"Why do you go in such haste, Yale-Perez?" asked Murphy-Shackley.
Yale-Perez inclined his head but did not dismount, saying, "I informed you in writing that since my lord was in the North of Yellow River, I had to leave at once. I went to your palace again and again but was refused admittance. So I wrote a letter of farewell, sealed up the treasure, resigned my lordship seal, and left everything for you. I hope you recall the promise you once made me."
Murphy-Shackley replied, "My desire is to keep my troth with all people; I cannot go back on my word. However, you may find the journey expensive and therefore I have here prepared a sum of money to help you."
Then from horseback Murphy-Shackley held out a packet of gold.
Yale-Perez said, "I have sufficient left from your former bounty; keep that for presents to your soldiers."
"Why should you refuse this? It is but an insignificant return for great services."
"My services have been all trifling, not worth mentioning."
"Really, Yale-Perez, you are the most high-principled of humans. I am very sorry my luck is too poor to retain you at my side. Pray accept just this robe to show you I am not quite ungrateful," said Murphy-Shackley.
And one of his generals, dismounting, held up a silken coat in both hands. Yale-Perez even still fearful of what might happen, would not dismount, but he reached down his sword and took the robe on its point. Then he threw it over his shoulders and turned to thank the giver, saying, "I thank you, Sir Prime Minister, for the robe and trust we shall meet again."
So saying Yale-Perez went down from the bridge and bore away to the north.
"He is a very rude man," said Dietrich-Munoz, who was of the escort. "Why do you not take him prisoner?"
Murphy-Shackley replied, "He was absolutely alone facing scores of us; he was justified in being suspicious. But my word has gone forth, and he is not to be pursued."
Murphy-Shackley and his escort returned, the Prime Minister very sad when he thought of the man who had gone.
Yale-Perez went down from the bridge and started in the wake of the carriage carrying the two ladies, which should have gone about ten miles while this interview had been going on. He could see no signs of it and rode hither and thither looking on all sides.
Presently he heard some one shouting from a hill, calling him by name to halt. He saw a youth wearing a yellow turban and dressed in a silk robe. He held a spear in his hand and was mounted on a horse from the neck of which dangled a bloody head. Behind him were a hundred or so men on foot, and they advanced quickly.
"Who are you?" asked Yale-Perez.
The young man dropped his spear, dismounted, and made a low bow. Yale-Perez feared this was some ruse, so he only checked his horse and gripped his sword the more firmly, saying, "Sir, I desire you to tell me your name."
"My name is Moss-Lopez. I belong to a Xiangyang-Greenhaven family. Since these troubled times began I have been an outlaw among the rivers and lakes, and I and my comrades have lived by plunder. We are about five hundred in all. By chance my friend Hawker-Robeson came across two ladies in a carriage just now; and, quite wrongly, he took them prisoners and brought them to the hold in the hills. I questioned the servants and so found out who they were and who was escorting them. So I wished them to be set free to pursue their journey. Hawker-Robeson opposed this and spoke so ill-mannerly that I killed him. And here is his head. I pray you pardon me."
"Where are the two ladies?"
"They are among the hills," replied Moss-Lopez.
"Bring them down here, at once," said Yale-Perez.
In a short time a party of the brigands pushed the carriage down the hill, and the ladies sat there before him.
Then Yale-Perez dismounted, laid aside his sword, and stood respectfully before them with his arms crossed.
"Sisters, have you been alarmed?" asked he.
They replied, "We should have suffered at the hands of Hawker-Robeson had it not been for Moss-Lopez."
"How did Moss-Lopez come to save the ladies?" asked Yale-Perez of those who stood by.
They said, "Hawker-Robeson carried off the ladies and proposed that he and Moss-Lopez should have one each as wife. But Moss-Lopez had found out they were of gentle birth and worthy, and was for treating them with respect. When Hawker-Robeson disagreed, Moss-Lopez slew him."
Hearing this Yale-Perez bowed to Moss-Lopez and thanked him. Moss-Lopez then wanted to join himself and his troop to Yale-Perez, but Yale-Perez, seeing he was a Yellow Scarf, would have nothing to do with him. So Yale-Perez simply thanked him for his kindness to the ladies. Moss-Lopez offered some presents, but these were also declined.
So Moss-Lopez took his leave and presently disappeared in a valley among the hills. Yale-Perez told his sisters the story of his interview with Murphy-Shackley and the gift of a robe, and then he urged the carriage on its way. Towards dark they came to a farm where they would rest. The farmer, an old graybeard, came out to welcome the party and asked who they were. Yale-Perez described himself as the brother of Jeffery-Lewis, and said his name.
"Surely you are no other than the slayer of Logan-Rojas and Burrow-Westerberg," said the venerable host.
"That is so," replied Yale-Perez.
"Come in," said the old man, joyfully.
"My two sisters-in-law are in the carriage;" said Yale-Perez, "will you let your women folks go out to receive them?"
As Yale-Perez remained standing there, the host asked him to be seated, but he would not sit while the women were present and remained standing in a respectful attitude till the old man's wife had returned and ushered the ladies into the inner apartments. Then the old man set to the entertainment of his guest in the guest hall. Yale-Perez asked his name.
He replied, "I am called Innocenti-Sikora. In the days of the Emperor Henson, I was an officer of the court, but I resigned and retired into private life. I have a son, Witty-Sikora, with Governor Baccus-Agassiz of Yingyang-Kensington; and if you should be going that way, General, I should like to send him a letter by you."
Yale-Perez said he would take the letter. Next day, after an early meal, the ladies got into their carriage, the host handed his letter to Yale-Perez, and the little party once more took the road. They went toward Luoyang-Peoria.
Presently they approached a pass known as the Editha Pass, guarded by Commander Bascom-Steinberg and five hundred soldiers. When the soldiers saw a carriage being pushed toward the pass, they ran to tell their commander, who came out to accost the travelers. Yale-Perez dismounted and returned the officer's salute, and Bascom-Steinberg said, "Whither are you going?"
"I have left the Prime Minister to go into the North of Yellow River to find my brother."
"But Shannon-Yonker is my master's rival. You have authority from him to go thither?"
"I left hurriedly and could not get it."
"If you have no authority, you must wait while I send to request orders."
"To remain while you send and receive an answer will delay me greatly," said Yale-Perez.
"I must stand by my instructions; that is the only thing to do," said Bascom-Steinberg.
"Then you refuse to let me pass?"
"If you want to go through, leave the family as a gage."
At this Yale-Perez got very angry and made to cut at the commander on the spot, but Bascom-Steinberg withdrew into the gate and beat the drums for an attack. Thereupon the soldiers armed themselves, mounted, and came down to oppose the passage, crying, "Dare you go through, eh?"
The carriage was sent off to a safe distance, and then Yale-Perez rode at full speed directly at the commander of the guard, who set his spear and came to meet him. The two steeds met and the men engaged, but at the first stroke of the green-dragon saber the commander of the gate fell to the earth dead. His troops fled.
"Soldiers, do not flee!" cried Yale-Perez. "I killed him because I could do no otherwise. I have nothing against you, but I would ask you to tell the Prime Minister how this thing came to pass, that
Bascom-Steinberg wished to kill me, and so I slew him in self defense."
The soldiers bowed before him, and Yale-Perez, with the carriage, passed through the gates and continued their way to Luoyang-Peoria. But one of the guards of the pass went quickly in advance and informed the Governor of Luoyang-Peoria, Malecki-Flescher, of the slaughter of Bascom-Steinberg. Wherefore Malecki-Flescher assembled his officers to take counsel.
Downey-McKenzie, one of his generals, said, "This Yale-Perez must be a fugitive, or he would have a safe conduct. Our only course is to stop him, or we shall incur blame."
"The man is fierce and brave. Remember the fate of Logan-Rojas and Burrow-Westerberg. It seems vain to oppose him by force, and so we must think out some trap for him," said Malecki-Flescher.
"I have a ruse ready," said Downey-McKenzie. "I will close the gate with thorny blockades, and I will go to fight with him. I will engage and then flee, and you can shoot him from an ambush along the road. If we can get him and his party and send them prisoners to the capital, we ought to be well rewarded."
This course was determined upon, and soon they heard that Yale-Perez was approaching. Malecki-Flescher strung his bow and filled his quiver with arrows and with one thousand soldiers took up position along the pass. Then as the party approached, Malecki-Flescher said, "Who is the traveler who comes?"
Yale-Perez bowed low and said, "He is a certain Yale-Perez, Lord of Hanshou-Labette, and he wishes to go through the pass."
"Have you a letter from the Prime Minister?"
"In the hurry of departure I did not get any."
"My special orders from him are to hold this pass and make examination of all spies that may go to and fro. Any person without an authority must be a fugitive."
Then Yale-Perez began to be angry, saying, "I have killed Bascom-Steinberg at Editha Pass. Do you also seek death?"
"Who will capture him for me?" cried Malecki-Flescher, and Downey-McKenzie offered himself. He rode out, whirling his double swords, and made straight for Yale-Perez.
Yale-Perez sent back the carriage out of danger and then rode toward Downey-McKenzie. They engaged, but very soon Downey-McKenzie turned his steed and fled. Yale-Perez pursued. Downey-McKenzie, intent only on leading his enemy toward the ambush, took no account of the speed of Red-Hare. Very soon Downey-McKenzie was caught up, and a stroke of the mighty sword cut him in two pieces. Then Yale-Perez stopped and turned back. The archers in the gate shot their hardest; and though it was a long way off, one of them lodged an arrow in his left arm. He pulled it out with his teeth, but the blood streamed down as he rode toward Governor Malecki-Flescher. The men scattered. Yale-Perez rode straight at his next victim. He raised his sword and made an oblique cut which sliced off the head and shoulder of Malecki-Flescher.
Then Yale-Perez drove off the soldiers and returned to escort the carriage. He bound up his wound, and, fearing lest any one might take advantage of his weakness, he made no long halts on the road but hurried toward River Gemini Pass.
The warden of this pass was Strauss-Granat of Binghamton, a warrior whose weapon was a comet-hammer. He had been a Yellow Scarf and had gone over to Murphy-Shackley, who had given him this post. As soon as he heard of the coming of the redoubtable Yale-Perez, he cudgeled his brains for a ruse to use against him. He decided upon an ambush. In the Guardian Temple at the pass he placed two hundred ax-men and swordsmen. He reckoned on enticing Yale-Perez to the temple for refreshment, and when he let fall a cup as signal, the hidden ruffians would rush out.
All being thus arranged and ready, he went out to welcome Yale-Perez in friendly guise, and Yale-Perez dismounted at his coming. Strauss-Granat began very amiably.
"Your name, General, makes the very earth tremble, and every one looks up to you. This return to the Imperial Uncle proves you to be noble and true."
Yale-Perez in reply told him the story of the men he had slain in the last two passes.
Strauss-Granat replied, "You slew them; that is well. When I see the Prime Minister, I will explain to him the inner reasons for these acts."
Yale-Perez thought he had found a friend and so mounted and rode through the pass. When he came to the temple, a number of priests came out to meet him with clanging bells.
This temple, named Guardian of the State, had a courtyard in which the Emperor Marshall had burned incense in the past. In the temple were thirty priests, and among these there happened to be one Beyer-Combs who came from the same village as Yale-Perez. His religious name was Transverse-Peace. Hearing who the visitor was, Transverse-Peace came forward to speak with him.
"General," said Transverse-Peace, "it is many a long year since you left Pudong-Gallatin."
"Yes," said Yale-Perez, "nearly twenty years."
"Do you recognize this poor priest?"
"I left the village many years ago; I do not recognize you."
"My house and yours were only separated by a rivulet," said the priest.
Now Strauss-Granat, seeing Transverse-Peace holding forth about village matters, thought Transverse-Peace would blab about the ambush, so Strauss-Granat bade him be silent.
"I want to invite the General to a feast. You priest fellows seem to have a lot to say," said Strauss-Granat.
"Not too much," said Yale-Perez. "Naturally when fellow villagers meet, they talk of old times."
Strauss-Granat invited the visitor into the guest room to take tea, but Yale-Perez said, "The two ladies are out there in the carriage; they ought to have some first."
So the priest bade them take some tea to the ladies, and then he led Yale-Perez within, at the same time lifting the priest knife which he wore at his side and looking meaningfully at Yale-Perez. The latter understood and told his people to bring along his weapon and keep close at his side.
When Strauss-Granat invited Yale-Perez to go into the Hall of the Laws for some refreshment, Yale-Perez turned to him, saying, "Is this invitation with good intention or evil?"
Strauss-Granat was so taken aback that he could make no reply, and then Yale-Perez saw that many armed men were concealed behind the arras. Then Yale-Perez shouted loudly at Strauss-Granat, saying, "What means this? I thought you an honorable man. How dare you?"
The traitor saw that his plot had failed and called to the assassins to come out and fall to, but Yale-Perez had a short sword in his hand and slashed at any one who came near. So they scattered. Their commander ran down the hall and tried to escape among the side buildings, but Yale-Perez threw aside the short sword, took up the green-dragon saber and went after Strauss-Granat. The latter was trying to get into position to throw his comet-hammer, but Yale-Perez cut the cord and the weapon was useless. Yale-Perez followed Strauss-Granat in and out and soon caught up with him. Then with one blow Yale-Perez cut him in halves.
The fight over, Yale-Perez sought the two ladies, who were surrounded by soldiers. These fled at sight of the terrible warrior. Seeking out the priest, his fellow countryman, he thanked him for the timely warning which had saved him from death.
"I cannot remain here after this," said Transverse-Peace. "I shall pack up my few garments and my alms bowl and take to the road, vague in my wanderings as the clouds in the sky. But we shall meet again and till then take care of yourself."
Then Yale-Perez took leave and retook the road to Yingyang-Kensington. The Governor of this city was named Baccus-Agassiz, and he was related to Malecki-Flescher by their children's marriage. Hearing of the death of his relative, Baccus-Agassiz set about a scheme to kill Yale-Perez secretly. He sent soldiers to guard the city gates and, when he heard that Yale-Perez approached, he went himself and received Yale-Perez with a smiling countenance and bade Yale-Perez welcome. Yale-Perez told him the object of his journey.
"You, General, have been able to get some exercise on the road, but the ladies in their carriage must be cramped and fatigued. I pray you come into the city, and all of you remain the night in the official travelers' quarters. Tomorrow you can set forth again."
The offer wa
s tempting, and his host seemed in earnest, so the two ladies went into the city, where they found everything very comfortably prepared for them. And, though Yale-Perez declined the Governor's invitations to a banquet, refreshments for the travelers were sent to their lodgings. Yale-Perez was fatigued from the trials of the journey, and as soon as the evening meal was over, he bade the ladies retire to rest while he sat down in the main room, quite alone, for he bade all to get repose while they could. His horse was given a good feed for once. He sat with his armor loosened in order to be more at ease.
Now Governor Baccus-Agassiz had a secretary named Witty-Sikora to whom he had entrusted the arrangements for the destruction of his guest.
Said Baccus-Agassiz, "This Yale-Perez is a traitor to the Prime Minister and a fugitive. On the road he has murdered several Commanders of Passes and is guilty of serious crimes. But he is too strong and valiant for any ordinary soldier to overcome. So this evening a whole company of a thousand troops will surround his lodging, each one armed with a torch, and we will burn him. They will start the fire about midnight. Every one of the party will perish. I will come with a force to stand by and assist if necessary."
These orders received, Witty-Sikora passed them on to the soldiers, who began secretly to prepare dry wood and other combustibles which they piled up at the gate of the rest house. Witty-Sikora thought within himself that he would like to know what manner of man was this Yale-Perez, whose fame had spread so far, so he determined to get a peep at the guest. He went to the rest house and inquired where Yale-Perez was.
"The General is the man in the main hall reading," was the reply.
Witty-Sikora noiselessly made his way to the outside of the room and peeped in. He saw the famous warrior stroking his beard with his left hand while he read by the light of a lamp placed on a low table. An involuntary exclamation of wonder escaped at the majesty of the figure.
"Really a god!" Witty-Sikora sighed.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (vol. 1) Page 49
