First published in the Lord of Samarcand and Other Adventure Tales of the Old Orient, 2005
Reading from the 2011 Del Rey Collection, Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures.
The following is slightly more than half of the remaining fragment and consists of a dialog on race between two characters.
“The baron looked on me narrowly.
‘A Scot, thou sayest? A Highlander?’ quoth he.
‘A Highlander.” I answered.
‘Then little need to ask if you can use that.’ Indicating the claymore that hung at my side.. ‘All Highlanders are swordsmen. But how of the bow? And the spear?’
‘With the long bow I can strike a wand at fifty paces.’ I answered, ‘With the spear I am not accomplished. However, I will venture to run a course with any man you may wish.’
‘High words,’ he murmured.
‘High words for high deeds.” I made answer. ‘I boast not. You asked me my accomplishments and I have told you. I am not so”
This is a true fragment, ending mid-sentence. One wonders about the protagonist of this still-born story, named Angus Gordon. Was Howard flirting with the idea of building a back story for his modern oriental adventures hero, Xavier Gordon? This story was set in the Near East in a crusader kingdom.
I'd forgotten about this fragment. It's possible that Howard had such a "backstory" idea in mind. In "Three-Bladed Doom", FXG experiences a past-life moment of being an armored Gael in Shalizahr. That could've been Angus. I'd kind've ruled out it being FitzGeoffrey. Good spot.
This is becoming an invigorating process since I've refocused it with the help of a few knowledgeable Robert E. Howard readers.
He also slid a Scot, Stuart, into his unfinished Dark Agnes story, and in light of what he did with the Picts, stringing them through four ages, I suspect he really wanted to keep some highland continuity in his fiction, down to the fictional homelands of Kull and Conan being highland realms, with the climbing ability of both of these characters so important to their adventures.
I need to count how many times Conan scales a cliff or wall.