Page:Weird Tales volume 30 number 01.djvu/84

 charged with that always unpardonable crime—treason!"

Karamour turned suddenly toward me.

"Stranger of the new world, I have given my pledge to the Princess Atma, who, influenced by some strange whim, has asked that you be granted clemency. Thus you are to be spared from a trial that might result in your death.

"Your conduct since imprisonment has been unworthy. Aboard the Star of Egypt a mutiny was incited by you. Your coming was not desired, and now you help to tempt one whose loyalty has long been waning. Twice have you been spared; do not tempt fate a third time. On my return from the desert I will have further words with you. Till then, though you are allowed liberty of the palace and surrounding gardens, I warn you to use discretion."

The thin lips tightened.

"Do not be deluded with this kindness as a lack of vigilance. For three hundred miles the sands are patrolled by my men. To escape means capture, and capture means death! Remember those words."

Four black guards had appeared in the doorway dragging a resisting figure roughly to the throne. A death-like pallor shone on the blood-smeared features of their victim, but it could not disguise my fellow plotter of the pits, Captain Barakoff.

The Pharaoh glared hard at the man before him.

"Dog," he growled, "it has been said that you are an unworthy follower. How answer you this charge?"

The Russian grinned in an agonized manner.

"I—I have done no wrong, master," he faltered.

"That I intend to find out—and quickly," came the grim reply. "You have been strong in your claim of innocence—let us now hear the words of your accusers.

"Doctor Zola!"

The Frenchman, ever ready to welcome attention, came forward from the rows of waiting Arabs.

"What say you against the loyalty of this man?" demanded the Pharaoh.

Etienne Zola bowed low before his inquirer.

"You will recall," he purred in his softest voice, "that I have always been suspicious of the prisoner. His bad record in the Czar's army, as well as his avarice—his love of money was well known on the west coast. Always desirous of protecting my Prince, I kept a careful watch, and not without result."

The physician produced a letter which he opened and held before him.

"Captain Barakoff," he continued, with a sneering look at the unhappy wretch, "wrote this letter, which I had intercepted, to his beloved in far-off Archangel. Its contents conclusively prove his treachery. I will read a"

Karamour waved an impatient hand.

"Its wording is already known to me. What of the slaves' report?"

, now called, told of hearing Barakoff offer to free me for a certain sum. He admitted the amount had escaped him, but readily recalled the disrespectful manner in which the Russian had spoken of the Pharaoh, as well as his plan for halting the yacht while a boat would be rowed ashore to bring me aboard. Evidently the black had wondrously sharp ears, or else our voices in the quiet of the dungeon must have carried farther than we thought. All in all, it was a damning denunciation against one already doomed.

As Usanti ceased speaking, a brief silence fell on the grim assembly. All