Robert E. Howard

Name: Beyond the Black River — Chapter II
Author: Robert E. Howard

Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (1935)

Summary

“Beyond the Black River — Chapter II”, published in 1935, is a work by Robert E. Howard. It explores elements such as Zogar Sag, Conan and Bossonian.

Quotes from Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (Robert E. Howard)

Robert E. Howard, Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (1935)

“ If we cannot hold the fort, how can they hold the town?
“Conan, Zogar Sag must die, if we are to hold Conajohara. You have penetrated the unknown deeper than any other man in the fort; you know where Gwawela stands, and something of the forest trails across the river. Will you take a band of men tonight and endeavor to kill or capture him? Oh, I know it's mad. There isn't more than one chance in a thousand that any of you will come back alive. But if we don't get him, it's death for us all. You can take as many men as you wish.” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Robert E. Howard, Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (1935)

“ We have dim rumors of great swamps and rivers, and a forest that stretches on and on over everlasting plains and hills to end at last on the shores of the western ocean. But what things lie between this river and that ocean we dare not even guess. No white man has ever plunged deep into that fastness and returned alive to tell us what be found. We are wise in our civilized knowledge, but our knowledge extends just so far — to the western bank of that ancient river! Who knows what shapes earthly and unearthly may lurk beyond the dim circle of light our knowledge has cast? ”

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Source: Wikisource

Robert E. Howard, Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (1935)

“ Once dark-skinned men had built their huts where that fort stood, yes, and their huts had risen where now stood the fields and log cabins of fair-haired settlers, back beyond Velitrium, that raw, turbulent frontier town on the banks of Thunder River, to the shores of that other river that bounds the Bossonian marches. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Robert E. Howard, Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (1935)

“ Who can be sure that all the inhabitants of that black country are natural? Zogar Sag — a sage of the eastern cities would sneer at his primitive magic-making as the mummery of a fakir; yet he has driven mad and killed five men in a manner no man can explain. I wonder if he himself is wholly human.”
“If I can get within ax-throwing distance of him I'll settle that question,” growled Conan, helping himself to the governor's wine and pushing a glass toward Balthus, who took it hesitatingly, and with an uncertain glance toward Valannus. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Robert E. Howard, Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (1935)

“ Many of the others are sick, or have been bitten by serpents or mauled by wild beasts which seem to swarm in increasing numbers in the vicinity of the fort. The soldiers believe Zogar's boast that he could summon the forest beasts to slay his enemies.
“I have three hundred pikemen, four hundred Bossonian archers, and perhaps fifty men who, like yourself, are skilled in woodcraft. They are worth ten times their number of soldiers, but there are so few of them. Frankly, Conan, my situation is becoming precarious. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Robert E. Howard, Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (1935)

“ You know that the lives of all the people west of the marches depend on this fort. Were it to fall, red axes would be splintering the gates of Velitrium before a horseman could cross the marches. His Majesty, or his Majesty's advisers, have ignored my plea that more troops be sent to hold the frontier. They know nothing of border conditions, and are averse to expending any more money in this direction. The fate of the frontier depends upon the men who now hold it. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Robert E. Howard, Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (1935)

“ Valannus, we'll eat at the stall where the foresters gather, and I'll pick my men. We'll start within an hour, drop down the river in a boat to a point below the village and then steal upon it through the woods. If we live, we should be back by daybreak. ”

Robert E. Howard

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Quotes from Beyond the Black River — Chapter II (Robert E. Howard)

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