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02 - Jewels of Gwahlur by Robert E. Howard · Jewels of Gwahlur

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  Speaker 1: Chapter two of Jewels of Gualor by Robert Howard. This
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recarding is in the public domain. Chapter two, A
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  Speaker 1: goddess awakens the Simerian at first made no attempt to
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  Speaker 1: fight the current that was sweeping him through lightless night.
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  Speaker 1: He kept himself afloat, gripping between his teeth the sword
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  Speaker 1: which he had not relinquished even in his fall, and
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  Speaker 1: did not even seek to guess to what doom he
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  Speaker 1: was being born. But suddenly a beam of light lanced
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  Speaker 1: the darkness ahead of him. He saw the surging, seething,
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  Speaker 1: black surface of the water in turmoil, as if disturbed
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  Speaker 1: by some monster of the deep. And he saw the
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  Speaker 1: sheer stone walls of the channel curved up to a vault. Overhead.
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  Speaker 1: On each side ran a narrow ledge just below the
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  Speaker 1: arching roof, but they were far out of his reach.
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  Speaker 1: At one point this roof had been broken, probably fallen in,
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  Speaker 1: and the light was streaming through the aperture. Beyond that
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  Speaker 1: shaft of light was utter blackness, and panic assailed the
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  Speaker 1: Samarian as he saw he would be swept on past
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  Speaker 1: that spot of light and into the unknown blackness again.
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  Speaker 1: Then he saw something else, bronze ladders extending from the
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  Speaker 1: ledges to the water's surface at regular intervals, and there
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  Speaker 1: was one just ahead of him. Instantly he struck out
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  Speaker 1: for it, fighting the current that would have held him
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of the stream. It dragged at him
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  Speaker 1: with tangible, animate slimy hands, but he buffeted the rushing
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  Speaker 1: surge with the strength of desperation, and now drew closer
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  Speaker 1: and closer inshore, fighting furiously for every inch. Now he
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  Speaker 1: was even with the ladder, and with a fear gasping plunge,
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  Speaker 1: he gripped the bottom rung and hung on, breathless. A
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  Speaker 1: few seconds later he struggled up out of the seething water,
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  Speaker 1: trusting his weight dubiously to the corroded rungs. They sagged
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  Speaker 1: and bent, but they held, and he clambered up onto
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  Speaker 1: the narrow ledge, which ran along the wall, scarcely a
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  Speaker 1: man's length below the curving roof the tall Samarian was
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  Speaker 1: forced to bend his head as he stood up. A
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  Speaker 1: heavy bronze door showed in the stone at a point
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  Speaker 1: even with the head of the ladder, but it did
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  Speaker 1: not give to Conan's efforts. He transferred his sword from
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  Speaker 1: his teeth to its scabbard, spitting blood, for the edge
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  Speaker 1: had cut his lips in that fierce fight with the river,
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  Speaker 1: and turned his attention to the broken roof. He could
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  Speaker 1: reach his arms up through the crevice and gripped the edge,
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  Speaker 1: and careful testing told him it would bear his weight.
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  Speaker 1: An instant later he had drawn himself up through the
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  Speaker 1: hole and found himself in a wide chamber in a
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  Speaker 1: state of extreme disrepair. Most of the roof had fallen in,
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  Speaker 1: as well as a great section of the floor, which
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  Speaker 1: was laid over the vault of a subterranean river. Broken
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  Speaker 1: arches opened into other chambers and corridors, and Kanan believed
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  Speaker 1: he was still in the Great Palace. He wondered uneasily
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  Speaker 1: how many chambers in that palace had underground water directly
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  Speaker 1: under them, and when the ancient flags or tiles might
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  Speaker 1: give way again and precipitate him back into the current
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  Speaker 1: from which he had just crawled. And he wondered just
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  Speaker 1: how much of an accident that fall had been. Had
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  Speaker 1: those rotten flags simply chanced to give way beneath his weight,
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  Speaker 1: or was there a more sinister explanation. One thing, at
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  Speaker 1: least was obvious. He was not the only living thing
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  Speaker 1: in that palace that gong had not sounded of its
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  Speaker 1: own accord. Whether the noise had been meant to lure
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  Speaker 1: him to his death or not, the silence of the
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  Speaker 1: palace became suddenly sinister, fraught with crawling menace. Could it
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  Speaker 1: be some one on the same mission as himself? A
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  Speaker 1: sudden thought occurred to him at the memory of the
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  Speaker 1: mysterious beat Yakin. Was it possible that this man had
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  Speaker 1: found the teeth of a gualor in his long residence
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  Speaker 1: in Alkmenon, that his servants had taken them with them
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  Speaker 1: when they departed. The possibility that he might be following
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  Speaker 1: a will of the wisp infuriated the Sumerian. Choosing a
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  Speaker 1: corridor which he believed led back toward the part of
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  Speaker 1: the palace he had first entered, he hurried along it,
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  Speaker 1: stepping gingerly as he thought of that black river that
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  Speaker 1: seethed and foamed somewhere below his feet. His speculations recurrently
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  Speaker 1: revolved about the oracle chamber and its cryptic occupant. Somewhere
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  Speaker 1: in that vicinity must be the clue to the mystery
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  Speaker 1: of the treasure, if indeed it still remained in its
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  Speaker 1: immemorial hiding place. The Great Palace lay silent, as ever,
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  Speaker 1: disturbed only by the swift passing of his sandaled feet.
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  Speaker 1: The chambers and halls he traversed were crumbling into ruin,
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  Speaker 1: but as he advanced, the ravages of decay became less apparent.
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  Speaker 1: He wondered briefly for what purpose the latters had been
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  Speaker 1: suspended from the ledges over the subterranean river, but dismissed
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  Speaker 1: the matter with a shrug. He was little interested in
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  Speaker 1: speculating over unremunerative problems of antiquity. He was not sure
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  Speaker 1: just where the oracle chamber lay from where he was,
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  Speaker 1: but presently he emerged into a corridor which led back
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  Speaker 1: into the Great Throne Room under one of the arches.
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  Speaker 1: He had reached a decision. It was useless for him
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  Speaker 1: to wonder aimlessly about the palace seeking the horde. He
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  Speaker 1: would conceal himself somewhere here, wait until the Kashawanee priests came,
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  Speaker 1: and then after they had gone through the force of
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  Speaker 1: consulting the oracle, he would follow them to the hiding
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  Speaker 1: place of the gems, to which he was certain they
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  Speaker 1: would go. Perhaps they would only take a few of
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  Speaker 1: the jewels with him, he would content himself with the rest.
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  Speaker 1: Drawn by a morbid fascination, he re entered the oracle
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  Speaker 1: chamber and stared down again at the motionless figure of
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  Speaker 1: the princess, who was worshiped as a goddess. Entranced by
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  Speaker 1: her frigid beauty. What cryptic secret was locked in that
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  Speaker 1: marvelously molded form? He started violently. The breast sucked through
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  Speaker 1: his teeth, the short hairs prickled at the back of
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  Speaker 1: his scalp. The body still lay as he had first
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  Speaker 1: seen it, silent, motionless, in breastplates of jeweled gold, gilded sandals,
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  Speaker 1: and silken skirt. But now there was a subtle difference.
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  Speaker 1: The lithsome limbs were not rigid. A peach bloom touched
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  Speaker 1: the cheeks, the lips were red with a panicky, cursed
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  Speaker 1: Conan ripped out his sword, crum, She's alive. At his words,
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  Speaker 1: the long dark lashes lifted, the eyes opened and gaped
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  Speaker 1: up at him, inscrutably dark, lustrous, mystical. He glared in
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  Speaker 1: frozen speechlessness. She sat up with a supple ease, still
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  Speaker 1: holding his ensorceled stare. He licked his stray lips in
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  Speaker 1: found voice, you are Are you Yeliah? He stammered, I
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  Speaker 1: am Yeliah. The voice was rich and musical, and he
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  Speaker 1: stared with new wonder. Do not fear. I will not
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  Speaker 1: harm you if you do my bidding. How can a
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  Speaker 1: dead woman come to life after all these centuries, he demanded,
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  Speaker 1: as if skeptical of what his senses told him. A
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  Speaker 1: curious gleam was beginning to smolder in his eyes. She
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  Speaker 1: lifted her arms in a mystical gesture. I am a goddess.
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  Speaker 1: A thousand years ago there descended upon me the curse
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  Speaker 1: of the greater gods, the gods of darkness, beyond the
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  Speaker 1: borders of light. The mortal in me died. The goddess
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  Speaker 1: in me could never die. Here. I have lain for
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  Speaker 1: so many centuries to awaken each night at sunset and
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  Speaker 1: hold my court as of your, with specters drawn from
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  Speaker 1: the shadows of the past. Man, if you would not
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  Speaker 1: view that which will blast your soul forever, get hence
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  Speaker 1: quickly I command you go. The voice became imperious, and
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  Speaker 1: her slender arm lifted and pointed Conan, his eyes burning slits. Slowly,
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  Speaker 1: sheathed his sword, but he did not obey her ardor
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  Speaker 1: he stepped closer, as if impelled by a powerful fascination.
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  Speaker 1: Without the slightest warning, he grabbed her up in a
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  Speaker 1: bear like grasp. She screamed a very ungoddesslike scream, and
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  Speaker 1: there was a sound of ripping silk, as with one
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  Speaker 1: ruthless wrench he tore off her skirt. Goddess hah. His
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  Speaker 1: bark was full of angry contempt. He ignored the frantic
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  Speaker 1: writhings of his captive. I thought it was strange that
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  Speaker 1: a princess of Alcmnon would speak with a Corinthian accent.
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  Speaker 1: As soon as I gathered my wits, I knew I'd
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  Speaker 1: seen you somewhere. You're Muriella sorry Heba's Corinthian dancing girl.
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  Speaker 1: This crescent shaped birthmark on your hip proves it. I
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  Speaker 1: saw it once when sark Heba was whipping you, Goddess Bah.
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  Speaker 1: He smacked the betraying hip contemptuously and resoundingly with his
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  Speaker 1: open hand, and the girl yelped piteously. All her imperiousness
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  Speaker 1: had gone out of her. She was no longer a
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  Speaker 1: mystical figure of antiquity, but a terrified and humiliated dancing
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  Speaker 1: girl such as can be bought at almost any emdtish marketplace.
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  Speaker 1: She lifted up her voice and wept unashamedly. Her captor
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  Speaker 1: glared down at her with angry triumph. Goddess, so you
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  Speaker 1: were one of the veiled women Zarkiba brought to Kashia
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  Speaker 1: with him. Did you think you could fool me, you
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  Speaker 1: little idiot? A year ago I saw you in Akbitana
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  Speaker 1: with that swine Tzarkhiba, And I don't forget faces are
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  Speaker 1: women's figures, I think kile squirming about in his grasp,
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  Speaker 1: she threw her slender arms about his massive neck in
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  Speaker 1: an abandon of terror. Tears coursed down her cheeks and
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  Speaker 1: her sobs quivered with a note of hysteria. Oh please,
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  Speaker 1: don't hurt me. Don't I had to do it. Sark
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  Speaker 1: Heba brought me here to act as the oracle. Why
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  Speaker 1: you sacrilegious little hussy? Rumbled Coan. Do you not fear
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  Speaker 1: the gods? Cram? Is there no honesty anywhere? Oh? Please,
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  Speaker 1: she begged, quivering with abject fright. I couldn't disobey zark Heba.
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  Speaker 1: Oh what shall I do? I shall be cursed by
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  Speaker 1: these heathen gods. What do you think the priests will
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  Speaker 1: do to you if they find out you're an impostor,
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  Speaker 1: he demanded at the thought. Her legs refused to support her,
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  Speaker 1: and she collapsed in a shuddering heap, clasping Conan's knees
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  Speaker 1: and mingling incoherent pleas for mercy and protection with piteous
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  Speaker 1: protestations of her innocence of any malign intention. It was
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  Speaker 1: a vivid change from her pose as the ancient princess,
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  Speaker 1: but not surprising. The fear that had nerved her then
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  Speaker 1: was now her undoing. Where is Arkiba? He demanded, Stop yammering,
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  Speaker 1: damn in answer me? Outside the palace, she whimpered, watching
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  Speaker 1: for the priests. How many men with him? None? We
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  Speaker 1: came alone. Ha. It was much more like the satisfied
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  Speaker 1: grunt of a hunting line. You must have left Kashia
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  Speaker 1: a few hours after I did. Did you climb the cliffs?
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  Speaker 1: She shook her head, too choked with tears to speak coherently.
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  Speaker 1: With an impatient imprecation, he seized her slim shoulders and
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  Speaker 1: shook her until she gasped for breath. Will you quit
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  Speaker 1: that blubbering and answer me? How did you get into
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  Speaker 1: the valley? Sargiba knew the secret way. She gasped. The
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  Speaker 1: priest Gwarunga told him and put merqui. On the south
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  Speaker 1: side of the valley. There is a broad pool lying
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  Speaker 1: at the foot of the cliffs. There is a cave
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  Speaker 1: mouth under the surface of the water that is not
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  Speaker 1: visible to the casual glance. We ducked under the water
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  Speaker 1: and entered it. The cave slowed up out of the
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  Speaker 1: water swiftly and leads through the cliffs. The opening on
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  Speaker 1: the side of the valley is masked by heavy thickets.
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  Speaker 1: I climbed the cliffs on the east side. He muttered, well,
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  Speaker 1: what Then we came to the palace, and Tzarkhiba hid
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  Speaker 1: me among the trees while he went to look for
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  Speaker 1: the chamber of an oracle. I do not think he
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  Speaker 1: fully trusted Gwarunga. While he was gone, I thought I
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  Speaker 1: heard a gong sound, but I was not sure. Presently
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  Speaker 1: Zarkiba came and took me into the palace and brought
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  Speaker 1: me to this chamber where the goddess layad lay upon
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  Speaker 1: the dais. He stripped the body and clothed me in
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  Speaker 1: the garments and ornaments. Then he went forth to hide
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  Speaker 1: the body and watch for the priests. I have been afraid.
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  Speaker 1: When you entered, I wanted to leap up and beg
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  Speaker 1: you to take me away from this place, but I
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  Speaker 1: feared Tzarkhiba. When you discovered I was alive, I thought
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  Speaker 1: I could frighten you away. What were you to say
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  Speaker 1: to the oracle, he asked. I was to bid the
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  Speaker 1: priests to take the teeth of Agualor and give some
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  Speaker 1: of them to Tutt Mercree as a pledge as he desired,
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  Speaker 1: and place the rest in the palace at Kashia. I
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  Speaker 1: was to tell them that an awful doom threatened Kishon
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  Speaker 1: if they did not agree to Thut Mercries's proposals. And
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  Speaker 1: oh yes, I was to tell them that you were
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  Speaker 1: to be skinned alive immediately. But Mercree wanted the treasure
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  Speaker 1: where he are. These Zembabwans could lay hand on it easily,
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  Speaker 1: muttered Knan, disregarding the remark concerning himself. I'll carve his livery.
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  Speaker 1: Yet Garuga is a party to the swindle, of course, No,
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  Speaker 1: he believes in his gods and is incorruptible. He knows
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  Speaker 1: nothing about this. He will obey the oracle. It was
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  Speaker 1: all thought Mercries's plan, knowing the Kishani would consult the oracle.
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  Speaker 1: He had Zarkhiba bring me with the embassy from Zimbabwe,
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  Speaker 1: closely veiled and secluded. Well, I'm damned, muttered Conan, a
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  Speaker 1: priest who honestly believes in his oracle and cannot be
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  Speaker 1: bribed crom I wonder if it was Tzarkhiba who banged
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  Speaker 1: that gung? Did he know I was here? Could he
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  Speaker 1: have known about that rotted flagging? Where is he now?
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  Speaker 1: Girl hiding in the thicket of lotus trees near the
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  Speaker 1: ancient avenue that leads from the south wall of the
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  Speaker 1: cliffs to the palace, she answered, Then she renewed her importunities. Oh, Conan,
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  Speaker 1: have pity on me. I am afraid of this evil
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  Speaker 1: ancient place. I know I have heard stealthy footfalls padding
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  Speaker 1: about me. Oh Conan, take me away with you. Sargheba
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  Speaker 1: will kill me when I have served his purpose here.
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  Speaker 1: I know it. The priests too will kill me if
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  Speaker 1: they discover my deceit. He is a devil. He bought
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  Speaker 1: me from a slave trader who stole me out of
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  Speaker 1: a caravan bound through southern cooth and has made me
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  Speaker 1: the tool of his intrigues ever since. Take me away
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  Speaker 1: from him, you cannot be as cruel as he. Don't
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  Speaker 1: leave me to be slain here. Please, please. She was
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  Speaker 1: on her knees, clutching at Conan hysterically, her beautiful, tear
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  Speaker 1: stained face upturned to him, her dark silken hair flowing
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  Speaker 1: in disorder over her white shoulders. Conan picked her up
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  Speaker 1: and set her on his knee. Listen to me, I'll
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  Speaker 1: protect you from Zoghiba. The priest shall not know of
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  Speaker 1: your perfidy, but you've got to do as I tell you.
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  Speaker 1: She faltered, promises of explicit obedience, clasping his corded neck
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  Speaker 1: as if seeking security from the contact good. When the
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  Speaker 1: priests come, you'll act the part of Yelayah as Zarkhiba planned.
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  Speaker 1: It'll be dark and in the torchlight, they'll never know
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  Speaker 1: the difference, but you'll say this to them. It is
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  Speaker 1: the will of the gods that the Stygian and his
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  Speaker 1: Shemitish dogs be driven from Kishan. They are thieves and
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  Speaker 1: traitors who plot to rob the gods. Let the teeth
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  Speaker 1: of Gwalor be placed in the care of the General Koonan.
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  Speaker 1: Let him lead the armies of Kishan. He is beloved
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  Speaker 1: of the gods. She shivered with an expression of desperation,
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  Speaker 1: but acquiesced. But Sarkheba, she cried, he'll kill me. Don't
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  Speaker 1: worry about Zargheba, he grunted, I'll take care of that dog.
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  Speaker 1: Do you as I say. Here, put your hair up again.
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  Speaker 1: It's fallen all over your shoulders, and the gem's fallen
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  Speaker 1: out of it. He replaced the great glowing gem himself,
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  Speaker 1: nodding approval. It's worth a room full of slaves itself alone. Here.
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  Speaker 1: Put your skirt back on. It's torn down the side,
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  Speaker 1: but the priests will never notice it. Wipe your face.
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  Speaker 1: A goddess doesn't cry like a whip schoolgirl. By chrome,
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  Speaker 1: you do look like Elijah, face, hair, figure and all.
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  Speaker 1: If you act the goddess with the priests as well
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  Speaker 1: as you did with me, you'll fool them easily. I'll try.
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  Speaker 1: She shivered. Good, I'm going to find tzark Heba. At that,
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  Speaker 1: she became panicky again. No, don't leave me alone. This
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  Speaker 1: place is haunted. There's nothing here to harm you, he
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  Speaker 1: assured her impatiently. Nothing but zark Heba, and I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to look after him. I'll be back shortly. I'll be
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  Speaker 1: watching from close by in case anything goes wrong during
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  Speaker 1: the ceremony. If you play your part properly, nothing will
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  Speaker 1: go wrong. And turning, he hastened out of the oracle chamber.
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  Speaker 1: Behind him, Muriella squeaked wretchedly at his going. Twilight had fallen.
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  Speaker 1: The great rooms and halls were shadowy and indistinct. Copper
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  Speaker 1: freezes glinted dully through the dusk. Koonan strode like a
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  Speaker 1: silent phantom through the great halls, with a sensation of
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  Speaker 1: being stared at from the shadowed recesses by invisible ghosts
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  Speaker 1: of the past. No wonder the girl was nervous amidst
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  Speaker 1: such surroundings. He glided down the marble steps like a
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  Speaker 1: slinking panther, sword in hand. Silence reigned over the valley,
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  Speaker 1: and above the rim of the cliffs, stars were blinking out.
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  Speaker 1: If the priests of Kashia had entered the valley, there
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  Speaker 1: was not a sound, not a movement in the greenery
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  Speaker 1: to betray them. He made out the ancient, broken paved avenue,
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  Speaker 1: wandering away to the south, lost amid the cluttering masses
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  Speaker 1: of fronds and thick leaved bushes, He followed it, warily,
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  Speaker 1: hugging the edge of the paving, where the shrubs massed
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  Speaker 1: their shadows thickly, until he saw ahead of him, dimly
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  Speaker 1: in the dusk, the clump of lotus trees, the strange
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  Speaker 1: growth peculiar to the black lands of cush There, according
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  Speaker 1: to the girl, Sarkiba should be lurking. Conan became stealth personified,
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  Speaker 1: a velvet footed shadow. He melted into the thickets. He
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  Speaker 1: approached the lotus grove by a circuitous movement, and scarcely
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  Speaker 1: the rustle of a leaf proclaimed his passing. At the
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  Speaker 1: edge of the trees, he halted, suddenly crouched like a
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  Speaker 1: suspicious panther among the deep shrubs. Ahead of him, among
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  Speaker 1: the dense leaves showed a pallid oval dim In the
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  Speaker 1: uncertain light, it might have been one of the great
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  Speaker 1: white blossoms that shone thickly among the branches, but Conan
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  Speaker 1: knew that it was a man's face, and it was
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  Speaker 1: turned toward him. He shrank quickly deeper into the shadows.
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  Speaker 1: Had Sarkheba seen him, The man was looking directly toward him.
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  Speaker 1: Seconds passed that dim face had not moved. Conan could
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  Speaker 1: make out the dark tuft below that was the short
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  Speaker 1: black beard and Suddenly Conan was aware of something unnatural.
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  Speaker 1: Sark Heba, he knew, was not a tall man standing
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: erect His head would scarcely top the Samerian's shoulder. Yet
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: that face was on a level with Conan's own. Was
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the man standing on something. Conan bent and peered toward
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: the ground below the spot where the face showed, but
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: his vision was blocked by undergrowth and the thick bowls
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: of the trees. But he saw something else, and he stiffened.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: Through a slot in the underbrush, he glimpsed the stem
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: of the tree under which apparently Sarkiba was standing. The
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: face was directly in line with that tree. He should
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: have seen below that face, not the tree trunk, but
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: Sarkiba's body, But there was no body there. Suddenly tinser
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: that a tiger who stalks his prey. Conan glided deeper
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: into the thicket, and a moment later drew aside a
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: leafy branch and glared at the face that had not moved,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: nor would it ever move again of its own volition.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: He looked at Sarkhiba's severed head, suspended from the branch
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: of the tree by its own long black hair. End
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: of Chapter two,