rdle, a hand's breadth broad, about his lean
waist. His long black hair hung in lank strands about his shoulders,
giving him a wild appearance. He was gaunt, but knots and cords of
muscles stood out on his arms and legs, without that fleshy padding that
presents a pleasing symmetry of contour. He was built with an economy
that was almost repellent.

Yet it was not so much his physical appearance as his attitude that
impressed the woman who watched him. He slunk along, stooped in a
semi-crouch, his head turning from side to side. He grasped a
wide-tipped blade in his right hand, and she saw it shake with the
intensity of the emotion that gripped him. He was afraid, trembling in
the grip of some dire terror. When he turned his head she caught the
blaze of wild eyes among the lank strands of black hair.

He did not see her. On tiptoe he glided across the hall and vanished
through an open door. A moment later she heard a choking cry, and then
silence fell again.

Consumed with curiosity, Valeria glided along the gallery until she came
to a door above the one through which the man had passed. It opened into
another, smaller gallery that encircled a large chamber.

This chamber was on the third floor, and its ceiling was not so high as
that of the hall. It was lighted only by the fire-stones, and their
weird green glow left the spaces under the balcony in shadows.

Valeria's eyes widened. The man she had seen was still in the chamber.

He lay face down on a dark crimson carpet in the middle of the room. His
body was limp, his arms spread wide. His curved sword lay near him.

She wondered why he should lie there so motionless. Then her eyes
narrowed as she stared down at the rug on which he lay. Beneath and
about him the fabric showed a slightly different color, a deeper,
brighter crimson.

Shivering slightly, she crouched down closer behind the balustrade,
intently scanning the shadows under the overhanging gallery. They gave
up no secret.

Suddenly another figure entered the grim drama. He was a man similar to
the first, and he came in by a door opposite that which gave upon the
hall.

His eyes glared at the sight of the man on the floor, and he spoke
something in a staccato voice that sounded like "Chicmec!" The other did
not move.

The man stepped quickly across the floor, bent, gripped the fallen man's
shoulder and turned him over. A choking cry escaped him as the head fell
back limply, disclosing a throat t