Page 41 (1/2)

Quickly, he let the man drop Only the red-haired fellow observed all this And he seemed in his intoxication not to knohat to ain froht hand, one by one, as if he were a cat, as my Master dropped his black-haired coht into a plate of fruit

"Drunken idiot," said the red-haired hts for valor, or honor, or decency "

"Notdown at him

"They broke the world in half, those Turks," said the red-hairedat the dead one, who surely stared stupidly at him from the smashed plate I couldn't see the dead man's face, but it excited me tremendously that he was dead

"Coentleave s "

"Is he your son, Sir?" cried the blond humpback, as finally on his feet He pushed his friends away from him He turned and went to the summons "I'll father him better than you ever did "

My Master appeared suddenly and without a sound on our side of the table His garments settled at once, as if he had only taken a step The red-haired man did not even seem to see it

"Skanderbeg, the great Skanderbeg, I raise a toast to him," said the red-haired ive s and I'd raise a new Crusade to take back our city from the Turks "

"Indeed, ouldn't with five Skanderbegs," said the elderlyat the joint He wiped his eneral like unto Skanderbeg, and there never was, save the man himself What's the matter with Ludovico? You fool!" He stood up

My Master had put his arm around the blond one, who pushed at him, quite dismayed that my Master was immovable Now as the two dancers offered my Master pushes and shoves to free their coain planted his fatal kiss He lifted the chin of the blond one and went right for the big artery in the neck He swung the reat draught In a flash, he closed the ers and let the body slip to the floor

"It is your tiood Sirs," he said to the dancers who now backed away from him

One of them pulled his sword

"Don't be so stupid!" shouted his companion "You're drunk You'll never- "

"No, you won't, " said h His lips were more pink than I had ever seen them, and the blood he'd drunk paraded in his cheeks Even his eyes had a greater gloss, and a greater gleam

He closed his very hand over the man's sword and with the press of his thument in his hand