The graybeard did not answer; he did not share his master's enthusiasm. They rode on in silence. Since some time now they had met no other travelers. They were traversing a wild stretch of country; high trees and thick undergrowth lined the road on both sides. After they had turned a bend, suddenly two men on horseback emerged from a narrow side path. They wore patched riding jackets, and their hair was bound up with dirty blue rags. While one aimed the arrow on his crossbow at the travelers, the other rode up to them, a drawn sword in his hand.
"Get down from your horse, official!" he shouted. "We'll accept yours and that of the old man as a courtesy of the road!"
SECOND CHAPTER
HOONG quickly turned round in his saddle to hand his master his sword. But an arrow swished past his head.
"Leave the toothpick alone, old man!" the archer shouted. "The next arrow goes right into your throatl"
Magistrate Dee quickly surveyed the situation. Angrily biting his lip, he saw there was little he could do; they had been taken completely by surprise. He cursed himself for not having accepted the military escort.
"Hurry up," the first ruffian growled. "Be grateful that we are honest highwaymen, who let you off with your life."
"Honest highwaymen!" the magistrate said with a sneer as he climbed down from his horse. "Attacking an unarmed man, and that with an archer to cover you! You two are just a couple of common horse thieves!"
The man jumped from his horse with amazing quickness and stood himself in front of the magistrate, his sword ready. He topped him by an inch; his broad shoulders and thick neck showed him to be a man of extraordinary strength. Pushing his heavyjowled face forward he hissed, "You can't insult me, dog-official!"
Magistrate Dee's face went scarlet. "Give me my sword!" he ordered Hoong.
The archer drove his horse immediately in front of the graybeard.
"Keep your mouth shut and do as you are told!" he said threateningly to the magistrate.
"Prove that you aren't just a couple of thieves!" the magistrate snapped. "Hand me my sword. I'll first finish off this rascal and then settle with you!"
The big man with the sword suddenly guffawed. Putting his sword down, he called out to the archer, "Let's have a little joke with the beard, brother! Let him take his sword, I'll cut him up a bit to teach that brush-wielder a lesson!"
The other gave the magistrate a thoughtful look.
"There's no time for jokes!" he said sharply to his companion. "Let's take the horses and be gone."
"Just as I thought," Magistrate Dee said contemptuously. "Big words but small hearts!"
The large man cursed violently. He stepped up to Hoong's horse, grabbed the sword the graybeard was carrying and threw it to the magistrate, who caught it and quickly took off his traveling robe. He parted his long beard and knotted the two strands together behind his neck. Drawing his sword, he said to the ruffian, "Whatever happens you'll let the old man go free!"
The other nodded, then at once attacked with a quick thrust at the magistrate's breast. He easily parried it, then followed up with a few swift feints that made the ruffian fall back with a gasp. The man now attacked with greater caution, and the sword duel began in earnest, Hoong and the archer looking on. As they exchanged blow for blow the magistrate noticed that his opponent had apparently learned the art by actual practice; his fencing lacked the finer points of the schooled swordsman. But he was a man of formidable strength, and showed himself a clever tactician by enticing Dee repeatedly to the rough ground by the roadside, where the magistrate had to pay much attention to his footwork. This was the magistrate's first real fight outside the training hall, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He thought that before long he would get a chance to disable his opponent. But the other's common sword could not stand up so long against the tempered blade of Rain Dragon. When the ruffian parried a sharp blow, his sword suddenly snapped in two.
A SWORD DUEL ON THE HIGHWAY
As the man stood there looking dumbfounded at the stump in his hand, Magistrate Dee turned to the other.
"Your turn!" he barked.
The archer jumped from his horse. He took off his riding jacket and tucked the slips of his robe under his belt. He had seen that the magistrate was a first-class fencer. But after a swift exchange of thrusts and counterthrusts the magistrate also knew that this was a dangerous opponent, a schooled sword fighter, with whom one could take no chances. The magistrate felt thrilled. The first fight had loosened his limbs; now he felt in perfect condition. The sword Rain Dragon felt like a part of his own body. He went for his opponent with a complicated combination of feints and hits. The other sidestepped-he was surprisingly light on his feet for a man of his bulk-and counterattacked with a succession of quick cuts. But the sword Rain Dragon swished through the air; it parried each of the thrusts, then shot out in a long stab that missed the other's throat by the fraction of an inch. The man didn't flinch; he quickly made a few feints preparatory to a new attack.
Suddenly there was a loud clang of arms. A group of twenty horsemen came round the bend and quickly surrounded the four men. They were heavily armed with crossbows, swords and pikes.
"What is going on here?" their leader shouted. The short mail jacket and the spiked helmet proclaimed him a captain of the mounted military police.
Annoyed at this interruption of his first real sword duel, the magistrate replied curtly, "I am Dee Jen-djieh, newly appointed magistrate of Peng-lai. These three men are my assistants. We had a long ride, and are engaging in a friendly bout of fencing to stretch our stiff legs."
The captain gave them a dubious look.
"I'll trouble you for your papers, magistrate," he said in a clipped voice.
Magistrate Dee pulled an envelope from his boot and gave it to the captain. He quickly glanced through the documents inside, then gave them back and saluted.
"I regret to have bothered you, sir," he said politely. "We got a report that there are highwaymen about here, so I have to be careful. Good luck!"
He barked a command at his men, and they galloped away. When they had disappeared from sight, the magistrate raised his sword.
"We go on!" he said, and aimed a long thrust at his opponent's breast. The other parried the blow, then held up his sword, and put it back in its scabbard.
"Ride on to your destination, magistrate," he said gruffly. "I am glad there are still officials like you in our empire."
He gave a sign to the other. They jumped on their horses. Magistrate Dee gave his sword to Hoong, and started to put on his robe again.
"I take my words back," he said curtly. "You are indeed highwaymen. But if you go on like this, you'll end up on the scaffold like common thieves. Whatever your grudge is, forget it. There's news about heavy fighting with the barbarians up north. Our army needs men like you."
The archer shot him a quick look.
"And my advice to you, magistrate," he said calmly, "is that you carry your sword yourself, else you'll be caught unawares again." He turned his horse round, and the two disappeared among the trees.
As Magistrate Dee took his sword from Hoong and hung it over his own back, the old man said contentedly, "You gave them a good lesson, sir. What kind of people would those two have been?"