{"product_id":"2940013758117","title":"The Footfalls Within","description":"Solomon Kane gazed sombrely at the native woman who lay dead at his\u003cbr\u003efeet. Little more than a girl she was, but her wasted limbs and\u003cbr\u003estaring eyes showed that she had suffered much before death brought\u003cbr\u003eher merciful relief. Kane noted the chain galls on her limbs, the deep\u003cbr\u003ecrisscrossed scars on her back, the mark of the yoke on her neck. His\u003cbr\u003ecold eyes deepened strangely, showing chill glints and lights like\u003cbr\u003eclouds passing across depths of ice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Even into this lonesome land they come,\" he muttered. \"I had not\u003cbr\u003ethought--\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe raised his head and gazed eastward. Black dots against the blue\u003cbr\u003ewheeled and circled.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The kites mark their trail,\" muttered the tall Englishman.\u003cbr\u003e\"Destruction goeth before them and death followeth after. Woe unto ye,\u003cbr\u003esons of iniquity, for the wrath of God is upon ye. The cords be loosed\u003cbr\u003eon the iron necks of the hounds of hate and the bow of vengeance is\u003cbr\u003estrung. Ye are proud-stomached and strong, and the people cry out\u003cbr\u003ebeneath your feet, but retribution cometh in the blackness of midnight\u003cbr\u003eand the redness of dawn.\"  He shifted the belt that held his heavy\u003cbr\u003epistols and the keen dirk, instinctively touched the long rapier at\u003cbr\u003ehis hip, and went stealthily but swiftly eastward. A cruel anger\u003cbr\u003eburned in his deep eyes like blue volcanic fires burning beneath\u003cbr\u003eleagues of ice, and the hand that gripped his long, cat-headed stave\u003cbr\u003ehardened into iron.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter some hours of steady striding, he came within hearing of the\u003cbr\u003eslave train that wound its laborious way through the jungle. The\u003cbr\u003epiteous cries of the slaves, the shouts and curses of the drivers,\u003cbr\u003eand the cracking of the whips came plainly to his ears. Another hour\u003cbr\u003ebrought him even with them, and gliding along through the jungle\u003cbr\u003eparallel to the trail taken by the slavers, he spied upon them safely.\u003cbr\u003eKane had fought Indians in Darien and had learned much of their\u003cbr\u003ewoodcraft.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMore than a hundred natives, young men and women, staggered along the\u003cbr\u003etrail, stark naked and made fast together by cruel yoke-like affairs\u003cbr\u003eof wood. These yokes, rough and heavy, fitted over their necks and\u003cbr\u003elinked them together, two by two. The yokes were in turn fettered\u003cbr\u003etogether, making one long chain. Of the drivers there were fifteen\u003cbr\u003eArabs and some seventy negro warriors, whose weapons and fantastic\u003cbr\u003eapparel showed them to be of some eastern tribe--one of those tribes\u003cbr\u003esubjugated and made Moslems and allies by the conquering Arabs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFive Arabs walked ahead of the train with some thirty of their\u003cbr\u003ewarriors, and five brought up the rear with the rest of the negro\u003cbr\u003ewarriors. The rest marched beside the staggering slaves, urging them\u003cbr\u003ealong with shouts and curses and with long, cruel whips which brought\u003cbr\u003espurts of blood at almost every blow. These slavers were fools as well\u003cbr\u003eas rogues, reflected Kane--not more than half of them would survive\u003cbr\u003ethe hardships of the trek to the coast.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083165745392,"sku":"2940013758117","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013758117_p0.jpg?v=1763589867","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013758117","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}