And as the Emperor leaned forward, the man announced his identity and drew back his tattered robe, revealing the horror that lay beneath.
Then as the Emperor gazed in fascinated repulsion, Khalda drew forth the mirror, with its strangely shapen handle, and held it up that all might see.
And when the ruler looked therein, no man may know what was reflected, for a strange and terrible thing occurred. Some dire magic was at work, for the doom that came unto his majesty was alien to all accepted lines of death.
The End
The Little Old Lady
by P. J. Searles
Connors was genuinely puzzled. What had happened to the old lady? Surely she could not have fallen from the car. On the other hand why should she have left before reaching her destination and how could she have got out without his notice? Her disappearance was perplexing.
He had first seen the old lady when he had stopped to admire the picturesque church on the outskirts of Huntsville. Wearing an old fashioned, rather shabby, taffeta dress ornamented at the throat and wrists with bits of yellowed lace, a bonnet that proclaimed her adherence to the fashions of 1880; and with a sole jet pendant hanging from her neck, she was standing near the car as Connors came out of the church and strolled through the adjoining grave yard reading quaint inscriptions on the tombstones. Her manner was forlorn and pathetic as she edged timidly up to Connors to ask in a low voice if he were driving on to Milltown. When Connors replied in the affirmative the old lady hesitantly mumbled that she had not seen her daughter in Milltown for five years and could she ride into the city with him.
Since the front seat was loaded with bundles Connors had placed the old lady in the rear and driven on. Some twenty miles had been traversed and the outskirts of Milltown reached when Connors discovered he was out of cigarettes. Stopping the car at a corner drugstore he went in to buy his favorite brand. Once inside he recalled the old lady's presence and, stepping out again, asked if she would like an ice cream soda. Her pleasure and gratitude seemed all out of proportion to the offer until she said she had not tasted ice cream for over five years.