Part 12 (2/2)

Gunnar seated himself comfortably and swung the nearly empty bag to and fro. ”Ah, I told you that I carried great magic in the bag. With Piper's help, Maya will be ours before midnight.”

Odin's lethargy was gone now. ”Gunnar, old friend! What magic was in that bag of yours?”

”The oldest magic in the world. Pieces of gold, diamonds, and rubies. When we left the Nebula I said to myself that if Grim Hagen owned everything here, it was quite possible that many would be eating very little. Knowing Grim Hagen, I said to myself, there will be a mad scramble for money and position. It would be the only kind of a world that Grim Hagen could fas.h.i.+on.”

Odin slapped him on the back. ”Gunnar, you are a genius, a sheer genius.”

”Not at all. When I was a young man I learned such strategy from studying the world above me.”

Odin winced.

Gunnar continued. ”Well, it has turned out even as I figured. Only more so. When traveling in far countries you should try to learn how the people live, Odin. It is enlightening. I had an old uncle who always said that travel broadens one. It must have, for he weighed nearly two-hundred when he died.”

”Please, Gunnar. When will we see Maya--”

”So, I have been working ever since we arrived. A jewel here. A bit of gold there. It is amazing how a diamond can make a man see just what you tell him to see. Much better than ordinary gla.s.ses. Then I found Piper here. And Piper is ambitious. Do you know what it costs to become head-man and chief tax-gatherer of a town of five-thousand, Odin?”

”Gunnar, I know nothing of these matters. Tell me about Maya--”

”Well, Piper has been paid. The town will be his if our plan works out tonight. Otherwise, I will twist his neck.” And Gunnar paused to scowl at the young man in the white uniform until poor Piper began sweating.

”Many others have been paid. They are to stay away from their posts. They will see nothing and hear nothing at certain times tonight. Here, hand me your book.”

Odin obliged and Gunnar produced a ragged bit of pencil and started drawing a map upon the fly-leaf. ”Here,” he said, ”is the city. And here is the river. Now, if you remember, there is a deep bend in the river, and this tomb that Grim Hagen has built is within the bend of the river. There is a good road that goes from the city to the tomb, but it is guarded. The Nebula is on the other side of the bend. So the answer is quite simple. We go up the river. Piper has a boat waiting for us--”

”I have already paid many and have sworn them to silence,” Piper interrupted. ”But it will be a dangerous business. I would not dare it at all except that it will be five years before I am eligible for tax-gatherer, and the waiting is killing me. A city of my own--”

Piper, Jack Odin gathered, was a very ambitious man.

The boat moved up-river in darkness. There were beacons upon the sh.o.r.e, turning this way and that, but they seemed to be trained a bit high this night.

Once a motor-boat pa.s.sed them, going at a fast clip, and somebody called out that he saw a shadow over toward the far side of the river. And another voice answered. ”You're always seeing things. A log, maybe. Didn't I tell you that I found some money in the street? And aren't we going to have the best meal that money can buy? Do you want to stay here with an empty belly on this cold river all night? Our watch is nearly over. I'm tired. Let's get along--”

Later, some one hailed them from the bank and threatened to shoot if they did not pull in. Then there was a loud scream that died in a weltering gurgle. They heard a splash as something hit the water--and then all was still. They waited. A peculiar little whistle sounded three notes from the darkness.

As though rea.s.sured, Piper took up his oars.

”That was the last guard,” Gunnar whispered. ”It took a ruby the size of a sparrow's egg to get him killed. Oh, well, blame Grim Hagen. He shouldn't have gouged these people so hard--” And then, to Piper: ”You're bright enough, I guess, but you don't know how to row a boat. Give me the oars.”

He took them and slid them into their hole-pins. ”Now, give Gunnar room.”

He bowed his broad head, leaning forward almost to his toes. Then he dug the oars into the water and straightened up and bent backward like a machine. Noiselessly the oars came up again. He bent forward and dipped them into the river again. And as he worked faster he began to count to himself in a panting whisper: ”Huh--huh--huh--huf!”

The boat streaked across the river's surface like a water-bug.

At last they slid into some thick cat-tails. Gunnar got a hand-hold and propelled them forward until the prow grounded in the shallows.

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