Harold Lamb

“ He had no reason to distrust the Armenian boy, who seemed anxious enough to lead them to safety, and whose life was as much at stake as theirs.
“Have you an idea?” he responded curtly, for the fresh misfortune was serious.
“Aye, so,” answered Ayub promptly. “The witch can work a spell for us as well as against. She can find a way out of this if she will. When I deal with her she will bethink her of a way.”
Taking Demid’s silence for assent, the big Cossack swaggered off to Lali who was cracking walnuts on the pommel of her saddle and chewing with relish. ”

“ So said Ayub, not knowing that Lali had beguiled and tricked him completely in a scant moment.
“But, kunak,” observed the oldest of the Cossacks, scratching his shaven skull. “Our father Demid has steel in his heart. He whacked the fair young witch with his saber. That is the way to handle a sorceress.” ”

“ Their sword edges are sharper than their wits, or they would not be upon the road to Aleppo. I want you to lead them from this place, to our folk. Can you save the horses?”
Ibnol Hammamgi hunched himself closer in his shawl and shook his great head gently from side to side.
“The horses, aye. The men are another matter——”
“You will profit much.”
“How?”
The two spoke together, low-voiced, and in the end the Armenian gave his assent, surlily enough. A bridle chain clinked behind them, and they beheld Demid within arms’ reach. Lali did not draw back. ”

“ They believed implicitly in ghosts of unburied warriors and spirits of the waste places—vampires who sucked a man’s blood, hob-gobs who turned horses into toads, and will-o’-the-wisps who could lead even the hardiest astray of a dark night. ”

“ There is a way out, unknown to the Turks, who will think that demons have made off with you, if you come with us——”
“Enough,” whined the cral, who had been sniffing the air like a dog. “Snow is coming down from the crests, and we must be upon the paths.”
He glanced at the gold and silver trappings of the Cossack’s saddle, and at the packs hf the warriors, who had managed to carry off more than a little spoil from the Moslem towns.
“These Franks have chosen good ponies from below. That is well. Will they keep truce with us?”
Lali shrugged and turned to Demid. ”

“ Great mighty captain of beggars and king of nowhere—have you wit enough to understand this. The low-born lad who led you here did so at my behest. This is a trap, sometimes used by my folk, but a trap for pursuers, not pursued. ”