Part 10 (1/2)

'A God,' she whispered 'The black people spoke of it - a God froo!'

'A devil fro uncoht which surrounds this world I've heard the wise men of Zamora talk of them Some find their way to Earth, but when they do they have to take on Earthly form and flesh of some sort A man like s and talons, infernal or terrestrial Coe of the valley'

She crouched motionless, unable to find words, while he frowned down at her Then she spoke: 'I ran away fro to keep ain we made but I would have escaped from you if I could Punish me as you will'

He shook the sweat and blood frorunted 'It was a foul bargain IBajujh, but you are no wench to be bought and sold The ways of men vary in different lands, but a ht awhile, I saw that to hold you to your bargain would be the sah for this land You are a child of cities and books and civilized ways - which isn't your fault, but you'd die quickly following the life I thrive on A dead woian borders The Stygians will send you home to Ophir'

She stared up at hiht 'Home?' she repeated mechanically 'Home? Ophir? My people? Cities, towers, peace,to her knees, she erunted Conan, e you a favor by kicking you out of this country; haven't I explained that you're not the proper woman for the war-chief of the Bamulas?'

THE SNOUT IN THE DARK

(DRAFT) 1

Aish froht before For a ht, streah the barred , shone on unfa in the upper cell of the prison where the anger of Tananda, sister to the king of Kush, had consigned him It was no ordinary cell, for even Tananda had not dared to go too far in her punishment of the coth of Kush's army There were carpets and tapestries and silk-covered couches, and jugs of wine - he remeaze wandered to the square of barredthat partially sobered hiaze The bars of that ere bent and buckled and twisted back Itthat had awakened him But what could have bent them? And where hatever had so bent them? Suddenly he was completely sober, and an icy sensation wandered up his spine So was in the room with him

With a low cry he started up on his couch and stared about hiure that stood at the head of his couch An icy hand clutched the heart of Areyish shape did not ht, misshapen, defor wildly, A-like head, snouted, covered with coarse bristles - but the thing stood upright and its diick hair-covered ar up - and then thespeed of a ht, foa in the ht fell on a black shape sprawled arayish, sha form moved silently across the chaainst the stars

'Tuthent as the fist that hammered on the teak door of the chamber where slept Shumballa's most ambitious nobleman 'Tuthmes! Let me in! The devil is loose in Shumballa!'

The door was opened, and the speaker burst into the room -a lean, wiry lea He was ht features of his caste

'What are you saying, Afari?'

Afari closed the door before he answered; he was panting as if froroid was more predominant in his features

'Amboola! He is dead! In the Red Tower!'

'What?' exclaimed Tuthmes 'Tananda dared execute him?'

'No! No, no! She would not be such a fool, surely He was not executed, but h the bars of his cell and tore his throat out, and stamped in his ribs, and broke his skull - Set, I have seen many dead men, but never one less lovely in his death than Amboola! Tuthmes, it is the work of some demon! His throat was bitten out, and the prints of the teeth were not like those of a lion or an ape It was as if they had been made by chisels, sharp as razors!' 'When was this done?'

'Soht Guards in the lower part of the toatching the stair that leads up to the cell in which he was i up the stairs, burst into the cell and found hi in the lower part of the tower as you bade uards say naught to anyone'

Tuthmes smiled and his smile was not pleasant to see 'Gods and demons work for a bold h to have Amboola murdered, however she desired it The blacks have been sullen, ever since she cast him into prison She could not have kept hier

'But this matter puts a weapon into our hands If the Gallahs think she did it, so ainst the dynasty is a weapon for us Go, now, and strike before the king can learn of it First, take a detachuards for sleeping at their duty Be sure you take care to do it by ed their commander, and remove a weapon from Tananda's hands Kill theo into Punt and find old Ageera, the witch-finder Do not tell him flatly that Tananda had this deed done, but hint at it' Afari shuddered visibly

'How can a common man lie to that black devil? His eyes are like coals of red fire that look into depths unnameable I have seen hirind their naked jaws'

'Don't lie,' answered Tuthmes 'Simply hint to him your own suspicions After all, even if a deht Perhaps Tananda is behind this, after all!'

When Afari had left,intensely over what his patron had told him, Tuthmes drew a silken cloak about his otherwise naked liany, he ca over the parapet, he saw below him the silent streets of the inner city of Shureat square, into which, at an instant's notice, a thousand black horse barracks

Looking further, he saw the great bronze gates, and beyond theuish it from El Shebbeh, the inner city Shurass lands that stretched to the horizons, broken only by occasional low hills A narrow, deep river,edges of the city El Shebbeh was separated from Punt by a tall andcaste, descendants of those Stygians who centuries ago had come southward to hack out a black empire, and to mix their proud blood with the blood of their dusky subjects El Shebbeh ell laid out, with regular streets and squares, stone buildings and gardens; Punt was a sprawling wilderness of led into squares that were squares in nainal inhabitants of the country, lived in Punt; none but the ruling caste, the Chagas, dwelt in El Shebbeh, except for their servants, and the black horselanced out over that vast expanse of huts Fires glowed in the ragged squares, torches swayed to and fro in the wandering streets, and fro, a barbaric chanting that thrummed with an undertone of wrath or bloodlust Tuthmes drew his cloak closer about hi across the roof, he halted by a figure which slept in the shadow of a palarden When stirred by Tuth up

'There is no need for speech,' cautioned Tuthmes 'The deed is done Amboola is dead, and before dawn, all Punt will knoas murdered by Tananda'

'And the - the devil?' whispered the

'Shh! Gone back into the darkness whence it was invoked Harken, Shubba, it is ti the She her here speedily If you return within the ht in silver If you fail, I will hang your head from that palm tree'

Shubba prostrated hi, he hurried froain into Punt The fires seeun an ominous monotone A sudden clamor of bestial yells welled up to his ears

'They have heard that Aain he was shaken by a strong shudder

Life flowed on its accustomed course in the filth-littered streets of Punt Giant black men squatted in the doorways of their thatched huts, or lolled on the ground in their shade Black woourds or baskets of food on their heads Children played or fought in the dust, laughing or squalling shrilly In the squares the black folk chaffered and bargained over plantains, beer and hammered brass ornaments S out spear blades The hot sun beat down on all, he sweat, er, nakedness and squalor of the black eople Suddenly there cae in the pattern, a new note in be tiroup of horsemen rode by, half a dozen roup Her skin was dusky, her hair, a thick black arment, besides the sandals on her feet, was a short silk skirt girdled at the waist Gold plates, crusted with jewels, partially covered her dusky breasts Her features were straight, her bold, scintillant eyes full of challenge and sureness She rode and handled her steed with ease and certitude, the slim Kushi+te horse, with the jeweled bridle, the reins of scarlet leather, as broad as a ilt, and her sandalled feet in the wide silver stirrups

As she rode by, work and chatter ceased suddenly The black faces grew sullen, and the murky eyes burned redly The blacks turned their heads to whisper in each other's ears, and the whispers grew to a sullen, audible rew nervous He glanced ahead, along the winding street, ates, not yet in view along the flat-topped houses, and whispered: 'The people grow ugly, Tananda; it was foolish to ride in Punt'

'All the black dogs in Kush shall not keep ,' answered the wo, ride them down'

'Easier said than done,''They are co the street - look there!'

They were entering a broad, ragged square, where the black folk swarh-hewn beahbors, with a cluster of skulls above the wide doorway This was the temple of Jullah, which the black folk worshi+pped in opposition to Set, the Serpent-God worshi+pped by the Chagas in iian ancestors The black folk were thronged in this square, sullenly staring at the horsemen There was a distinct menace in their attitude, and Tananda, for the first tiht nervousness, did not notice another rider approaching the square along another street This rider would have attracted attention in ordinary tia nor Gallah, but a white ure in chain- its folds about his meanhis curved sword The others, guardsmen, black men like the folk about them, drew closer about her, but did not draw their blades A low sullen h no h theave back sullenly before her advance, and suddenly, froure It was old Ageera, clad only in a loin-cloth Pointing his finger at Tananda, he yelled: 'There she rides, she whose hands are dipped in blood! She who murdered Amboola!'

His yell was the spark that set off the explosion A vast roar rose fro: 'Death to Tananda!' In an instant a hundred black hands were clawing at the legs of the riders The youth reined between Tananda and the mob, but a stone, cast frouards, were torn from their steeds and beaten, stamped and stabbed to death Tananda, beset at last with terror, screaures, rasped her thigh and plucked her froer and furious hands which awaited her Her skirt was ripped from her body and waved in the air above her, while a bellow of pri mob A wo her breasts with her fingernails A stone hurled at her grazed her head She screa at her, threatening to dismember her She saw a stone clenched in a black hand, while the owner sought to reach her in the press and brain her Daggers glinted Only the hindering nu her to death instantly 'To the devil-devil house!' went up a roar, followed by a responsive cla with the surging s, wherever a black hand could grip Blows aimed at her in the press were blocked or diverted by the mass; and then there caered as a horseman on a powerful steed crashed full into the press

Men went down screaot a dizzy gli above the press, of a dark scarred face under a steel helhtyup and down, spattering crimson splashes But fro the steed It screaed and went down, but the rider landed on his feet, slanced from his helmet or the shi+eld on his left arm, while his broadsword cleft flesh and bone, split skulls, scattered brains and spilled entrails into the bloody dust

Flesh and blood could not stand before it Clearing a space he stooped, caught up the terrified girl and, covering her with his shi+eld, fell back, cutting a ruthless way He backed into the angle of a wall and, dropping her behind hi onslaught

Then there was a clatter of hoofs and a regi the rioters before thero resplendent in criold-worked harness

'You were long in coained much of her poise The captain turned ashy, but before he could turn, Tananda had ht by his rasped his spear with both hands and drove it between his captain's shoulders with such force that the point started out from his breast The captain sank to his knees, and thrusts from half a dozen more spears finished the task

Tananda shook back her long black disheveled hair and faced her rescuer She was bleeding frohs, her locks fell in confusion down her back, and she was as naked as the day she was born; but she stared at hiave back her stare, frank ad, and the ripeness of her brown limbs