Page:Ernest Bramah - Kai Lungs Golden Hours.djvu/314

 each other for a moment; "yet, alas, no more substantial than of the lips, for the hospitality of the eleven villages is shrunk to what you see before you," and he waved his arm feebly towards the empty bowl and the blackened hearth. "Whence come you?" "From the outer-land of Im-kau," replied the other. "Over the Kang-ling mountains."

"It is a moon-to-moon journey," said Ten-teh. "Few travellers have ever reached the valley by that inaccessible track."

"More may come before the snow has melted," replied the stranger, with a stress of significance. "Less than seven days ago this person stood upon the northern plains."

Ten-teh raised himself upon his arm. "There existed, many cycles ago, a path—of a single foot's width, it is said—along the edge of the Pass called the Ram's Horn, but it has been lost beyond the memory of man." "It has been found again," said the stranger, "and Kha-hia and his horde of Kins, joined by the vengeance-breathing Fuh-chi, lie encamped less than a short march beyond the Pass."

"It can matter little," said Ten-teh, trembling but speaking to reassure himself. "The people are at peace among themselves, the Capital adequately defended, and an army sufficiently large to meet any invasion can march out and engage the enemy at a spot most convenient to ourselves."

"A few days hence, when all preparation is made." continued the stranger, "a cloud of armed men will suddenly appear openly, menacing the western boundaries. The Capital and the fortified places will