Harold Lamb

“ In the minds of the servitors Rudolfo had gained the mastery over Michael. Soranzi and Clavijo were puzzled. Michael, who was by no means a slow thinker, sensed the drift away from him.
“I must take measures for our safety,” Rudolfo was saying, “for the pagans are close on our heels. Bind me this miscreant.”
“Verily—” Michael smiled quickly—“you are a rare leader, signor. Were you not among the captains of Nicopolis? Did not you, Clavijo, see him there? Rudolfo saw you?” ”

“ There were now only eight attendants—Bembo, a sick servant of Clavijo who was carried in a litter, Gian and his four men and Soranzi’s servant.
When the pack-animals were loaded and trudging forward, Michael reined his horse in beside the Spaniard.
“Signor Clavijo,” he said softly. “You have left the path that we were following. By the sun, unless I am blind, you are taking us in a circle. Wherefore?”
The Spaniard pointed toward the site of the distant camp.
“Death is upon us. We are in the land of Gog and Magog, where djins pursue Christian travelers. Oh, it is an evil day!” ”

“ Rudolfo had set spurs to his horse, while the others looked on aghast at the swift clash of weapons. Before Michael could step aside, the condottiere's beast struck the sea-captain, knocking him a dozen feet. Then came the grinning Gian, who leaped upon Michael's sword where it had fallen and glanced inquiringly at Rudolfo. ”

“ After Bembo left the place, frightened by sight of the sitting-down beast, our brave men-at-arms made themselves free of the women of the village, the Kurdish warriors of the place being absent with the riders of the Turkish army.”
Gian and the others were silent at this and uneasy, lacking Rudolfo's calm.
“Two Kurds only reached our camp in the night,” went on Michael, “or our throats as well might have been cut. The Moslems do not forget a wrong, Rudolfo. Wherefore, death follows in your track.”
“And what manner of man was he you caught?” inquired Soranzi uncomfortably. ”

“ Rudolfo shrugged.
“They will die anyway.”
When the cavalcade of mounted men and pack-animals moved off, Bembo slipped from the thicket where he had hidden during the hurried departure and ran among the horses, clinging to Soranzi's stirrup. The merchant, reduced to a state of panic by the events of the past hour, drove him off with kicks and blows.
“Leave the fool to his folly,” gibed Gian, who noticed Bembo's frantic efforts to keep up.
“To leave him would be to reveal our course to those who pursue us,” observed Michael. So Bembo was suffered to hold his friend's stirrup. ”

“ I am the leader of the men-at-arms. I take command, forsooth! Every man except the five troopers and myself must give up arms. You, Soranzi, assume charge of the money, articles of trade and gifts. Take an inventory of the goods, and keep it. The —— himself knows in what quarter this liar has led us. We will strike back to Trebizond and consult further— Ha, dog! Would you do that?”
The roving eye of the condottiere had fallen upon Bembo as the hunchback was stealing away quietly in the direction Michael had taken along the back track. ”

“ They were silent at that and the thin mouth of the merchant pinched together as he answered—
“Why?”
“You call it black magic—faith—when horsemen gallop i' the night, signors. Nay, they were Tatars who ride with a loose rein in day or dark. I know because I have this hour caught one who followed in our trail. Some news I had from him. War threatens between the Turk and the Tatar—the sultan and the khan. Signori, these be mighty monarchs and their bands of riders on this borderland are more numerous than the good people of Venice itself.” ”

“ You can not turn back. Soranzi's greed is fired by the strange sights he has seen and yearns for his promised profits. Rudolfo will not give in to you, unless he is in your confidence——”
“God forbid!”
“That had the ring of truth. Well, by my reckoning we are near the Tatar tribes. Now that death dogs our steps we can not push on blindly. We are followed, without doubt. I shall strike back along our track and seek to take captive one of the riders, whether Armenian or djin, and make him tell us where we are and what is in store for us and why we are followed. ”

“ And warn my good Gian from his excursion into the native village some time since? What more of reason would you have?”
This arraignment, although it satisfied the servitors, raised grave doubts in the keen mind of Soranzi—doubts which were heightened when Michael responded gravely that he had slept in a tent with Clavijo the night before and that the Spaniard could testify that he had not left the tent until aroused by the others.
“Yet,” growled Rudolfo, who was gaining confidence, “you can walk out of a wood without a sound. ”

“ And reason enow!“ said the latter curtly. “’Fore ——, masters, here have we a low-born churl who stinks of the sea and who bears the scars of slavery on his wrists and back. Since our landing he has held intercourse with the pagans of the countryside. ”