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XVII
DOWN TO THE SEA
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" DEMANDED STELLARA.
"Wait and you shall see, replied Tanar, and drawing his dirk
he stooped and turned Bulf over upon his back. Then with the
razor-sharp blade of his weapon he commenced to hack off the
bushy, black beard of the dead Korsar, while Stellara looked on
in questioning wonder.
Spreading Bulfs headcloth flat upon the floor, Tanar de-
posited upon it the hair that he cut from the man's face, and
when he had completed his grewsone tonsorial effort he folded
the hair into the handkerchief, and, rising, motioned for
Stellara'to follow him.
Going to the door that led into the tunnel through which he
had escaped from the dungeon, Tanar opened it, and, smearing
his fingers with the pitch that exuded from the boards upon the
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inside of the door, he smeared some of it upon the side of his
face and then turned to Stellara.
"Put this hair upon my face in as natural a way as you can.
You have lived among them all your life, so you should know
well how a Korsar's beard should look."
Horrible as the plan seemed and though she shrank from
touching the hair of the dead man, Stellara steeled herself and
did as Tanar bid. Little by little, patch by patch, Tanar applied
pitch to his face and Stellara placed the hair upon it until
presently only the eyes and nose of the Sarian remained
exposed. The expression of the former were altered by in-
creasing the size and bushiness of the eyebrows with shreds of
BulFs beard that had been left over, and then Tanar smeared his
nose with some of Bulfs blood, for many of the Korsars had
large, red noses. Then Stellara stood away and surveyed him
critically. ''Your own mother would not know you," she said.
"Do you think I can pass as a Korsar?" he asked.
"No one will suspect, unless they question you closely as you
leave the palace.''
"We are going together,'9 said Tanar.
"But how?" asked Stellara.
"I have been thinking of another plan," he said. "I noticed
when I was living in the barracks that sailors going toward the
river had no difficulty in passing through the gate leaving the
palace. In fact, it is always much easier to leave the palace than
to enter it. On many occasions I have heard them say merely that
they were going to their ships. We can do the same."
"Do I look like a Korsar sailor?" demanded Stellara.
' 'You will when I get through with you,'' said Tanar, with a
grin.
"What do you mean?"
"There is Korsar clothing here," said Tanar; "enough to outfit
a dozen and there is still plenty of hair on Bulfs head.''
The girl drew back with a shudder. "Oh, Tanar! You cannot
mean that."
"What other way is there?" he demanded. "If we can escape
together is it not worth any price that we might have to pay?"
"You are right," she said. "I will do it."
When Tanar completed his work upon her, Stellara had been
transformed into a bearded Korsar, but the best that he could do
in the way of disguise failed to entirely hide the contours of her
hips and breasts.
"I am afraid they will suspect/' he said. "Your figure is too
feminine for shorts and a shirt to hide it."
"Wait," exclaimed Stellara. "Sometimes the sailors, when
they are going on long voyages, wear cloaks, which they use to
sleep in if the nights are cool. Let us see if we can find such a one
here.''
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"Yes, I saw one," replied Tanar, and crossing the room he
returned with a cloak made of wide striped goods. "That will give
you greater height," he said. But when they draped it about her,
her hips were still too much in evidence.
"Build out my shoulders," suggested Stellara, and with scarfs
and handkerchiefs the Sarian built the girl's shoulders out so
that the cloak hung straight and she resembled a short, stocky
man, more than a slender, well-formed girl.
"Now we are ready," said the Sarian. Stellara pointed to
thebodyofBulf.
"We cannot leave that lying there," she said. "Someone may
come to this room and discover it and when they do every man
in the palace yes, even in the entire city will be arrested and
questioned."
Tanar looked about the room and then he seized the corpse of
Bulf and dragged it into a far comer, after which he piled
bundles of hides and baskets upon it until it was entirely
concealed, and over the blood stains upon the floor he dragged
other bales and baskets until all signs of the duel had been
erased or hidden.
"And now," he said, "is as good a time as another to put our
disguises to the test.'' Together they approached the door. "You
know the least frequented passages to the garden," said Tanar.
"Let us make our way from the palace through the garden to the
gate that gave us escape before."
"Then follow me," replied Stellara, as Tanar opened the door
and the two stepped out into the corridor beyond. It was empty.
Tanar closed the door behind him, and Stellara le^d the way
down the passage.
They had proceeded but a short distance when they heard a
man's voice in an apartment to the left.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
I do not know, replied a woman's voice. "She was here but
a moment ago and Bulf was with her."
"Find them and lose no time about it/' commanded the man,
sternly. And he stepped from the apartment just as Tanar and
Stellara were approaching.
It was The Cid. Stellara's heart stopped beating as the Korsar
ruler looked into the faces of Tanar and herself.
"Who are you?" demanded The Cid.
"We are sailors/' said Tanar, quickly, before Stellara could
reply.
"What are you doing here in my palace?" demanded the
Korsar ruler.
"We weie sent here with packages to the storeroom," replied
Tanar, "and we are but now returning to our ship."
"Well, be quick about it. I do not like your looks," growled The
Cid as he stamped off down the corridor ahead of them.
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Tanar saw Stellara sway and he stepped to her side and
supported her, but she quickly gained possession of herself, and
an instant later turned to the right and led Tanar through a
doorway into the garden.
"God!" whispered the man, as they walked side by side after
quitting the building. "If The Cid did not know you, then your
disguise must be perfect."
Stellara shook her head for even as yet she could not control
her voice to speak, following the terror induced by her
encounter with The Cid.
There were a number of men and woman in the garden close
to the palace. Some of these scrutinized them casually, but they
passed by in safety and a moment later the gravel walk they were
following wound through dense shrubbery that hid them from
view and then they were at the doorway in the garden wall.
Again fortune favored them here and they passed out into the
barracks yards without being noticed.
Electing to try the main gate because of the greater number of
people who passed to and fro through it, Tanar turned to the
right, passed along the full length of the barracks past a dozen
men and approached the gate with Stellara at his side.
They were almost through when a stupid looking Korsar
soldier stopped them. "Who are you," he demanded, "and what
business takes you from the palace?"
"We are sailors," replied Tanar. "We are going to our ship."
(
'What were you doing in the palace?" demanded the man.
"We took packages there from the captain of the ship to The
Cid's storeroom," explained the Sarian.
"I do not like the looks of you," said the man. "I have never
seen either one of you before."
"We have been away upon a long cruise," replied Tanar,
"Wait here until the captain of the gate returns," said the
man. "He will wish to question you."
The Sarian's heart sank.''If we are late in returning to our
ship, we shall be punished," said he.
"That is nothing to me," replied the soldier.
Stellara reached inside her cloak and beneath the man's
shorts that covered her own apparel and searched until she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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