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had escaped my notice. It seemed to me that it might be fraught with
importance.
I examined the floor carefully. I saw footprints. They approached a
wall; and there they stopped; there seemed to be a path worn in the
dust of this point in the wall. I examined the wall. It was covered with
a form of synthetic wood common in Havatoo, and when I rapped
upon it it sounded hollow.
The wall covering was applied in panels about three feet wide, and at
the top of the panel I was examining was a small round hole about an
inch in diameter. Inserting a forefinger in this hole I discovered just
what I had imagined I would discover--a latch. I tripped it; and with a
slight pressure the panel swung toward me, revealing a dark aperture
beyond it.
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Click here to buy
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At my feet I dimly discerned the top of a flight of steps. I listened
intently; no sound came up to me from the gloom into which the stairs
disappeared. Naturally, I was convinced that Nalte's abductor had
carried her down that stairway.
I should have waited for the return of Ero Shan, but I thought that
Nalte might be in danger. I could not think of wasting a single
precious instant in delay.
I placed a foot upon the stairs and started to descend; and as I did so
the panel closed softly behind me, actuated by a spring. I heard the
latch click. I was now in utter darkness. I had to feel my way. At any
moment I might come upon Nalte's abductor waiting to dispatch me.
It was a most uncomfortable sensation, I can assure you.
The stairway, which was apparently cut from the living limestone that
underlies Havatoo, ran straight down to a great depth. From the
bottom of the stairway I felt my way along a narrow corridor.
Occasionally I stopped and listened. At first I heard not a sound; the
silence was the silence of the grave.
Presently the walls commenced to feel moist; and then, occasionally,
a drop of water fell upon my head. Now a low, muffled sound like the
shadow of a roar seemed to fill the subterranean corridor like a
vague, oppressive menace.
On and on I groped my way. I could not advance rapidly, for I was
compelled to feel every forward footstep before taking it; I could not
know what lay beyond the last.
Thus I continued on for a long distance until finally my extended foot
felt an obstruction. Investigating, I found that it was the lowest step of
a flight of stairs.
Cautiously I ascended, and at the top I came against a blank wall. But
experience had taught me where to search for a latch, for I was
confident that what barred my progress was a door.
Presently my fingers found what they sought; a door gave to the
pressure of my hand.
I pushed it slowly and cautiously until a narrow crack permitted me to
look beyond it.
I saw a portion of a room dimly illuminated by the night light of
Amtor. I opened the door a little farther; there was no one in the
room. I stepped into it, but before I permitted the door to close I
a
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Click here to buy
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located the opening through which the latch could be tripped from
that side.
The room in which I found myself was filthy and littered with debris.
It was filled with a revolting, musty odor that suggested death and
decay.
In the wall opposite me were three openings, a doorway and two
windows; but there was no window sash and no door. Beyond the
door, to which I now crossed, was a yard inclosed by one side of the
building and a high wall.
There were three rooms on the ground floor of the building, and these
I searched rapidly; they contained only broken furniture, old rags,
and dirt. I went upstairs. Here were three more rooms; they revealed
nothing more of interest than those downstairs.
Other than these six rooms there was nothing more to the house, and
so I was soon aware that I must search farther for Nalte. Neither she
nor any one else was in this house.
From an upper window I looked out over the yard. Beyond the wall I
saw a street. It was a dingy, gloomy street. The houses that fronted it
were drab and dilapidated, but I did not have to look out upon this
scene to know where I was. Long before this I had guessed that I was
in Kormor, the city of the cruel jong of Morov. The tunnel through
which I had passed from Havatoo had carried me beneath the great
river that is called Gerlat kum Rov, River of Death. Now I knew that
Nalte had been abducted by the agents of Skor.
From the window I saw an occasional pedestrian on the street that
passed the house. They moved with slow, shuffling steps. Somewhere
in this city of the dead was Nalte in danger so great that I turned cold
at the mere thought of it. I must find her! But how?
Descending to the yard, I passed through a gateway in the wall and
out into the street. Only the natural, nocturnal light of Amtor
illuminated the scene. I did not know which way to go, yet I knew that
I must keep moving if I were not to attract attention to myself.
My judgment and my knowledge of Skor suggested that where Skor
was there I would find Nalte, and so I knew that I must find the jong's
palace. If I might only stop one of the pedestrians and ask him; but
that I did not dare do, for to reveal my ignorance of the location of the
a
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Click here to buy
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r r [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
had escaped my notice. It seemed to me that it might be fraught with
importance.
I examined the floor carefully. I saw footprints. They approached a
wall; and there they stopped; there seemed to be a path worn in the
dust of this point in the wall. I examined the wall. It was covered with
a form of synthetic wood common in Havatoo, and when I rapped
upon it it sounded hollow.
The wall covering was applied in panels about three feet wide, and at
the top of the panel I was examining was a small round hole about an
inch in diameter. Inserting a forefinger in this hole I discovered just
what I had imagined I would discover--a latch. I tripped it; and with a
slight pressure the panel swung toward me, revealing a dark aperture
beyond it.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
At my feet I dimly discerned the top of a flight of steps. I listened
intently; no sound came up to me from the gloom into which the stairs
disappeared. Naturally, I was convinced that Nalte's abductor had
carried her down that stairway.
I should have waited for the return of Ero Shan, but I thought that
Nalte might be in danger. I could not think of wasting a single
precious instant in delay.
I placed a foot upon the stairs and started to descend; and as I did so
the panel closed softly behind me, actuated by a spring. I heard the
latch click. I was now in utter darkness. I had to feel my way. At any
moment I might come upon Nalte's abductor waiting to dispatch me.
It was a most uncomfortable sensation, I can assure you.
The stairway, which was apparently cut from the living limestone that
underlies Havatoo, ran straight down to a great depth. From the
bottom of the stairway I felt my way along a narrow corridor.
Occasionally I stopped and listened. At first I heard not a sound; the
silence was the silence of the grave.
Presently the walls commenced to feel moist; and then, occasionally,
a drop of water fell upon my head. Now a low, muffled sound like the
shadow of a roar seemed to fill the subterranean corridor like a
vague, oppressive menace.
On and on I groped my way. I could not advance rapidly, for I was
compelled to feel every forward footstep before taking it; I could not
know what lay beyond the last.
Thus I continued on for a long distance until finally my extended foot
felt an obstruction. Investigating, I found that it was the lowest step of
a flight of stairs.
Cautiously I ascended, and at the top I came against a blank wall. But
experience had taught me where to search for a latch, for I was
confident that what barred my progress was a door.
Presently my fingers found what they sought; a door gave to the
pressure of my hand.
I pushed it slowly and cautiously until a narrow crack permitted me to
look beyond it.
I saw a portion of a room dimly illuminated by the night light of
Amtor. I opened the door a little farther; there was no one in the
room. I stepped into it, but before I permitted the door to close I
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
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.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
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B
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B
B
r r
located the opening through which the latch could be tripped from
that side.
The room in which I found myself was filthy and littered with debris.
It was filled with a revolting, musty odor that suggested death and
decay.
In the wall opposite me were three openings, a doorway and two
windows; but there was no window sash and no door. Beyond the
door, to which I now crossed, was a yard inclosed by one side of the
building and a high wall.
There were three rooms on the ground floor of the building, and these
I searched rapidly; they contained only broken furniture, old rags,
and dirt. I went upstairs. Here were three more rooms; they revealed
nothing more of interest than those downstairs.
Other than these six rooms there was nothing more to the house, and
so I was soon aware that I must search farther for Nalte. Neither she
nor any one else was in this house.
From an upper window I looked out over the yard. Beyond the wall I
saw a street. It was a dingy, gloomy street. The houses that fronted it
were drab and dilapidated, but I did not have to look out upon this
scene to know where I was. Long before this I had guessed that I was
in Kormor, the city of the cruel jong of Morov. The tunnel through
which I had passed from Havatoo had carried me beneath the great
river that is called Gerlat kum Rov, River of Death. Now I knew that
Nalte had been abducted by the agents of Skor.
From the window I saw an occasional pedestrian on the street that
passed the house. They moved with slow, shuffling steps. Somewhere
in this city of the dead was Nalte in danger so great that I turned cold
at the mere thought of it. I must find her! But how?
Descending to the yard, I passed through a gateway in the wall and
out into the street. Only the natural, nocturnal light of Amtor
illuminated the scene. I did not know which way to go, yet I knew that
I must keep moving if I were not to attract attention to myself.
My judgment and my knowledge of Skor suggested that where Skor
was there I would find Nalte, and so I knew that I must find the jong's
palace. If I might only stop one of the pedestrians and ask him; but
that I did not dare do, for to reveal my ignorance of the location of the
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
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P
m
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.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
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B
r r [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]