Page:Harold Lamb--The House of the Falcon.djvu/191

 "A score of years ago to that tower came the beast-like Russians, stupid and without right to the lands. They were strong men, but lustful and very greedy. They put up a flag and made a speech about a boundary. Because of the cold, they stayed close to the Kurgan—all but one."

He nodded reflectively.

"All but one. He was like a vulture, and this Vulture and his native allies alone knew of Yakka Arik. They came to our valley—once. They took many of our women who were bathing in the women's pools in the shadow of the mosque. They took my daughter and her mother."

Iskander let the cigarette fall from his fingers. He spoke calmly, but Edith saw the glow in his deep eyes and the veins that pulsed in his temples.

"Yess. It was the Vulture, Mees Rand. When the Sayaks came to the Kurgan and asked for their thirty-nine women that had been taken away, the Russian commandant said he knew nothing of the matter. He said that the Alamans and Turkish followers had taken them.

"An Englishman who was hunting mountain sheep—although I think he was never seen to shoot very many—had pitched his tent not far from the Kurgan and to him I carried our grievance. He said very little, but he talked with the Russian commandant and after that there was much confusion and sending of messages from the Kurgan. And presently the commandant and his men went away from the tower, journeying back out of our sight. The Englishman was Dono-van Khan and although his words were very mild, the Russians feared that he could call upon thousands of sword points from the British in India."