Read "Quest of the Golden Ape" by Stephen Marlowe online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Earlier that day, on the ice fields half a dozen jeks from Nadia City, B'ronth the Utalian had sprinted boldly across the snow toward the girl and her elderly male companion. This had taken considerable effort, because B'ronth the Utalian had not been endowed with an abundance of courage. But B'ronth was a poor man, as Utalia was a poor country; a bag of gold would be a veritable fortune to him. Like most cowards, B'ronth had one passion which could over-ride his timidity: that passion in B'ronth's case was wealth.
The old man was fumbling clumsily for his whip-sword when B'ronth hurtled at them. The girl screamed: