Chapter 5
We were sitting before a little fire inside a safe grotto one
night shortly after we had quit the cliff-dwellings of the Band-lu,
when So-al raised a question which it had never occurred to me to
propound to Ajor. She asked her why she had left her own people
and how she had come so far south as the country of the Alus, where
I had found her.
At first Ajor hesitated to explain; but at last she consented,
and for the first time I heard the complete story of her origin
and experiences. For my benefit she entered into greater detail
of explanation than would have been necessary had I been a native
Caspakian.
"I am a cos-ata-lo," commenced Ajor, and then she turned toward
me. "A cos-ata-lo, my Tom, is a woman" (lo) "who did not come from
an egg and thus on up from the beginning." (Cor sva jo.) "I was
a babe at my mother's breast. Only among the Galus are such, and
then but infrequently. The Wieroo get most of us; but my mother
hid me until I had attained such size that the Wieroo could not
readily distinguish me from one who had come up from the beginning.
I knew both my mother and my father, as only such as I may. My
father is high chief among the Galus. His name is Jor, and both he
and my mother came up from the beginning; but one of them, probably
my mother, had completed the seven cycles" (approximately seven
hundred years), "with the result that their offspring might be
cos-ata-lo, or born as are all the children of your race, my Tom,
as you tell me is the fact. I was therefore apart from my fellows
in that my children would probably be as I, of a higher state of
evolution, and so I was sought by the men of my people; but none
of them appealed to me. I cared for none. The most persistent
was Du-seen, a huge warrior of whom my father stood in considerable
fear, since it was quite possible that Du-seen could wrest from
him his chieftainship of the Galus. He has a large following of
the newer Galus, those most recently come up from the Kro-lu, and
as this class is usually much more powerful numerically than the
older Galus, and as Du-seen's ambition knows no bounds, we have
for a long time been expecting him to find some excuse for a break
with Jor the High Chief, my father.
"A further complication lay in the fact that Duseen wanted me, while
I would have none of him, and then came evidence to my father's
ears that he was in league with the Wieroo; a hunter, returning
late at night, came trembling to my father, saying that he had
seen Du-seen talking with a Wieroo in a lonely spot far from the
village, and that plainly he had heard the words: `If you will help
me, I will help you--I will deliver into your hands all cos-ata-lo
among the Galus, now and hereafter; but for that service you must
slay Jor the High Chief and bring terror and confusion to his
followers.'
"Now, when my father heard this, he was angry; but he was also
afraid--afraid for me, who am cosata-lo. He called me to him and
told me what he had heard, pointing out two ways in which we might
frustrate Du-seen. The first was that I go to Du-seen as his
mate, after which he would be loath to give me into the hands of
the Wieroo or to further abide by the wicked compact he had made--a
compact which would doom his own offspring, who would doubtless be
as am I, their mother. The alternative was flight until Du-seen
should have been overcome and punished. I chose the latter and
fled toward the south. Beyond the confines of the Galu country is
little danger from the Wieroo, who seek ordinarily only Galus of
the highest orders. There are two excellent reasons for this: One
is that from the beginning of time jealousy had existed between
the Wieroo and the Galus as to which would eventually dominate
the world. It seems generally conceded that that race which first
reaches a point of evolution which permits them to produce young
of their own species and of both sexes must dominate all other
creatures. The Wieroo first began to produce their own kind--after
which evolution from Galu to Wieroo ceased gradually until now it
is unknown; but the Wieroo produce only males--which is why they
steal our female young, and by stealing cos-ata-lo they increase
their own chances of eventually reproducing both sexes and at the
same time lessen ours. Already the Galus produce both male and
female; but so carefully do the Wieroo watch us that few of the
males ever grow to manhood, while even fewer are the females that
are not stolen away. It is indeed a strange condition, for while
our greatest enemies hate and fear us, they dare not exterminate
us, knowing that they too would become extinct but for us.
"Ah, but could we once get a start, I am sure that when all were
true cos-ata-lo there would have been evolved at last the true
dominant race before which all the world would be forced to bow."
Ajor always spoke of the world as though nothing existed beyond
Caspak. She could not seem to grasp the truth of my origin or
the fact that there were countless other peoples outside her stern
barrier-cliffs. She apparently felt that I came from an entirely
different world. Where it was and how I came to Caspak from it
were matters quite beyond her with which she refused to trouble
her pretty head.
"Well," she continued, "and so I ran away to hide, intending to pass
the cliffs to the south of Galu and find a retreat in the Kro-lu
country. It would be dangerous, but there seemed no other way.
"The third night I took refuge in a large cave in the cliffs at the
edge of my own country; upon the following day I would cross over
into the Kro-lu country, where I felt that I should be reasonably
safe from the Wieroo, though menaced by countless other dangers.
However, to a cos-ata-lo any fate is preferable to that of falling
into the clutches of the frightful Wieroo, from whose land none
returns.
"I had been sleeping peacefully for several hours when I was
awakened by a slight noise within the cavern. The moon was shining
brightly, illumining the entrance, against which I saw silhouetted
the dread figure of a Wieroo. There was no escape. The cave was
shallow, the entrance narrow. I lay very still, hoping against
hope, that the creature had but paused here to rest and might soon
depart without discovering me; yet all the while I knew that he
came seeking me.
"I waited, scarce breathing, watching the thing creep stealthily
toward me, its great eyes luminous in the darkness of the cave's
interior, and at last I knew that those eyes were directed upon me,
for the Wieroo can see in the darkness better than even the lion
or the tiger. But a few feet separated us when I sprang to my feet
and dashed madly toward my menacer in a vain effort to dodge past
him and reach the outside world. It was madness of course, for
even had I succeeded temporarily, the Wieroo would have but followed
and swooped down upon me from above. As it was, he reached forth
and seized me, and though I struggled, he overpowered me. In the
duel his long, white robe was nearly torn from him, and he became
very angry, so that he trembled and beat his wings together in his
rage.
"He asked me my name; but I would not answer him, and that angered
him still more. At last he dragged me to the entrance of the cave,
lifted me in his arms, spread his great wings and leaping into
the air, flapped dismally through the night. I saw the moonlit
landscape sliding away beneath me, and then we were out above the
sea and on our way to Oo-oh, the country of the Wieroo.
"The dim outlines of Oo-oh were unfolding below us when there
came from above a loud whirring of giant wings. The Wieroo and I
glanced up simultaneously, to see a pair of huge jo-oos" (flying
reptiles--pterodactyls) "swooping down upon us. The Wieroo
wheeled and dropped almost to sea-level, and then raced southward
in an effort to outdistance our pursuers. The great creatures,
notwithstanding their enormous weight, are swift on their wings;
but the Wieroo are swifter. Even with my added weight, the creature
that bore me maintained his lead, though he could not increase it.
Faster than the fastest wind we raced through the night, southward
along the coast. Sometimes we rose to great heights, where the
air was chill and the world below but a blur of dim outlines; but
always the jo-oos stuck behind us.
"I knew that we had covered a great distance, for the rush of
the wind by my face attested the speed of our progress, but I had
no idea where we were when at last I realized that the Wieroo was
weakening. One of the jo-oos gained on us and succeeded in heading
us, so that my captor had to turn in toward the coast. Further
and further they forced him to the left; lower and lower he sank.
More labored was his breathing, and weaker the stroke of his once
powerful wings. We were not ten feet above the ground when they
overtook us, and at the edge of a forest. One of them seized the
Wieroo by his right wing, and in an effort to free himself, he
loosed his grasp upon me, dropping me to earth. Like a frightened
ecca I leaped to my feet and raced for the sheltering sanctuary of
the forest, where I knew neither could follow or seize me. Then I
turned and looked back to see two great reptiles tear my abductor
asunder and devour him on the spot.
"I was saved; yet I felt that I was lost. How far I was from the
country of the Galus I could not guess; nor did it seem probable
that I ever could make my way in safety to my native land.
"Day was breaking; soon the carnivora would stalk forth for their
first kill; I was armed only with my knife. About me was a strange
landscape--the flowers, the trees, the grasses, even, were different
from those of my northern world, and presently there appeared before
me a creature fully as hideous as the Wieroo--a hairy manthing
that barely walked erect. I shuddered, and then I fled. Through
the hideous dangers that my forebears had endured in the earlier
stages of their human evolution I fled; and always pursuing was
the hairy monster that had discovered me. Later he was joined by
others of his kind. They were the speechless men, the Alus, from
whom you rescued me, my Tom. From then on, you know the story of
my adventures, and from the first, I would endure them all again
because they led me to you!"
It was very nice of her to say that, and I appreciated it. I felt
that she was a mighty nice little girl whose friendship anyone
might be glad to have; but I wished that when she touched me, those
peculiar thrills would not run through me. It was most discomforting,
because it reminded me of love; and I knew that I never could love
this half-baked little barbarian. I was very much interested in
her account of the Wieroo, which up to this time I had considered
a purely mythological creature; but Ajor shuddered so at even the
veriest mention of the name that I was loath to press the subject
upon her, and so the Wieroo still remained a mystery to me.
While the Wieroo interested me greatly, I had little time to think
about them, as our waking hours were filled with the necessities
of existence--the constant battle for survival which is the chief
occupation of Caspakians. To-mar and So-al were now about fitted
for their advent into Kro-lu society and must therefore leave
us, as we could not accompany them without incurring great danger
ourselves and running the chance of endangering them; but each
swore to be always our friend and assured us that should we need
their aid at any time we had but to ask it; nor could I doubt their
sincerity, since we had been so instrumental in bringing them safely
upon their journey toward the Kro-lu village.
This was our last day together. In the afternoon we should separate,
To-mar and So-al going directly to the Kro-lu village, while Ajor
and I made a detour to avoid a conflict with the archers. The
former both showed evidence of nervous apprehension as the time
approached for them to make their entry into the village of their
new people, and yet both were very proud and happy. They told us
that they would be well received as additions to a tribe always
are welcomed, and the more so as the distance from the beginning
increased, the higher tribes or races being far weaker numerically
than the lower. The southern end of the island fairly swarms with
the Ho-lu, or apes; next above these are the Alus, who are slightly
fewer in number than the Ho-lu; and again there are fewer Bolu than
Alus, and fewer Sto-lu than Bo-lu. Thus it goes until the Kro-lu
are fewer in number than any of the others; and here the law reverses,
for the Galus outnumber the Kro-lu. As Ajor explained it to me,
the reason for this is that as evolution practically ceases with
the Galus, there is no less among them on this score, for even the
cos-ata-lo are still considered Galus and remain with them. And
Galus come up both from the west and east coasts. There are, too,
fewer carnivorous reptiles at the north end of the island, and not
so many of the great and ferocious members of the cat family as
take their hideous toll of life among the races further south.
By now I was obtaining some idea of the Caspakian scheme of
evolution, which partly accounted for the lack of young among the
races I had so far seen. Coming up from the beginning, the Caspakian
passes, during a single existence, through the various stages of
evolution, or at least many of them, through which the human race
has passed during the countless ages since life first stirred upon
a new world; but the question which continued to puzzle me was:
What creates life at the beginning, cor sva jo?
I had noticed that as we traveled northward from the Alus' country
the land had gradually risen until we were now several hundred feet
above the level of the inland sea. Ajor told me that the Galus
country was still higher and considerably colder, which accounted
for the scarcity of reptiles. The change in form and kinds of the
lower animals was even more marked than the evolutionary stages
of man. The diminutive ecca, or small horse, became a rough-coated
and sturdy little pony in the Kro-lu country. I saw a greater
number of small lions and tigers, though many of the huge ones still
persisted, while the woolly mammoth was more in evidence, as were
several varieties of the Labyrinthadonta. These creatures, from
which God save me, I should have expected to find further south;
but for some unaccountable reason they gain their greatest bulk in
the Kro-lu and Galu countries, though fortunately they are rare.
I rather imagine that they are a very early life which is rapidly
nearing extinction in Caspak, though wherever they are found, they
constitute a menace to all forms of life.
It was mid-afternoon when To-mar and So-al bade us good-bye. We
were not far from Kro-lu village; in fact, we had approached it
much closer than we had intended, and now Ajor and I were to make
a detour toward the sea while our companions went directly in search
of the Kro-lu chief.
Ajor and I had gone perhaps a mile or two and were just about to
emerge from a dense wood when I saw that ahead of us which caused
me to draw back into concealment, at the same time pushing Ajor
behind me. What I saw was a party of Band-lu warriors--large,
fierce-appearing men. From the direction of their march I saw that
they were returning to their caves, and that if we remained where
we were, they would pass without discovering us.
Presently Ajor nudged me. "They have a prisoner," she whispered.
"He is a Kro-lu."
And then I saw him, the first fully developed Krolu I had seen. He
was a fine-looking savage, tall and straight with a regal carriage.
To-mar was a handsome fellow; but this Kro-lu showed plainly in
his every physical attribute a higher plane of evolution. While
To-mar was just entering the Kro-lu sphere, this man, it seemed
to me, must be close indeed to the next stage of his development,
which would see him an envied Galu.
"They will kill him?" I whispered to Ajor.
"The dance of death," she replied, and I shuddered, so recently had
I escaped the same fate. It seemed cruel that one who must have
passed safely up through all the frightful stages of human evolution
within Caspak, should die at the very foot of his goal. I raised
my rifle to my shoulder and took careful aim at one of the Band-lu.
If I hit him, I would hit two, for another was directly behind the
first.
Ajor touched my arm. "What would you do?" she asked. "They are
all our enemies."
"I am going to save him from the dance of death," I replied, "enemy
or no enemy," and I squeezed the trigger. At the report, the two
Band-lu lunged forward upon their faces. I handed my rifle to Ajor,
and drawing my pistol, stepped out in full view of the startled
party. The Band-lu did not run away as had some of the lower orders
of Caspakians at the sound of the rifle. Instead, the moment they
saw me, they let out a series of demoniac war-cries, and raising
their spears above their heads, charged me.
The Kro-lu stood silent and statuesque, watching the proceedings.
He made no attempt to escape, though his feet were not bound and
none of the warriors remained to guard him. There were ten of
the Band-lu coming for me. I dropped three of them with my pistol
as rapidly as a man might count by three, and then my rifle spoke
close to my left shoulder, and another of them stumbled and rolled
over and over upon the ground. Plucky little Ajor! She had never
fired a shot before in all her life, though I had taught her to
sight and aim and how to squeeze the trigger instead of pulling it.
She had practiced these new accomplishments often, but little had
I thought they would make a marksman of her so quickly.
With six of their fellows put out of the fight so easily, the
remaining six sought cover behind some low bushes and commenced
a council of war. I wished that they would go away, as I had no
ammunition to waste, and I was fearful that should they institute
another charge, some of them would reach us, for they were already
quite close. Suddenly one of them rose and launched his spear. It
was the most marvelous exhibition of speed I have ever witnessed.
It seemed to me that he had scarce gained an upright position when
the weapon was half-way upon its journey, speeding like an arrow
toward Ajor. And then it was, with that little life in danger,
that I made the best shot I have ever made in my life! I took
no conscious aim; it was as though my subconscious mind, impelled
by a stronger power even than that of self-preservation, directed
my hand. Ajor was in danger! Simultaneously with the thought my
pistol flew to position, a streak of incandescent powder marked
the path of the bullet from its muzzle; and the spear, its point
shattered, was deflected from its path. With a howl of dismay the
six Band-lu rose from their shelter and raced away toward the south.
I turned toward Ajor. She was very white and wide-eyed, for the
clutching fingers of death had all but seized her; but a little
smile came to her lips and an expression of great pride to her eyes.
"My Tom!" she said, and took my hand in hers. That was all--"My
Tom!" and a pressure of the hand. Her Tom! Something stirred within
my bosom. Was it exaltation or was it consternation? Impossible!
I turned away almost brusquely.
"Come!" I said, and strode off toward the Kro-lu prisoner.
The Kro-lu stood watching us with stolid indifference. I presume
that he expected to be killed; but if he did, he showed no outward
sign of fear. His eyes, indicating his greatest interest, were
fixed upon my pistol or the rifle which Ajor still carried. I cut
his bonds with my knife. As I did so, an expression of surprise
tinged and animated the haughty reserve of his countenance. He
eyed me quizzically.
"What are you going to do with me?" he asked.
"You are free," I replied. "Go home, if you wish."
"Why don't you kill me?" he inquired. "I am defenseless."
"Why should I kill you? I have risked my life and that of this young
lady to save your life. Why, therefore should I now take it?" Of
course, I didn't say "young lady" as there is no Caspakian equivalent
for that term; but I have to allow myself considerable latitude in
the translation of Caspakian conversations. To speak always of a
beautiful young girl as a "she" may be literal; but it seems far
from gallant.
The Kro-lu concentrated his steady, level gaze upon me for at least
a full minute. Then he spoke again.
"Who are you, man of strange skins?" he asked. "Your she is Galu;
but you are neither Galu nor Krolu nor Band-lu, nor any other sort
of man which I have seen before. Tell me from whence comes so
mighty a warrior and so generous a foe."
"It is a long story," I replied, "but suffice it to say that I am
not of Caspak. I am a stranger here, and--let this sink in--I am
not a foe. I have no wish to be an enemy of any man in Caspak,
with the possible exception of the Galu warrior Du-seen."
"Du-seen!" he exclaimed. "You are an enemy of Du-seen? And why?"
"Because he would harm Ajor," I replied. "You know him?"
"He cannot know him," said Ajor. "Du-seen rose from the Kro-lu
long ago, taking a new name, as all do when they enter a new sphere.
He cannot know him, as there is no intercourse between the Kro-lu
and the Galu."
The warrior smiled. "Du-seen rose not so long ago," he said,
"that I do not recall him well, and recently he has taken it upon
himself to abrogate the ancient laws of Caspak; he had had intercourse
with the Kro-lu. Du-seen would be chief of the Galus, and he has
come to the Kro-lu for help."
Ajor was aghast. The thing was incredible. Never had Kro-lu and
Galu had friendly relations; by the savage laws of Caspak they were
deadly enemies, for only so can the several races maintain their
individuality.
"Will the Kro-lu join him?" asked Ajor. "Will they invade the
country of Jor my father?"
"The younger Kro-lu favor the plan," replied the warrior, "since
they believe they will thus become Galus immediately. They hope
to span the long years of change through which they must pass in
the ordinary course of events and at a single stride become Galus.
We of the older Kro-lu tell them that though they occupy the land
of the Galu and wear the skins and ornaments of the golden people,
still they will not be Galus till the time arrives that they are
ripe to rise. We also tell them that even then they will never
become a true Galu race, since there will still be those among
them who can never rise. It is all right to raid the Galu country
occasionally for plunder, as our people do; but to attempt to conquer
it and hold it is madness. For my part, I have been content to
wait until the call came to me. I feel that it cannot now be long."
"What is your name?" asked Ajor.
"Chal-az, " replied the man.
"You are chief of the Kro-lu?" Ajor continued.
"No, it is Al-tan who is chief of the Kro-lu of the east," answered
Chal-az.
"And he is against this plan to invade my father's country?"
"Unfortunately he is rather in favor of it," replied the man, "since
he has about come to the conclusion that he is batu. He has been
chief ever since, before I came up from the Band-lu, and I can see
no change in him in all those years. In fact, he still appears
to be more Band-lu than Kro-lu. However, he is a good chief and a
mighty warrior, and if Du-seen persuades him to his cause, the Galus
may find themselves under a Kro-lu chieftain before long--Du-seen
as well as the others, for Al-tan would never consent to occupy a
subordinate position, and once he plants a victorious foot in Galu,
he will not withdraw it without a struggle."
I asked them what batu meant, as I had not before heard the word.
Literally translated, it is equivalent to through, finished,
done-for, as applied to an individual's evolutionary progress in
Caspak, and with this information was developed the interesting
fact that not every individual is capable of rising through every
stage to that of Galu. Some never progress beyond the Alu stage;
others stop as Bo-lu, as Sto-lu, as Bandlu or as Kro-lu. The
Ho-lu of the first generation may rise to become Alus; the Alus
of the second generation may become Bo-lu, while it requires three
generations of Bo-lu to become Band-lu, and so on until Kro-lu's
parent on one side must be of the sixth generation.
It was not entirely plain to me even with this explanation, since
I couldn't understand how there could be different generations of
peoples who apparently had no offspring. Yet I was commencing to
get a slight glimmer of the strange laws which govern propagation
and evolution in this weird land. Already I knew that the warm
pools which always lie close to every tribal abiding-place were
closely linked with the Caspakian scheme of evolution, and that the
daily immersion of the females in the greenish slimy water was in
response to some natural law, since neither pleasure nor cleanliness
could be derived from what seemed almost a religious rite. Yet I
was still at sea; nor, seemingly, could Ajor enlighten me, since
she was compelled to use words which I could not understand and
which it was impossible for her to explain the meanings of.
As we stood talking, we were suddenly startled by a commotion in
the bushes and among the boles of the trees surrounding us, and
simultaneously a hundred Kro-lu warriors appeared in a rough circle
about us. They greeted Chal-az with a volley of questions as they
approached slowly from all sides, their heavy bows fitted with
long, sharp arrows. Upon Ajor and me they looked with covetousness
in the one instance and suspicion in the other; but after they
had heard Chal-az's story, their attitude was more friendly. A
huge savage did all the talking. He was a mountain of a man, yet
perfectly proportioned.
"This is Al-tan the chief," said Chal-az by way of introduction. Then
he told something of my story, and Al-tan asked me many questions
of the land from which I came. The warriors crowded around close
to hear my replies, and there were many expressions of incredulity
as I spoke of what was to them another world, of the yacht which
had brought me over vast waters, and of the plane that had borne
me Jo-oo-like over the summit of the barrier-cliffs. It was the
mention of the hydroaeroplane which precipitated the first outspoken
skepticism, and then Ajor came to my defense.
"I saw it with my own eyes!" she exclaimed. "I saw him flying
through the air in battle with a Jo-oo. The Alus were chasing me,
and they saw and ran away."
"Whose is this she?" demanded Al-tan suddenly, his eyes fixed
fiercely upon Ajor.
For a moment there was silence. Ajor looked up at me, a hurt and
questioning expression on her face. "Whose she is this?" repeated
Al-tan.
"She is mine," I replied, though what force it was that impelled me
to say it I could not have told; but an instant later I was glad
that I had spoken the words, for the reward of Ajor's proud and
happy face was reward indeed.
Al-tan eyed her for several minutes and then turned to me. "Can
you keep her?" he asked, just the tinge of a sneer upon his face.
I laid my palm upon the grip of my pistol and answered that I could.
He saw the move, glanced at the butt of the automatic where it
protruded from its holster, and smiled. Then he turned and raising
his great bow, fitted an arrow and drew the shaft far back. His
warriors, supercilious smiles upon their faces, stood silently
watching him. His bow was the longest and the heaviest among them
all. A mighty man indeed must he be to bend it; yet Al-tan drew
the shaft back until the stone point touched his left forefinger,
and he did it with consummate ease. Then he raised the shaft to the
level of his right eye, held it there for an instant and released
it. When the arrow stopped, half its length protruded from the
opposite side of a six-inch tree fifty feet away. Al-tan and his
warriors turned toward me with expressions of immense satisfaction
upon their faces, and then, apparently for Ajor's benefit, the
chieftain swaggered to and fro a couple of times, swinging his
great arms and his bulky shoulders for all the world like a drunken
prize-fighter at a beach dancehall.
I saw that some reply was necessary, and so in a single motion,
I drew my gun, dropped it on the still quivering arrow and pulled
the trigger. At the sound of the report, the Kro-lu leaped back
and raised their weapons; but as I was smiling, they took heart
and lowered them again, following my eyes to the tree; the shaft
of their chief was gone, and through the bole was a little round
hole marking the path of my bullet. It was a good shot if I do
say it myself, "as shouldn't" but necessity must have guided that
bullet; I simply had to make a good shot, that I might immediately
establish my position among those savage and warlike Caspakians of the
sixth sphere. That it had its effect was immediately noticeable,
but I am none too sure that it helped my cause with Al-tan.
Whereas he might have condescended to tolerate me as a harmless
and interesting curiosity, he now, by the change in his expression,
appeared to consider me in a new and unfavorable light. Nor can I
wonder, knowing this type as I did, for had I not made him ridiculous
in the eyes of his warriors, beating him at his own game? What
king, savage or civilized, could condone such impudence? Seeing his
black scowls, I deemed it expedient, especially on Ajor's account,
to terminate the interview and continue upon our way; but when
I would have done so, Al-tan detained us with a gesture, and his
warriors pressed around us.
"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded, and before Al-tan could
reply, Chal-az raised his voice in our behalf.
"Is this the gratitude of a Kro-lu chieftain, Al-tan," he asked,
"to one who has served you by saving one of your warriors from the
enemy--saving him from the death dance of the Band-lu?"
Al-tan was silent for a moment, and then his brow cleared, and the
faint imitation of a pleasant expression struggled for existence
as he said: "The stranger will not be harmed. I wished only to
detain him that he may be feasted tonight in the village of Al-tan
the Kro-lu. In the morning he may go his way. Al-tan will not
hinder him."
I was not entirely reassured; but I wanted to see the interior
of the Kro-lu village, and anyway I knew that if Al-tan intended
treachery I would be no more in his power in the morning than I now
was--in fact, during the night I might find opportunity to escape
with Ajor, while at the instant neither of us could hope to escape
unscathed from the encircling warriors. Therefore, in order to
disarm him of any thought that I might entertain suspicion as to
his sincerity, I promptly and courteously accepted his invitation.
His satisfaction was evident, and as we set off toward his village,
he walked beside me, asking many questions as to the country
from which I came, its peoples and their customs. He seemed much
mystified by the fact that we could walk abroad by day or night
without fear of being devoured by wild beasts or savage reptiles,
and when I told him of the great armies which we maintained, his
simple mind could not grasp the fact that they existed solely for
the slaughtering of human beings.
"I am glad," he said, "that I do not dwell in your country among
such savage peoples. Here, in Caspak, men fight with men when they
meet--men of different races--but their weapons are first for the
slaying of beasts in the chase and in defense. We do not fashion
weapons solely for the killing of man as do your peoples. Your
country must indeed be a savage country, from which you are fortunate
to have escaped to the peace and security of Caspak."
Here was a new and refreshing viewpoint; nor could I take exception
to it after what I had told Altan of the great war which had been
raging in Europe for over two years before I left home.
On the march to the Kro-lu village we were continually stalked by
innumerable beasts of prey, and three times we were attacked by
frightful creatures; but Altan took it all as a matter of course,
rushing forward with raised spear or sending a heavy shaft into
the body of the attacker and then returning to our conversation
as though no interruption had occurred. Twice were members of his
band mauled, and one was killed by a huge and bellicose rhinoceros;
but the instant the action was over, it was as though it never had
occurred. The dead man was stripped of his belongings and left
where he had died; the carnivora would take care of his burial.
The trophies that these Kro-lu left to the meat-eaters would have
turned an English big-game hunter green with envy. They did, it
is true, cut all the edible parts from the rhino and carry them
home; but already they were pretty well weighted down with the
spoils of the chase, and only the fact that they are particularly
fond of rhino-meat caused them to do so.
They left the hide on the pieces they selected, as they use it
for sandals, shield-covers, the hilts of their knives and various
other purposes where tough hide is desirable. I was much interested
in their shields, especially after I saw one used in defense against
the attack of a saber-tooth tiger. The huge creature had charged
us without warning from a clump of dense bushes where it was lying
up after eating. It was met with an avalanche of spears, some of
which passed entirely through its body, with such force were they
hurled. The charge was from a very short distance, requiring
the use of the spear rather than the bow and arrow; but after the
launching of the spears, the men not directly in the path of the
charge sent bolt after bolt into the great carcass with almost
incredible rapidity. The beast, screaming with pain and rage, bore
down upon Chal-az while I stood helpless with my rifle for fear
of hitting one of the warriors who were closing in upon it. But
Chal-az was ready. Throwing aside his bow, he crouched behind
his large oval shield, in the center of which was a hole about six
inches in diameter. The shield was held by tight loops to his left
arm, while in his right hand he grasped his heavy knife. Bristling
with spears and arrows, the great cat hurled itself upon the shield,
and down went Chal-az upon his back with the shield entirely covering
him. The tiger clawed and bit at the heavy rhinoceros hide with
which the shield was faced, while Chal-az, through the round hole in
the shield's center, plunged his blade repeatedly into the vitals
of the savage animal. Doubtless the battle would have gone to
Chal-az even though I had not interfered; but the moment that I
saw a clean opening, with no Kro-lu beyond, I raised my rifle and
killed the beast.
When Chal-az arose, he glanced at the sky and remarked that it
looked like rain. The others already had resumed the march toward
the village. The incident was closed. For some unaccountable
reason the whole thing reminded me of a friend who once shot a cat
in his backyard. For three weeks he talked of nothing else.
It was almost dark when we reached the village--a large palisaded
enclosure of several hundred leaf-thatched huts set in groups
of from two to seven. The huts were hexagonal in form, and where
grouped were joined so that they resembled the cells of a bee-hive.
One hut meant a warrior and his mate, and each additional hut in a
group indicated an additional female. The palisade which surrounded
the village was of logs set close together and woven into a solid
wall with tough creepers which were planted at their base and
trained to weave in and out to bind the logs together. The logs
slanted outward at an angle of about thirty degrees, in which
position they were held by shorter logs embedded in the ground
at right angles to them and with their upper ends supporting the
longer pieces a trifle above their centers of equilibrium. Along
the top of the palisade sharpened stakes had been driven at all
sorts of angles.
The only opening into the inclosure was through a small aperture
three feet wide and three feet high, which was closed from the inside
by logs about six feet long laid horizontally, one upon another,
between the inside face of the palisade and two other braced logs
which paralleled the face of the wall upon the inside.
As we entered the village, we were greeted by a not unfriendly
crowd of curious warriors and women, to whom Chal-az generously
explained the service we had rendered him, whereupon they showered
us with the most well-meant attentions, for Chal-az, it seemed,
was a most popular member of the tribe. Necklaces of lion and
tiger-teeth, bits of dried meat, finely tanned hides and earthen
pots, beautifully decorated, they thrust upon us until we were
loaded down, and all the while Al-tan glared balefully upon us,
seemingly jealous of the attentions heaped upon us because we had
served Chal-az.
At last we reached a hut that they set apart for us, and there we
cooked our meat and some vegetables the women brought us, and had
milk from cows--the first I had had in Caspak--and cheese from
the milk of wild goats, with honey and thin bread made from wheat
flour of their own grinding, and grapes and the fermented juice
of grapes. It was quite the most wonderful meal I had eaten since
I quit the Toreador and Bowen J. Tyler's colored chef, who could
make pork-chops taste like chicken, and chicken taste like heaven.
