I led a band of thieves in Yemen for a time; then again
I was forced to change my location. I came here with a few faithful
followers, and by Allah, those wild men nearly slit my throat at first. But I overcame their suspicions, and now I lead more men than have
followed me in years. "They whom you fought off yesterday were my men--scouts I had sent out
ahead. My oasis lies far to the west. We have ridden for many days, for
I was on my way to this very city. When my scouts rode in and told me
of two wanderers, I did not alter my course, for I had business first
in Beled-el-Djinn. We rode into the city from the west and saw your
tracks in the sand. We followed them, and you were blind buffalo who
heard not our coming." Steve snarled. "You wouldn't have caught us so easy, only we thought no
Bedouin would dare come into Kara-Shehr." Nureddin nodded. "But I am no Bedouin. I have traveled far and seen
many lands and many races, and I have read many books. I know that fear
is smoke, that the dead are dead, and that djinn and ghosts and curses
are mists that the wind blows away. It was because of the tales of
the red stone that I came into this forsaken desert. But it has taken
months to persuade my men to ride with me here. "But--I am here! And your presence is a delightful surprize. Doubtless
you have guessed why I had you taken alive; I have more elaborate
entertainment planned for you and that Pathan swine. Now--I take the
Fire of Asshurbanipal and we will go." *       *       *       *       *

He turned toward the dais, and one of his men, a bearded one-eyed
giant, exclaimed, "Hold, my lord! Ancient evil reigned here before the
days of Muhammad! The djinn howl through these halls when the winds
blow, and men have seen ghosts dancing on the walls beneath the moon. No man of mortals has dared this black city for a thousand years--save
one, half a century ago, who fled shrieking. "You have come here from Yemen; you do not know the ancient curse on
this foul city, and this evil stone, which pulses like the red heart
of Satan! We have followed you here against our judgment, because you
have proven yourself a strong man, and have said you hold a charm
against all evil beings. You said you but wished to look on this
mysterious gem, but now we see it is your intention to take it for
yourself. Do not offend the djinn!" "Nay, Nureddin, do not offend the djinn!" chorused the other Bedouins. The shaykh's own hard-bitten ruffians, standing in a compact group
somewhat apart from the Bedouins, said nothing; hardened to crimes
and deeds of impiety, they were less affected by the superstitions
of the desert men, to whom the dread tale of the accursed city had
been repeated for centuries. Steve, even while hating Nureddin with
concentrated venom, realized the magnetic power of the man, the innate
leadership that had enabled him to overcome thus far the fears and
traditions of ages. "The curse is laid on infidels who invade the city," answered Nureddin,
"not on the Faithful. See, in this chamber have we overcome our _kafar_
foes!" A white-bearded desert hawk shook his head. "The curse is more ancient than Muhammad, and recks not of race or
creed. Evil men reared this black city in the dawn of the Beginnings of
Days. They oppressed our ancestors of the black tents, and warred among
themselves; aye, the black walls of this foul city were stained with
blood, and echoed to the shouts of unholy revel and the whispers of
dark intrigues. "Thus came the stone to the city: there dwelt a magician at the court
of Asshurbanipal, and the black wisdom of ages was not denied to him. To gain honor and power for himself, he dared the horrors of a nameless
vast cavern in a dark, untraveled land, and from those fiend-haunted
depths he brought that blazing gem, which is carved of the frozen
flames of Hell! By reason of his fearful power in black magic, he put a
spell on the demon which guarded the ancient gem, and so stole away the
stone. And the demon slept in the cavern unknowing. "So this magician--Xuthltan by name--dwelt in the court of the sultan
Asshurbanipal and did magic and forecast events by scanning the lurid
deeps of the stone, into which no eyes but his could look unblinded. And men called the stone the Fire of Asshurbanipal, in honor of the
king. "But evil came upon the kingdom and men cried out that it was the curse
of the djinn, and the sultan in great fear bade Xuthltan take the gem
and cast it into the cavern from which he had taken it, lest worse ill
befall them. "Yet it was not the magician's will to give up the gem wherein he read
strange secrets of pre-Adamite days, and he fled to the rebel city of
Kara-Shehr, where soon civil war broke out and men strove with one
another to possess the gem. Then the king who ruled the city, coveting
the stone, seized the magician and put him to death by torture, and in
this very room he watched him die; with the gem in his hand the king
sat upon the throne--even as he has sat throughout the centuries--even
as now he sits!" The Arab's finger stabbed at the moldering bones on the marble throne,
and the wild desert men blenched; even Nureddin's own scoundrels
recoiled, catching their breath, but the shaykh showed no sign of
perturbation. "As Xuthltan died," continued the old Bedouin, "he cursed the stone
whose magic had not saved him, and he shrieked aloud the fearful words
which undid the spell he had put upon the demon in the cavern, and set
the monster free. And crying out on the forgotten gods, Cthulhu and
Koth and Yog-Sothoth, and all the pre-Adamite Dwellers in the black
cities under the sea and the caverns of the earth, he called upon
them to take back that which was theirs, and with his dying breath
pronounced doom on the false king, and that doom was that the king
should sit on his throne holding in his hand the Fire of Asshurbanipal
until the thunder of Judgment Day. "Thereat the great stone cried out as a live thing cries, and the king
and his soldiers saw a black cloud spinning up from the floor, and
out of the cloud blew a fetid wind, and out of the wind came a grisly
shape which stretched forth fearsome paws and laid them on the king,
who shriveled and died at their touch. And the soldiers fled screaming,
and all the people of the city ran forth wailing into the desert, where
they perished or gained through the wastes to the far oasis towns. Kara-Shehr lay silent and deserted, the haunt of the lizard and the
jackal. And when some of the desert-people ventured into the city they
found the king dead on his throne, clutching the blazing gem, but they
dared not lay hand upon it, for they knew the demon lurked near to
guard it through all the ages--as he lurks near even as we stand here." The warriors shuddered involuntarily and glanced about, and Nureddin
said, "Why did he not come forth when the Franks entered the chamber? Is he deaf, that the sound of the combat has not awakened him?"