Shadows in Zamboula is a sword-and-sorcery story by Robert E. Howard, part of the Conan cycle. In the exotic city of Zamboula, Conan is warned that travelers vanish in the house of Aram Baksh, drawing him into mystery and danger. It offers fast-paced adventure and an atmospheric setting.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
SHADOWS IN ZAMBOULA
By Robert E. Howard
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was first published in
Weird Tales November 1935. Extensive research did
not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
1 A Drum Begins
'Peril hides in the house of Aram Baksh!'
The speaker's voice quivered with earnestness and his lean, blacknailed fingers clawed at Conan's mightily muscled arm as he croaked his warning. He was a wiry, sun-burnt man with a straggling black beard, and his ragged garments proclaimed him a nomad. He looked smaller and meaner than ever in contrast to the giant Cimmerian with his black brows, broad chest, and powerful limbs. They stood in a corner of the Sword-Makers' Bazar, and on either side of them flowed past the many-tongued, many-colored stream of the Zamboula streets, which is exotic, hybrid, flamboyant and clamorous.
Conan pulled his eyes back from following a bold-eyed, red-lipped
Ghanara whose short skirt bared her brown thigh at each insolent step, and frowned down at his importunate companion.
'What do you mean by peril?' he demanded.
The desert man glanced furtively over his shoulder before replying, and lowered his voice.
Readnara
