Palos of the Dog Star Pack
Page 9
glance andmentally caught his breath. There were two passengers in the coach--awoman and a man. The latter was plainly past middle age, well built,with a strongly set face and hair somewhat sprinkled with gray. He wasclad in a tunic the like of which Croft had never seen, since itseemed woven of gold, etched and embroidered in what appeared stonesor jewels of purple, red, and green. This covered his entire body andended in half sleeves below which his forearms were bare.
He wore a jeweled cap supporting a single spray of purple feathers.From an inch below his knees his legs were encased in what seemed anopen-meshed casing of metal, in color not unlike his tunic, jointed atthe ankles to allow of motion when he walked. There were no seatsproper in the carriage, but rather a broad padded couch upon whichboth passengers lay.
So much Croft saw, and then, forsaking the caravan, let himself driftalong beside the strange conveyance to inspect the girl. In fact,after the first swift glance at the man, he had no eyes save for hiscompanion in the coach.
She was younger than the man, yet strangely like him in a feminineway--more slender, more graceful as she lay at her ease. Her face wasa perfect oval, framed in a wealth of golden hair, which, save for ajeweled cincture, fell unrestrained about her shoulders in a silkenflood. Her eyes were blue--the purple blue of the pansy--her skin,seen on face and throat and bared left shoulder and arm, a soft, firmwhite. For she was dressed like the peasant women, save in a richerfashion. Her single robe was white, lustrous in its sheen. It wasbroidered with a simple jeweled margin at throat and hem and over thebreasts with stones of blue and green.
Her girdle was of gold in color, catching her just above the hips withlong ends and fringe which fell down the left side of the knee-lengthskirt. Sandals of the finest imaginable skin were on the soles of herslender pink-nailed feet, bare save for a jewel-studded toe and instepband, and the lacing cords which were twined about each limb as highas the top of the calf. On her left arm she wore a bracelet, justabove the wrist, as a single ornament.
Croft gave her one glance which took in every detail of her presenceand attire. He quivered as with a chill. Some change as cataclysmic ashis experience of the night before above the Dog Star itself tookplace in his spiritual being. He felt drawn toward this beautiful girlof Palos as he had never in all his life on earth been drawn toward awoman before.
It was as though suddenly he had found something he had lost--asthough he had met one known and forgotten and now once morerecognized. Without giving the act the slightest thought ofconsideration, he willed himself into the coach between the flutteringcurtains of purple silk, and crouched down on the padded platform ather feet.
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