Talbot Mundy

“ In a very few moments there sat a Persian woman, veiled and mute, where the Princess Olga Karageorgovich had been.
Before the first pale rays of morning lit the peaks near by, two hundred men drew up, each standing beside his horse, to listen to a homily from Dick.
"You men are scouts," said Dick, "not skirmishers. So, ride and report! And remember that the fate of this expedition lies for the present on your individual wakefulness!"
Jenison proved to be a gift from the god of war to a man who could use gifts to their best advantage. ”

“ Two dismounted scouts were brought in, dead dog weary, and hurried along to where he stood by Jenison, Usbeg Ali Khan and Andry.
"Which way did she go?" Dick asked, for there was only one question uppermost in his mind.
"To the west," one man answered, hawking to get the dryness from his throat.
"To the west? How d'you know? Do you know where the west lies?" The man was standing with his back to the rising sun, so he nodded in the direction that he faced.
"How far from here?" demanded Dick.
"A long march. As far as a good horse—my horse—can gallop between midnight and dawn." ”

“ They lay for ten minutes, watching Dick Anthony, and he sat still studying what lay before him on the table. They saw him rise—saw him lock the papers in the small steel box—and saw him walk away, leaving the steel box on the table.
"Now!" said the princess savagely, gripping Marie Mouquin's arm with fingers that seemed to burn, so that the maid barely repressed a scream. "Now, imbecile! Go get it! Bring that box and save your man!" ”

“ The Afghans eyes blazed, for he was a man of war, born into the babel of it.
He wheeled his horse, and led at a trot into the huge amphitheater.
"Zindabad Dee-k-Anthonee!" they roared.
Usbeg Ali Khan and Dick rode side-by-side down a living lane of men, who breathed in silence for fear of missing the first word Dick might utter.
"How many are they?"
"Eight thousand, sahib, all but eight."
"Very well," said Dick quietly, riding to the exact center of the amphitheater.
"Persians!" he shouted, seeming to face three ways at once. "The whole world is at war! ”

“ The Russian plans are for an invasion of Persia from the north and east of the Caspian. They've made no plans on the basis of a possible reverse. These camps up here, where they're concentrated, aren't fortified; there are practically no forts anywhere that amount to anything. And the western side of the Caspian is open to us."
Usbeg Ali Khan saw Dick's plan now, and gasped at the daring of it.
"There is an enormous difference," said Dick, "between eight thousand men and five hundred thousand. We can travel forty miles a day, which half a million can't do. We'll invade Russia! ”

“ Sheer shame would not permit Marie to leave the princess in such predicament, yet she could not take her own clothes off and go naked.
"There are only a Persian woman's clothes," she said after a moment.
"I could make a shift," said the princess. "I would be grateful."
Almost before the words had died Marie Mouquin was gone again, barefoot, at a run through the noisy camp. Andry, hurrying across the amphitheater with giant strides on some errand for Dick, intercepted her, picked her off the ground, and demanded to know what the bare toes meant. ”

“ A woman—surely the princess, even through her rags, for no woman in the world could sit on a horse with half her grace—thrust her horse forward through the crowd.
"Dick!" she said; but Dick took no notice of her.
"Very well. See that they have rations, Usbeg Ali. Quarter them beyond the artillery lines."
He strode back, in through the gap in his hedge into the firelight.
"It's a pity you took such a high hand," said Dick, "and committed yourself so hopelessly with the princess."
"I did what no gentleman could have helped doing," said Jenison testily. ”

“ She came down from the hill, picked up the box and mounted a horse Dick ordered brought for her. Then she rode off with a merry laugh at him, and it was not until she was out of earshot that Usbeg Ali Khan found tongue, standing beside a Russian general who was his prisoner.
"Bahadur! What is it less then madness to save that she devil's life and on top of it to give her back the map and plans that are our key to victory? That box is worth a rajah's ransom nay, an amir's! And you give it to her! ”

“ It was as good as signing his own death warrant for any man in that camp to interfere with any woman. The women came and went unquestioned so long as they kept within the limits of the camp.
There was nothing to be said, nor anything for the guard to report to Dick, when the woman whose clothing Marie Mouquin had commandeered came next day to see her dress on its new owner. It was no business of the guard or of anybody else that the woman stayed with the princess in her tent and talked. ”

“ Go on ahead, keeping behind that man. Warn them in case a woman follows to let her through too—and watch which way she goes! I want her tracked!"
In ten minutes' time, after pacing the distance twice between the exit and the nearest tents, Dick heard another horse, and this one was not coming at a walking gait. He had just time to step into a shadow before the horse, whose white foreleg he recognized, came cantering toward him and he saw go by, astride of a high-built Cossack saddle, none other than the Princess Olga Karageorgovich. ”

“ Dick's tent, that had been a Russian officer's not long ago, was fenced about with branches, so that he had some privacy. By Usbeg Ali's orders, Dick and he and Andry could approach that tent unchallenged, but no other man could try the trick and live. ”

“ He took charge of the guns, and set to work at once to pick the brains of all the men in the force who knew anything about them.
It was obvious to anybody of discernment that there were spies in the camp. But Dick expected to move too fast when he once got started to need to worry over what news filtered to his rear. ”

“ We slipped out of Teheran at night before they had shut the lid down quite so tight as they've got it now. We headed straight in your direction, and on the way the boys agreed to elect me captain of the force. ”