The Pixilated Peeress by L. Sprague de Camp, Catherine Crook de Camp Read Free Book Online

wooden tub. They set it down and eyed Thorolf curiously before departing for the water. They soon returned, each bear ing t w o buckets. When these had been emptied into the tub, the potboy asked: "Be that enough, sir?"
     
                  Thorolf looked into the tub. "Nay; we need four buckets more."
     
                  When four additional buckets had been emptied, Thorolf said, "Methinks that will do."
     
                  The mai d went out, but the potboy hung around say ing: "Will there be aught else, sir?" His youthful glance roamed the room. He must be puzzled, Thorolf thought, not to see Yvette. Either he is angling for a tip or hop ing to glimpse a noble lady at her bath. "W e ll, sir, an ye think of aught else — "
     
                  The door of the wardrobe flew open, and Yvette slithered across the floor. The sound of life-giving wa ter had plainly put upon her self-restraint more stress than it could withstand.
     
                  As the octopus whipped a tentac le over the edge of the tub, the potboy stared with bulging eyes. When Yvette slid bonelessly into the tub with a small splash, the potboy fled with piercing shrieks.
     
                  Thorolf closed the door and looked into the tub. Yvette lay flattened down on the botto m like a cluster of hiber nating serpents, with the water covering all but her eyes.
     
                  The eyes that gazed up at Thorolf had slit pupils like those of a cat, but the slits were horizontal instead of vertical.
     
                  A tentacle snaked out of the tub. For an inst ant, Tho rolf wondered if he would be seized and pulled in, though for what purpose he could only guess. He braced himself to resist, but the tentacle merely stroked and patted his chest, as if to show affection.
     
                  Footsteps sounded, and Thorolf heard Vasc o's knock. He narrowly opened the door and slipped out, firmly holding the knob to cut off the view of the room.
     
                  "Yea, Master Vasco?" he said with an air of inno cent surprise.
     
                  "Sergeant," said Vasco, "my potboy just now came clattering down the stair, crying that a devil in the form of a monstrous spider had issued from the wardrobe and sprung at him. He raced off into the night."
     
                  "Oh. that," said Thorolf, thinking fast. "My lady had disrobed and secluded herself in the wardrobe. When the maid depart ed, she issued forth, supposing your boy had likewise gone. When she saw the strip ling, she snatched my cloak and wrapped it about her."
     
                  Vasco rubbed his chin. "Very well, Sergeant, if ye say so. I do hope there be no wizardry connected with this. If th e word got out, 'twere bad for my trade."
     
                  "Worry not," said Thorolf. "Meanwhile, pray give orders that none shall enter the room until we signify."
     
                  "I understand, Sergeant. Strength to your yard!" With a knowing leer, Vasco departed.
     
                  Thorolf returned to the room and sank down upon the settee, thinking. At last he rose and bent over the tub. Speaking with exaggerated lip movements, he said: "I go to visit Doctor Bardi again." When she lay quietly, he pointed to himself and then to the d oor. He pulled a cov erlet off the bed, spread it over the tub, and left.
     
    -
     
III – The Sinister Sect
     
                  "D ear me!" said Doctor Bardi, in nightgown and nightcap. "This is most un fortunate. What is this creature ye say the Countess hath become?"
     
                  "A polyp . I saw them in the fish markets when I studied at Genuvia. The Tyrrhenians eat them under the name of polpo."
     
                  "Meseems not like gourmet fare. Hast ever partaken thereof?"
     
                  "Aye, once. It