blows'

'Help ed another 'His harness will fetch a few pieces of silver And haste Tiberio is dead, and I hear seaone'

There followed hurried activity in the darkness, and then the sound of quickly receding footsteps The tipsy singing of the sea back and forth before athat overlooked the shadowed bay, whirled suddenly, his nerves tingling

To the best of his knowledge the door had been bolted from within; but now it stood open and four ht of thes Publio had seen in his lifetiaunt, black-robed, and their faces were dim yellow ovals in the shadows of their coifs He could not tell lad that he could not Each bore a long, curiously mottled staff

'Who are you?' he demanded, and his voice sounded brittle and hollow

'What do you wish here?'

'Where is Conan, he as king of Aquilonia?' demanded the tallest of the four in a passionless monotone that made Publio shudder It was like the hollow tone of a Khitan temple bell

'I do not knohat you mean,' stammered the merchant, his customary poise shaken by the uncanny aspect of his visitors 'I know no such man'

'He has been here,' returned the other with no change of inflection

'His horse is in the courtyard Tell us where he is before we do you an injury'

'Gebal!' shouted Publio frantically, recoiling until he crouched against the wall '_Gebal!_'

The four Khitans watched hie of expression

'If you summon your slave he will die,' warned one of them, which only served to terrify Publio more than ever

'Gebal!' he screa your master!'

Swift footsteps padded in the corridor outside, and Gebal burst into the chahtily , and a short leaf-shaped sword in his hand

He stared in stupid amazement at the four invaders, unable to understand their presence; di that he had drowsed unexplainably on the stair he was guarding and up which they must have come He had never slept on duty before But hiswith a note of hysteria in his voice, and the Sheers, his thicklythrust But the stroke was never dealt

A black-sleeved ar staff Its end but touched the Shemite's brawny breast and was instantly withdrawn The stroke was horribly like the dart and recovery of a serpent's head

Gebal halted short in his headlong plunge, as if he had encountered a solid barrier His bull head toppled forward on his breast, the sword slipped froers, and then he melted slowly to the floor It was as if all the bones of his frame had suddenly becoain,' advised the tallest Khitan 'Your servants sleep soundly, but if you awaken them they will die, and you with theone to the house of Servio, near the waterfront, to search for the Zingaran Beloso,' gasped Publio, all his power of resistance gone out of hie; but these uncanny visitants turned his marroater He started convulsively at a sudden noise of footsteps hurrying up the stair outside, loud in the ominous stillness

'Your servant?' asked the Khitan

Publio shook his head ue frozen to his palate He could not speak