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The Slayer of Souls
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"The succession has been unbroken since 1090 B.C.A Hassan Sabbah is still the present Old Man of the Mountain. His Yezidees worship Erlik. They are sorcerers. But you would not believe that."
Cleves said with a smile, "Who is Erlik?"
"The Mongols' Satan."
"Oh! So these Yezidees are devil-worshipers!"
"They are more. They are actually devils."
"You don't really believe that even in unexplored China there exists such a creature as a real sorcerer, do you?" he inquired, smilingly.
"I don't wish to talk of it."
To his surprise her face had flushed, and he thought her sensitive mouth quivered a little.
He watched her in silence for a moment; then, leaning a little way across the table:
"Where are you going when the show here closes?"
"To my boarding-house."
"And then?"
"To bed," she said, sullenly.
"And to-morrow what do you mean to do?"
"Go out to the agencies and ask for work."
"And if there is none?"
"The chorus," she said, indifferently.
"What salary have you been getting?"
She told him.
"Will you take three times that amount and work with me?"
CHAPTER IV
BODY AND SOUL
The girl's direct gaze met his with that merciless searching intentness he already knew.
"What do you wish me to do?"
"Enter the service of the United States."
"Wh-what?"
"Work for the Government."
She was too taken aback to answer.
"Where were you born?" he demanded abruptly.
"In Albany, New York," she replied in a dazed way.
"You are loyal to your country?"
"Yes – certainly."
"You would not betray her?"
"No."
"I don't mean for money; I mean from fear."
After a moment, and, avoiding his gaze: "I am afraid of death," she said very simply.
He waited.
"I – I don't know what I might do – being afraid," she added in a troubled voice. "I desire to – live."
He still waited.
She lifted her eyes: "I'd try not to betray my country," she murmured.
"Try to face death for your country's honour?"
"Yes."
"And for your own?"
"Yes; and for my own."
He leaned nearer: "Yet you're taking a chance on your own honour to-night."
She blushed brightly: "I didn't think I was taking a very great chance with you."
He said: "You have found life too hard. And when you faced failure in New York you began to let go of life – real life, I mean. And you came up here to-night wondering whether you had courage to let yourself go. When I spoke to you it scared you. You found you hadn't the courage. But perhaps to-morrow you might find it – or next week – if sufficiently scared by hunger – you might venture to take the first step along the path that you say others usually take sooner or later."
The girl flushed scarlet, sat looking at him out of eyes grown dark with anger.
He said: "You told me an untruth. You have been tempted to betray your country. You have resisted. You have been threatened with death. You have had courage to defy threats and temptations where your country's honour was concerned!"
"How do you know?" she demanded.
Cleves said with a smile, "Who is Erlik?"
"The Mongols' Satan."
"Oh! So these Yezidees are devil-worshipers!"
"They are more. They are actually devils."
"You don't really believe that even in unexplored China there exists such a creature as a real sorcerer, do you?" he inquired, smilingly.
"I don't wish to talk of it."
To his surprise her face had flushed, and he thought her sensitive mouth quivered a little.
He watched her in silence for a moment; then, leaning a little way across the table:
"Where are you going when the show here closes?"
"To my boarding-house."
"And then?"
"To bed," she said, sullenly.
"And to-morrow what do you mean to do?"
"Go out to the agencies and ask for work."
"And if there is none?"
"The chorus," she said, indifferently.
"What salary have you been getting?"
She told him.
"Will you take three times that amount and work with me?"
CHAPTER IV
BODY AND SOUL
The girl's direct gaze met his with that merciless searching intentness he already knew.
"What do you wish me to do?"
"Enter the service of the United States."
"Wh-what?"
"Work for the Government."
She was too taken aback to answer.
"Where were you born?" he demanded abruptly.
"In Albany, New York," she replied in a dazed way.
"You are loyal to your country?"
"Yes – certainly."
"You would not betray her?"
"No."
"I don't mean for money; I mean from fear."
After a moment, and, avoiding his gaze: "I am afraid of death," she said very simply.
He waited.
"I – I don't know what I might do – being afraid," she added in a troubled voice. "I desire to – live."
He still waited.
She lifted her eyes: "I'd try not to betray my country," she murmured.
"Try to face death for your country's honour?"
"Yes."
"And for your own?"
"Yes; and for my own."
He leaned nearer: "Yet you're taking a chance on your own honour to-night."
She blushed brightly: "I didn't think I was taking a very great chance with you."
He said: "You have found life too hard. And when you faced failure in New York you began to let go of life – real life, I mean. And you came up here to-night wondering whether you had courage to let yourself go. When I spoke to you it scared you. You found you hadn't the courage. But perhaps to-morrow you might find it – or next week – if sufficiently scared by hunger – you might venture to take the first step along the path that you say others usually take sooner or later."
The girl flushed scarlet, sat looking at him out of eyes grown dark with anger.
He said: "You told me an untruth. You have been tempted to betray your country. You have resisted. You have been threatened with death. You have had courage to defy threats and temptations where your country's honour was concerned!"
"How do you know?" she demanded.
Другие электронные книги автора Robert Chambers
Другие аудиокниги автора Robert Chambers
Последний отзыв
Так получилось, что книга ко мне попала в тяжелый эмоциональный кризис и многое мне дала. Написано актуально, тут многих полезных вещей, никакого злоу...
Далее