Part 5 (1/2)
”I cried out and Martin awakened As he one I think he had not seen Martin; had believed that I was alone
”We put out the fire, moved farther into the shadow of the trees But I could not sleep--I sat hour after hour, my pistol in my hand,” she patted the automatic in her belt, ”my rifle close beside me
”The hours went by--dreadfully At last I dozed When I awakened again it was dawn--and--and--” she covered her eyes, then: ”TWOdown on ht”
”They were talking,” interrupted Ventnor again, ”in archaic Persian”
”Persian,” I repeated blankly; ”archaic Persian?”
”Very ue, and a rather unusual coht through from the speech of Xerxes, of Cyrus, of Darius whoedon a load of Arabic words Well--there wasn't a trace of the Arabic in the tongue they were speaking
”It sounded odd, of course--but I could understand quite easily They were talking about Ruth To be explicit, they were discussing her with exceeding frankness--”
”Martin!” she cried wrathfully
”Well, all right,” he went on, half repentantly ”As a matter of fact, I had seen the pair steal up My rifle was under
”You can realize, Walter, that when I caught sight of those two, looking as though they had hostly hordes, iously So in my interest I passed over the ht Ruth asleep but also because I took into consideration that the es with the centuries--and these gentleed at least twenty centuries back--the real truth is I was consuot to a point where they were detailing hat pleasure a certain ard withhow long ist they were --could hold my hand back from my rifle when Ruth awakened
”She jumped up like a little fury Fired a pistol point blank at them
Their amazement ell--ludicrous I know it see of firearh they didn't
”They simply flew into the timber I took a pistol shot at one but ed her man; he left a red trail behind him
”We didn't follow the trail We made for the opposite direction--and as fast as possible
”Nothing happened that day or night Next ht of a suspicious glitter a ht shelter in a small ravine In a little while, over the hill and half a mile away fro
”And they were indeed Darius's men Men of that Persia which had been dead for h, covering shi+elds, their great bows, their javelins and armor
”They passed; we doubled We built no fires that night--and we ought to have turned the pony loose, but we didn't It carriedto need the latter
”The next ht of another band--or the sah a tree-covered plain; we struck an ancient road It led south, into the peaks again We followed it It brought us here
”It isn't, as you observe, the most comfortable of places We struck across the hollow to the crevice--we knew nothing of the entrance you cah The holloas not pleasant, either But it was penetrable, then
”We crossed As ere about to enter the cleft there issued out of it a s, crashi+ngs, splinterings”
I started, shot a look at dick; absorbed, he was drinking in Ventnor's every word