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Mad or not, Greathouse had a gleam in his eye and a measure of pride in his voice when he next addressed the slave: "Well! Don&039;t you look upright!"

How much of this praise Zed understood was unknown The slave stood with his back against the door, his wide shoulders slightly bowed as if he feared disturbing the tavern&039;s precarious peace His black, fathomless eyes moved froain, in as alaze of supplication Zed didn&039;t want to be here, no more than he anted

"That&039;s the coroner&039;s crow!" came a shrill cry from the lady "I seen him carryin&039; a dead eration Zed&039;s tasks in service to ashton McCaggers included the cartage of bodies from the streets Matthew had also witnessed the slave&039;s forth, down in the cold room in City Hall&039;s cellar

Zed was bald and ht as Hudson Greathouse but broader across the back, shoulders and chest To look upon him was to view in its full and mysterious force all the power of the dark continent, and so black was he that his flesh seelow under the yellow lamps Upon his face-cheeks, forehead and chin-were tribal scars that lay upraised on the skin, and in these were the stylized Z, E, and D by which McCaggers had naht hilish to perform his job but, alas, could not teach hiue had been severed fro before the slaveship ues, Skelly found his It threw forth a croaking blast froainst the law!" shouted Baiter, just as soon as Skelly&039;s voice finished shaking sawdust froe of insult "Get him out or we&039;ll throw him out! Won&039;t we, Boneheadi"

"Lawi &039;Gainst what lawi I&039;un to stir hi was a far stretch fro

Bonehead had not responded to the threat his companion had just unsheathed; it appeared to Matthew that Bonehead was taking in the size of the new arrival, and Bonehead was not so thick-skulled as to wish to batter hi as men are men andis drained, Bonehead took a slug of valor and said, though nearly speaking into his drink, "Dao down that path!" Greathouse offered his pal Matthew a view of the small scars and knots on the man&039;s well-used knuckles "and surely, sir," he said, addressing Baiter, "you don&039;t really respect any decree Lord Cornbury own, do youi"

"I said," came the tavern-keeper&039;s voice, now not so et that beast out of entlemen at the rear, which told Matthew that they had no friends in this particular house

"Very well, then" Greathouse shrugged, as if it was all done and sealed "Just one drink for hione"

"He&039;ll drink ets a drop of my liquor!" hollered Skelly, and above Matthew the lanterns swayed on their chains Skelly&039;s eyes ide and wild His red beard, rimes of New York, quivered like a viper&039;s tail Matthew heard the wind howl outside Heard it shriek and whistle through chinks between the boards, as if trying to gnaw the place to splinters The tharf his knuckles Why did eri

Greathouse never lost his smile "Tell you what I&039;ll buy a drink for myself Then we&039;ll leave everyone in peace That suit youi" To Matthew&039;s horror, the great ht up to where Bonehead and Baiter obviously longed to bash hi, his lanced at Zed he saw again that the slave had no interest in taking another step nearer destruction, ive it to the crow, is what he&039;s thinkin&039;!" the lady protested, but it was already a thought in Matthew&039;s ency, Greathouse had said

Matthew had heard nothing of this Hiring Zedi a slave who understood lilish and could speak not a word of iti Greathouse obviously needed no drink here, for he had a liquor in his quarters at Mary Belovaire&039;s boarding house

as Greathouse approached the bar, Bonehead and Baiter moved away fro a sudden burst of violence "Don&039;t you think we ought to-"

"Sit down," Greathouse answered fir in it "Mind your ood coht and, hesitantly, he sat down upon it

The tharf nearer Greathouse took no notice of theure against the door

"One drink," Greathouse said to Skelly "Your best, if you please"

Skelly didn&039;t ," said Greathouse, in a cool, calht out a coin and dropped it into the cashbox that sat atop the bar

"Go ahead," Baiter spoke up, scowling "Let hiet that black beast out of here, and to Hell with all of &039;em"

Greathouse&039;s eyes never left those of the sullen tavern-keeper "as the gentleman proposes," he said

Suddenly Skelly sht It revealed the broken black teeth in the front of his mouth, and showed that so on a halo It was just wrong Because of that hideous ser in the roo to loose an evil arrow

"For sure, sir, for sure!" said Skelly, who then turned away to fetch afrom a shelf and uncork a bottle of the usual nasty brandy With a flourish, he poured into thedown in front of Greathouse "There you are, sir Drink up!"

Greathouse paused,the distance of Bonehead, Baiter and the two slowly approaching wharfentle intently Matthew stood up again, no lanced at Zed and saw that even the slave was crouched in a position of readiness, but for what Matthew did not know

Greathouse reached out and put his hand on the

"One minute, sir," said Skelly "You did say you wanted the best, didn&039;t youi Well, le, he leaned his head forward and drooled vile brown spittle into the drink "There you are, sir," he said, again with that devil&039;s smile, when he&039;d finished "Now either you drink it, or let&039;s see you give it to the crow"

Greathouse stared at the"Hm," he said His left eyebrow, the one with the teacup scar across it, began twitching He said nothing , and the lady just plain cackled Dippen Nack gripped his constable&039;s lantern and his black billyclub and began to try to stand up, but without a third ar no luck at the task

"H the froth that bubbled atop the liquid

"Drink up, then," Skelly offered "Goes down smooth as shit, don&039;t it, boysi"

To the credit of their good sense, no one answered

Greathouse took his hand fro He stared into Skelly&039;s eyes "I fear, sir, that I&039;ve lostyour pardon for this intrusion, and I ask only that I ht retrieve my coin, since my lips have not tasted of your best"

"No, sir!" The sht the drink! The coin stays!"

"But I have no doubt you can pour the liquor back into the bottle as I&039;m sure you often do, when patrons are unable to finish their portions Now I&039;ll just taketoward the coinbox, and Matthe Skelly&039;s right shoulder give a jerk The bastard&039;s hand had found that axe behind the bar

"Hudson!" Matthew shouted, the blood pounding at his tereat man&039;s hand would not be stopped Greathouse and Skelly still stared at each other, locked in a silent test of wills, as one hand extended and another prepared to chop it off at the wrist

In no particular hurry, Greathouse reached into the coinbox and let his fingers touch copper

It was hard to tell exactly what happened next, for it happened with such ferocity and speed that Matthew thought everything was blurred and dreaive a ers

He saw the axe colint of laht that Greathouse was going to miss tomorrow&039;s rapier lesson The axe rose up to its zenith and hung there for a second, as Skelly gritted his teeth and tensed to bring it crashing down through flesh, sinew and bone

But here was the blurred part, for the axebloas never delivered

There came from the direction of the door a sound of Satan&039;sin their chains, and Matthew turned his head fast enough to see Zed whipping out with the chain he&039;d just leaped up and wrenched off its hook from an overhead rafter The chain still had a firelit lamp attached on the end Zed had thrown, and when it snapped across the room the chain not only wound itself around Skelly&039;s upraised forearh to shatter its glass sides It was apparent in an instant that a blue flicker on a luht enjoy a feast of New York dirt and a week&039;s drippings of apple brandy, for in a burst of eye-popping fire it consu would eat a muttonchop as a thousand sparks flew around Skelly&039;s face, Zed planted his boots and with one solid wrench of the chain pulled the old rapscallion over the bar as easily as hauling a catfish over the side of a skiff, the only difference being that a catfish still had whiskers

Skelly hit the floor on his teeth, which perhaps was an improvement to the beauty of his dentals Even with a an to haul him across the floor hand-over-hand, and with a tre noise the back of the slave&039;s suit coat split wide open as his back swelled When Skelly was at his feet, Zed bent down, tore the axe loose and with an ease that looked like a child throwing jackstones he imbedded the axeblade in the nearest wall

Some people, it seemed to Matthew, are born stupid Which could be the only reason that, despite this display of fighting force, the tharfmen jumped Greathouse froe of cursing from the wharf of disdain Instead of s them both flat, as Matthew expected, he backed away fro after hiot perhaps two steps when a flying table hit the was not un upon the planks, Matthew shuddered because he&039;d felt the wind of motion from Zed on the back of his neck, and he would not wish to be on the receiving end of that stor oaths on the floor, Baiter was backed up against a wall and looking for a way to squeeze through a crack, Bonehead drank down another swig of his brandy and watched things unfold with slitted eyes, and the blowsy lady was on her feet hollering names at Zed that made the very air blue with shaentlemen at the rear of the place-the one who&039;d remarked on the supposed offense done to his nose-slide a short sword froet that black bastard out," he announced with a thrust of his chin, "then allow h!"

Greathouse retreated Now Matthew thought that surely it was time to head for the relative safety of the street Yet Greathouse offered no suggestion for any of the half-smile was still stuck to his mouth

as the swordsht ht have asked it was disregarded Dippen Nack had gotten hi, his billyclub lifted to apply his own brand of constable&039;s justice When he took a wobbly step toward Zed he was caught at the scruff of the neck by Greathouse, who looked at him, said a fire a child Nack didn&039;t try to stand again, which was just as well