The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Secret of Kralitz, by Henry Kuttner

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Title: The Secret of Kralitz

Author: Henry Kuttner

Release Date: May 29, 2010 [EBook #32584]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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The Secret of Kralitz

By HENRY KUTTNER

[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Weird Tales October
1936. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed.]

[Sidenote: _A story of the shocking revelation that came to the
twenty-first Baron Kralitz_]

I awoke from profound sleep to find two black-swathed forms standing
silently beside me, their faces pale blurs in the gloom. As I blinked to
clear my sleep-dimmed eyes, one of them beckoned impatiently, and
suddenly I realized the purpose of this midnight summons. For years I
had been expecting it, ever since my father, the Baron Kralitz, had
revealed to me the secret and the curse that hung over our ancient
house. And so, without a word, I rose and followed my guides as they led
me along the gloomy corridors of the castle that had been my home since
birth.

As I proceeded there rose up in my mind the stern face of my father, and
in my ears rang his solemn words as he told me of the legendary curse of
the House of Kralitz, the unknown secret that was imparted to the eldest
son of each generation--at a certain time.

"When?" I had asked my father as he lay on his death-bed, fighting back
the approach of dissolution.

"When you are able to understand," he had told me, watching my face
intently from beneath his tufted white brows. "Some are told the secret
sooner than others. Since the first Baron Kralitz the secret has been
handed down----"

He clutched at his breast and paused. It was fully five minutes before
he had gathered his strength to speak again in his rolling, powerful
voice. No gasping, death-bed confessions for the Baron Kralitz!

He said at last, "You have seen the rui