"A. E. Merritt - Dwellers in the mirage" - читать интересную книгу автора (Merritt A. E)

On the afternoon of the fourth day we saw a cloud of dust drifting
rapidly down upon us from the north. Soon we heard the sound of the
Uigher drums. Then out of the dust emerged a troop of horsemen. There
were two or three hundred of them, spears glinting, many of them with
good rifles. They drew up in a wide semi-circle before the camp. The
cold-eyed leader who had been my chief instructor dismounted and came
forward leading a magnificent black stallion. A big horse, a strong
horse, unlike the rangy horses that carried them; a horse that could
bear my weight with ease.



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The Uighur dropped on one knee, handing me the stallion's reins, I took
them, automatically. The horse looked me over, sniffed at me, and
rested its nose on my shoulder. At once the troop raised their spears,
shouting some word I could not catch, then dropped from their mounts
and stood waiting.

The leader arose. He drew from his tunic a small cube of ancient jade.
He sank again upon his knee, handed me the cube. It seemed solid, but
as I pressed it flew open. Within, was a ring. It was of heavy gold,
thick and wide. Set in it was a yellow, translucent stone about an inch
and a half square. And within this stone was the shape of a black
octopus.

Its tentacles spread out fan-wise from its body. They had the effect of
reaching forward through the yellow stone. I could even see upon their
nearer tips the sucking discs. The body was not so clearly defined. It
was nebulous, seeming to reach into far distance. The black octopus had
not been cut upon the jewel. It was within it.

I was aware of a curious mingling of feelings--repulsion and a peculiar
sense of familiarity, like the trick .of the mind that causes what we
call double memory, the sensation of having experienced the same thing
before. Without thinking. I slipped the ring over my thumb which it
fitted perfectly, and held it up to the sun to catch the light through
the stone. Instantly every man of the troop threw himself down upon his
belly, prostrating himself before it.

The Uigher captain spoke to me. I had been subconsciously aware that
from the moment of handing me the jade he had been watching me closely.
I thought that now there was awe in his eyes.

"Your horse is ready--" again he used the unfamiliar word with which the
troop had saluted me. "Show me what you wish to take with you, and your
men shall carry it."