IV

"OPEN THE GATES!"

"First we must get out of this building," I said. "Do you recall any of

its details as you were brought through it?"

"Yes. There is a long hallway from the front of the building on the

ground floor leading directly to stairs that lie at the back of the

first floor. There are several rooms opening from each side of the

hall. There were people in the two front rooms, but I could not see

into the others as the doors were closed."

"We shall have to investigate, and if there are sounds of life below we

must wait until all are asleep. In the meantime I am going out on the

balcony and see if I can discover some safer way to the ground."

When I went to the window I found that it had started to rain. I crept

around the building until I could look down onto the street that passed

before it. There was no sign of life there; it was likely that the

rain had driven all within doors. In the distance I could dimly make

out the outlines of the city wall at the end of the street. Everything

was faintly illumined by the strange night light that is so peculiar a

feature of the Amtorian scene. There was no stairway or ladder leading

from the balcony to the ground. Our only avenue of descent was by way

of the interior stairs.

I returned to Duare. "Come," I said. "We might as well try it now as

later."

"Wait!" she exclaimed. "I have a thought. It just occurred to me from

something I overheard on board the Sofal relative to the customs of the

Thorists. Moosko is an ongyan."

"Was," I corrected her, for I thought him dead.

"That is immaterial. The point is that he was one of the rulers of the

so-called Free Land of Thora. His authority, especially here, where

there is no other member of the oligarchy, would be absolute. Yet he

was unknown to any of the natives of Kapdor. What proof did he bring of

his identity or his high position?"

"I do not know," I admitted.

"I believe that you will find upon the index finger of his right hand a

great ring that is the badge of his office."

"And you think that we could use this ring as authority to pass the

sentries?"

"It is possible," replied Duare.

"But not probable," I demurred. "Not by the wildest flight of fancy

could any one mistake me for Moosko--unless my conceit flatters me."

A faint smile touched Duare's lips. "I am believing that it will not be

necessary for you to look like him," she explained. "These people are

very ignorant. Probably only a few of the common warriors saw Moosko

when he arrived. Those same men would not be on watch now. Furthermore,

it is night, and with the darkness and the rain the danger that your

imposture will be discovered is minimized."

"It is worth trying," I agreed; and, going to the body of Moosko, I

found the ring and removed it from his finger. It was too large for me,

as the ongyan had gross, fat hands; but if any one was stupid enough to

accept me as the ongyan he would not notice so minor a discrepancy as

an ill-fitting ring.

Now Duare and I crept silently out of the chamber to the head of the

stairs, where we paused, listening. All was dark below, but we heard

the sound of voices, muffled, as though coming from behind a closed

door. Slowly, stealthily, we descended the stairs. I felt the warmth of

the girl's body as it brushed mine, and a great longing seized me to

take her in my arms and crush her to me; but I only continued on down

the stairway as outwardly cool and possessed as though no internal fire

consumed me.

* * * * *

We had reached the long hallway and had groped our way about half the

distance to the door that opened upon the street, a feeling of optimism

enveloping me, when suddenly a door at the front end of the corridor

opened and the passageway was illuminated by the light from the room

beyond.

I saw a portion of the figure of a man standing in the open doorway. He

had paused and was conversing with some one in the room he was about to

quit. In another moment he might step into the corridor.

At my elbow was a door. Gingerly I tripped the latch and pushed the

door open; the room beyond was in darkness, but whether or not it was

occupied I could not tell. Stepping through the doorway I drew Duare

in after me and partially closed the door again, standing close to the

aperture, watching and listening.

Presently I heard the man who had been standing in the other doorway

say, "Until to-morrow, friends, and may you sleep in peace," then the

door slammed and the hallway was plunged into darkness again.

Now I heard footsteps; they were coming in our direction. Very gingerly

I drew the sword of Moosko, the ongyan. On came the footsteps; they

seemed to hesitate before the door behind which I waited; but perhaps

it was only my imagination. They passed on; I heard them ascending the

stairway.

Now a new fear assailed me. What if this man should enter the room in

which lay the dead body of Moosko! He would spread the alarm. Instantly

I recognized the necessity for immediate action.

"Now, Duare!" I whispered, and together we stepped into the corridor

and almost ran to the front door of the building.

A moment later we were in the street. The drizzle had become a

downpour. Objects were undiscernable a few yards distant, and for this

I was thankful.

We hastened along the street in the direction of the wall and the gate,

passing no one, seeing no one. The rain increased in violence.

"What are you going to say to the sentry?" asked Duare.

"I do not know," I replied candidly.

"He will be suspicious, for you can have no possible excuse for wishing

to leave the safety of a walled city on a night like this and go out

without an escort into a dangerous country where savage beasts and

savage men roam."

"I shall find a way," I said, "because I must."

She made no reply, and we continued on toward the gate. It was not at a

great distance from the house from which we had escaped and presently

we came upon it looming large before us through the falling rain.

A sentry, standing in the shelter of a niche in the wall, discovered us

and demanded what we were doing abroad at this hour of such a night.

He was not greatly concerned, since he did not know that it was in our

minds to pass through the gateway; he merely assumed, I presume, that

we were a couple of citizens passing by on our way to our home.

"Is Sov here?" I demanded.

"Sov here!" he exclaimed in astonishment. "What would Sov be doing here

on a night like this?"

"He was to meet me here at this hour," I said. "I instructed him to be

here."

"You instructed Sov to be here!" The fellow laughed. "Who are you to

give instructions to Sov?"

"I am the ongyan, Moosko," I replied.

* * * * *

The man looked at me in astonishment. "I do not know where Sov is," he

said, a little sullenly, I thought.

"Well, never mind," I told him; "he will be here presently; and in the

meantime, open up the gate, for we shall want to hurry on as soon as he

arrives."

"I cannot open the gate without orders from Sov," replied the sentry.

"You refuse to obey an ongyan?" I demanded in the most ferocious tones

I could command.

"I have never seen you before," he parried. "How do I know you are an

ongyan?"

I held out my hand with the ring of Moosko on the index finger. "Do you

know what that is?" I demanded.