So he told them all the tale and showed them the pictures, page by page, till he cam to the page with the dried vomit splashed over the painting of the death of Raymond the Golden.
Something was more newly drawn in one corner of that page. An oddish mushroom; and written beneath it were these words:
"These, dried and powdered, I mixed with the wine in the three firkins which held our father's blood. Thus, I, Doom, fulfilled my name, and brought an ending to the wicked enemies of the House of the Hubelaires."
4. The Thirty And One
Four of the Cornwall Tales appeared in WEIRD TALES In 1929 and 1930, and the readers regretfully decided that this was all there would be of them. I myself did not get to read any of these four until 1939, when I first managed to borrow a good-size collection of old issues of WT, prior to the dates of my own familiarity with the magazine, which began with the October 1931 issue (although I had managed to get some back issues, as far as January 1931). So it was with both surprise and pleasure that we all saw this story in the second issue of MARVEL SCIENCE STORIES in 1938. One more would make its initial appearance in a magazine a few years later, but I'll save comment on that one when we come to it The next story in the book will be the one that appeared first in WEIRD TALES: The Battle of the Toads.
Cecil, Overlord of Walling in Armorica, mused by the fire The blind Singer of Songs, sang the sagas of ancient times, waited long for praise and then, disquiet, left the banquet hall guided by his dog. The Juggler merrily tossed his golden balls into the air till they seemed like a glistening cascade but still the Overlord mused, unseeing. The wise Homunculus crouched at his feet uttering words of wisdom and telling tales of Gobi and the buried city of Angkor. But nothing could rouse Cecil from his meditations.
At last he struck the silver bell with a hammer of gold. A serving man answered his call.
"Send me Lady Angelica and Prince Gustro," he commanded and then, once again, sat silent with chin in hand, waiting.
Soon the two came to his summons. The Lady Angelica was his only child, as fair and wise as any lady in all Walling. Prince Gustro some day would be her husband and help her rule the Hubelaires. Meanwhile he had perfected himself in the use of the broadsword, the lute, hunting with the falcon, and the study of books. He was six feet tall and twenty years old and had in him the makings of a man.
The three sat around the fire, two waiting to hear the one talk, the one waiting till he knew just how to say what had to be said. At last Cecil spoke.
"No doubt you know what is on my mind. For years I have tried to give happiness, peace, and prosperity to the Hubelaires in our land of Walling. We were well situated in a valley surrounded by lofty forests and around them high mountains. Only one pass connected us with the great, cruel, and almost unknown world. In springtime, summer, and fall we sent our caravans of mules laden with grain, olives, and wine out into that world and from it we brought salt, weapons, and bales of woolen and silken goods for our needs. No one tried to molest us, for we had nothing they coveted. Perhaps years of safety made us soft, sleepy,and unprepared for danger."
"But danger has come. We should have realized there were things in that outer world we knew not and therefore could not even dream of. This spring our caravan, winding over the mountains, found, at the boundaries of the dark forest, a castle blocking their way. Their mules were not birds and could not fly over; they were not moles and could not burrow under. And the lads with the mules were not warriors and could not break their way through. So they came back, unmolested, tis true, but with their goods unbartered and unsold."
"I do not think that castle was built by magic. I have looked at it and it seems nothing but stone and mortar. And it is not held by an army of warriors, for all we hear is that one man occupies it. But what a man! Half again as tall as our finest lads and skilled in the use of weapons. I tried him out. One at a time I sent to him John of the flying axe, and Herman who had no equal with the two-handed sword, and Rubin who could split a willow wand at two hundred paces with his steel-tipped arrow. These three men lie, worm food, in the ravine below the castle. Meantime our country is strangulated so far as trade is concerned. We have cattle in the meadow, wood in the forest, and grain in the bins; but we have no salt, no clothes to cover us in the winter, no finery for our women, or weapons for our warriors. We will never have these while this giant in his castle blocks our caravans.".
"We can capture the castle and kill the Giant!" cried Prince Gustro with the impetusity of youth.
"How?" asked the Overlord. "Did I tell you that the path is narrow? You know that. On one side the mountains tower as lofty as the eagle's flight and as smooth as a woman's skin. On the other side is the Valley of the Daemons and no one has ever fallen into it and come back alive. The only path that leads through the castle is scarcely wide enough for one man or a man-led mule. If I could send an army 'twould be different; but only one man at a time can enter and there is no man able to combat this Giant successfully.
Lady Angelica smiled as she whispered. "We may conquer him through chicanery. For example: I have seen this hall filled with warriors and fair ladies almost put into endless sleep by gazing at the golden balls flying through the air and back into the clever hands of the Juggler. And the blind Singer of Songs can make anyone forget all except the music of his lays. Do not forget our Homunculus is very wise."
Cecil shook his head. "Not thus will the question be answered. This mad Giant wants only one thing, and that means, in the lastward, everything so far as as our land and people are concerned. Perhaps you have guessed. I will tell you his demand ere you ask the question. Our Lady's hand in marriage, and this, when I die, to rule Walling and the Hubelaires."
Lady Angelica looked at Prince Gustro. He saw her shake her head ever so slightly.
"Better to eat our grain and olives and drink our wine," he said. "Better that our men wear bearskins and our women cover themselves with the hides of deer. 'Twould be best to have them wear shoes of wood than pantofles of unicorn skin brought from Araby. It were a sweeter fate for them to perfume their bodies with crushed violets and mayflowers from the forest than to be scented with perfumes from the trees of the Spice Island in the East. This price is too heavy. Let us live like our fathers and our father's fathers, even climb trees like the monkey folk, rather than have such a ruler. Besides, I love the Lady Angelica."
The Lady smiled her thanks. "I am still thinking of the use of intelligence overcoming brawn. Have we no wisdom in Walling, besides the fair, faint dreams of a weak woman?"
"I will send for the Homunculus," her father replied. "He may know the answer to that question."
The little man came in. A man not born of woman, but grown for seven years in a glass bottle, during all of which time he read books held before him by wise men and was nourished with drops of wine and tiny balls of asphodel paste. He listened to the problem gravely, though at times he seemed asleep. At last he uttered one word: "Synthesis"
The Overlord picked him up and placed him on one knee.
"Have pity on us, Wise Man. We are only simple folk and know but little. What is the meaning of this strange word?"
"I know not," was the peculiar answer. "Tis a word that comes to me out of the past. It has a sweet sound and surely must refer to something mystical. I recall now! It was when I was in the glass bottle that a wise man came and held before my eyes an illuminated parchment on which was written in letters of gold this word and its meaning! Synthesis. All things are one and one thing is all."