Evening star., 1928-04-03
The linn of the Hawk and Raven



toned the names OK these conspiratcrs
so close to the throne were they.
No detail had been omitted. The rob-
Der ch.eftain knew all there was tc
know about the plans OF the merchant:
he knew. and his followers knew. that
the risk they would have to take In this
instance was graver than anything they
| ever had attempted. But, to a man
| they voted in favor of the undertaking
they were determined that Gerane's
| birthday present should be the biggest
the market afforded. even though it had
! to be paid for I'm blood OF their own.
/ A huckster. IL seems, hsd stopped to
hsggle wit a steward at the back gate
| OF a msnsion in Castle Avenue: boat
| man outside the walls Of EdelwieSs pass
| ed the time Of day with the huckster, an
| hour Of two later: farmer who was
having his horse stlod at the forge a
couple Of miles no the river came down
. to the bank and chatted with the boat
man while that worthy rested; wood
man. far up the road. stopped work to
converse with his friend. the farmer:
just before nightfall a hunter opened
the door of his hut near the yawning
mouth of the Pass of the Two Kings
and admitted a visitor In the person Of
woodsman of long acquaintance: q
little past midnight hunter diSmount-
ed from his tired Steed and pounded
on the door of tavern several miles
to the east OF the Kings Highway on
the rough dirt road that branched of
in the direction OF the village of Sem
lik: he talked for an hour with the
hosts Of this tavern. two gigantic BROTH
eFs named SSman and Seege Digman,
whose fcrebears. as far back as men,
ory could extend had conducted this
shelter for man and beast. BY SUM-
rise on the morning of the Gay proceed
ing Gerane's anniversary, word had
reached "Jonifer the Hawk" in his val
ley that richly-laden merchant was
to pass along the Kings Highway, ac-
companied by a guard OF 20 dragons
from the citadel
So 1t was that the hrigands Of the
Forest Of Droon always were made ac-
ouainted with news of this character
from the very heart OF Edelweiss. BY
means Of . system Of human telegraph,
messages were transmitted from the cap
itals OF Graustark and Axphain to the
stronghold of rohber chieftain. Not
withstanding the ingenuity of the po-
lice IN both countries. the system had
been in operation for a quarter Of a
century or more. Now and then, a
brigand was taken alive. but his lips
were as tightly sealed as those of the
men who died in combat The heads
mans ak merely increased the number
Of dead men who had no tale to tell
To add to the perplexity of Baron
Dangloos. the faces of the robbers who
fell into their hands dead or alive. were
those of men they never had seen be-
fore: and yet there vas not the slight
est doubt that they had spent all their
lives within the figurative stones throw
of the city itself. The stripping on of
narrow black masks revealed features
absolutely strange to the authorities.
The bandits wore masks not so much to
hide thir faces as to keep them from
becoming familiar through repeated ex-
cursions into the Kings Highway.
All day there had been great excite
ment in the valley. It had been months
since the last foray. The brigands had
lain fallow. so to speak, throughout the
Spring and Summer months, but they
had not been idle so far as other pur-
was alive with ttliers of the soil.
preparing against the Winter that
was to come; picturesque shepherds
tended their hocks and herds along the
mountain slopes: housewives we're busy
with broods Of chickens and geese and
turkeys: the miller, the farrier. the cob
bier, and others Of their ilk, TO say Moth
ing Of the g1nsmith and the sword
maker, piled their trades with zeal:
nilkmaids, ,honey-gatherers. berry,
psckerS. weayers serenity went about
their tasks: householders patched their
roofs, repaired or enlarged their stables
and sheds, made their wines. and slept
the sleep Of the Just and honest.
Looking down into this sequestered
little pocket. walled In by its stockade Of
cliffs. an observer would have been
struck by serene picture Of toll, pros
perity. and contentment: this would
have been succeeded by wondor. for. no
could not, for the life OF him. see how
these people got into and out of
their valley. They lived. so 1t
appeared, at the very bottom Of a
bowl whose green or drab sides were
at least q mile high, with never a
sign Of an opening anywhere. What he
could not have seen, because Of the
screen Of trees. was the deep, narrow
fissure created by some mighty convul-
sion that split the rocky foothills TO the
south millions Of years ago and con-
veniently neglected TO stop it up again.
It was through this cslriously concealed
slit, masked at its outer end In most
ingenious fashion, that the denizens Of
the glen found entrance and agrees 10
and from the world. And, even though
he were able 10 descend into the valley.
the keenest Of observers still would have
been deceived by his surroundings.
He could not have found the cavern
in which we're stored such crops of
precious stones as had been reaped from
the Kings Highway crops lying safe to
await the annual pilgrimage OF Jonifer
Davos and few companions TO a desig-
mated place, far beyond the hills. where
the baubles were exchanged for bags OF
gold produced and delivered by even
greater miscreants who led respectable
lives In Vienna and Paris and Berlin
and St. Petersburg.
Now there vas 70 be break In the
monotony. Prom every house and every
field IN the glen came men, young and
old. TO the stable-yard behind the house
in which the robber cfieftain lived. A
half-hundred strong we're they.
And there was not a farmer. nor