Oogie Finds Love
Page 2
voices of menand women in mortal fear. Above all there was a _whooshing_ noise, asthough a giant hand was gripping them. Finster and Allerdyce feltthemselves lifted from the depths of the ship and plunged into amaelstrom of storm in space.
For a full ten seconds Algernon Allerdyce looked into the face ofterror beyond words, then unconsciousness descended on him....
* * * * *
The air was hot and damp and the slight breeze which fanned his cheekwas of little solace. Allerdyce turned his head from side to side; aquiver stirred the heavy frame of his body, and awareness came in arush to him as he opened his eyes. He sat erect and looked about him.
A figure lay sprawled on the ground some ten feet away. It was that ofa man and one glance showed Allerdyce that the man was Ed Finster andthat he was alive, though not yet conscious. Allerdyce rose to hisfeet and grunted at the effort. It seemed as if every bone and musclecreaked and groaned in protest. Awe and amazement made his brows liftand his eyes widen as he looked about. The two men had fallen amongsome ferns in a shallow glade bound about by dense jungle growth.Allerdyce caught a glimpse of hills in the near distance. Then he sawFinster stir and he stepped to the other's side.
"Wha-what happened?" Finster asked while he turned his head from oneside to the other.
"I don't know exactly," Allerdyce replied in a low voice. "But I'mgoing to make a guess, fantastic as it may sound. I think we fell orwere sucked into a space fault. From the looks of this jungle and fromthe feel of the atmosphere, I'll bet we've landed in a time longbefore the dawn of men such as we know...."
And as though in corroboration there came to their ears a low,grunting sound. Instantly Finster leaped to his feet and jumped theseveral feet to the side of the other. The sharp movement broughtanother coughing grunt, this time from the opposite side. And as theywatched, a huge striped shape stepped into the open from the depths ofthe thick jungle growth. It was fully ten feet long and high as theirshoulders, and the head of it was that of a tiger but such as they hadnever seen, for twin tusks, a foot long protruded down the length ofthe jowls....
"A saber tooth!" Allerdyce whispered hoarsely.
Ed Finster could only stare in open-mouthed horror at the thing. Hismuscled jaws began to quiver as the tiger began a sinuous advancetoward them, and then, as the animal suddenly crouched in preparationfor its leap, Finster screamed.
But the tiger never moved from his crouch. As if by magic a half dozenspears pierced its sides and two found a resting place in the tiger'sthroat. Then the silence was broken by the hoarse shouts of humanvoices, and a dozen men leaped into the glade and advanced on the two.
"Cro-Magnons," Allerdyce said aloud.
They were tall, broad-shouldered, deep of chest and long of limb. Theskins of wild animals covered their nakedness. Their faces showedintelligence, though it was all too apparent that it was limited. Butwhatever speculations about their origin was in Allerdyce's mind, werewiped from it by their attitudes. They were definitely hostile. Mostof them were armed with spears, as if those they had hurled were justone of a number they carried. Those who bore no spears, held clubsfrom the heads of which wooden spikes stuck out in vicious fingers ofanger.
* * * * *
Allerdyce acted from instinct. His right hand shot up to the height ofhis head and stuck out in front of his face. At that the advancingcavemen stopped and looked at each other. There were gutteral soundsof consultation, then the largest most-fearsome stepped forward andmoved toward the two until he was at arm's length.
"Who are you?" he asked. "What do you here in the land of Ugg theMighty? From whence come you?"
Allerdyce's mind worked at lightning speed. The solution to theirproblem lay in but a single direction, whatever their position. Helooked up to the cloudless, sun-scorched sky and said:
"From the Great Spirit we come. For see ... are we not different thanyou? So we were sent to look into the affairs of the Great Spirit'schildren...."
The caveman knitted his brows, shook his head in wonder, then, as achild does at an elder's invitation to inspect a doll, he steppedforward and fingered the suiting of the two men. Little cluckingsounds came from the lips as he did so. Then whirling, he shouted:
"The Great Spirit has sent them! Let us do them honor...."
At the same time Allerdyce whispered, "Don't act scared," to Finster.
Their leader's words were as a signal for the rest. They came forwardin dancing steps, raising their spears and clubs on high and shoutinggleefully words of exultation and praise of their leader Ugg. Theysurrounded the two strangers and after their leader stepped in thelead they started on a march through the brush. The way seemed endlessand after a while Allerdyce shed his upper garments, leaving only histrousers to cover him. Finster followed suit. Oddly, there was acomplete absence of insect life.
The way led straight toward the hills they had glimpsed. The wall ofjungle ended with startling abruptness and they entered on a rollingplain which after a while became more and more rocky as the uplandsweep began. Quite suddenly Ugg stopped, his head tilting to one sidein a listening attitude and one hand held in warning.
The others, with the two strangers in their midst, crowded close.
"Sobar!" Ugg grunted hoarsely. "He is after our young and women.Listen...."
They heard it then, shouts and screams from up above. But what wasgoing on was hidden from them. Ahead lay a narrow cleft between twosides of sheer rock some fifty feet high. The way on the right wasclear though at a strong angle. Ugg motioned for Allerdyce to followand the two climbed to the top of the rock where they lay on theirbellies and looked slightly downward at the scene. Ahead were somedozen caves and a common compound. Men were struggling here and therebut for the most part those were few. The screams came from the caves.In a matter of seconds men appeared, dragging after them the women andsome children. When a woman failed to go along too readily or when oneof the men lost his patience, the club was used. Ugg nudged Allerdyceand motioned with a silent shake of the head for them to return.
"... It is the tribe of Sobar," Ugg explained to his men. "They musthave learned I sent my son, Ugg the Younger, on a hunting expeditionwith most of the tribe and that we few went on the hunt for thesaber-tooth. They are too many for us...."
"But they must come through the cleft in the rock," Allerdyce said."We can lie in wait for them. Hidden, they cannot know how many we areand when the spears are thrown they will think they have beenambushed."
"But there are only the few of us," Ugg objected.
"Even a few will be enough."
But Ugg had an even better idea:
"They will not fear us. But the Spirits.... They will run from youafter they see how little their weapons do against you...."
Now we're in for it, Allerdyce thought. Right in the middle. If wedon't, these boys will let us have it. If we do, the others will. Andwhat is worse we can't ask for weapons.... H'm! Maybe.... An idea hadcome to him, a silly idea. Yet if it succeeded....
"Come on, Ed," he said, turning to Finster. "Follow my lead, fellah.Otherwise...."
He didn't have to finish. The other understood.
* * * * *
Allerdyce felt the quiver in his legs and arms as they reached the topof the cleft. One look and he saw the enemy tribe was about todescend. They saw the two men at the same time. For a long moment themodern and the prehistoric stared at each other. It was the modern whomade the first move:
"Men of Sobar!" Allerdyce shouted. "Hear me!"
There were a full fifty of them. Three of them stepped forward, spearsheld ready for the throwing. One of them was a giant of a man, a fullseven feet tall and wide as a barn door.
"Who calls Sobar," the giant asked.
"I do," Allerdyce replied. "The messenger of the Great Spirit...." Hehoped Sobar knew of this Great Spirit. "He has sent me because Sobarhas displeased him...."
For a few seconds silence reigned. Then the
giant stepped forward afew more steps, and his brow tight in a scowl of anger, asked:
"I do not believe you. You look like one of the swamp people, face ofan ape...."
Allerdyce felt the brittle coldness of a terrible anger sweep throughhim. He had been called ape before. And always the one who had donethe calling had suffered for his temerity. But mixed with his angerwas the knowledge that death could be the result of an unwise move orword. Yet time was not on his side, for Sobar was taking theinitiative and was stepping even closer and behind him the other twowere also coming toward him in imitation of their leader.
"Hold!" Allerdyce suddenly called in a ringing, imperative voice. "Youdo not believe me, then, eh? A test, Sobar...?"
The other was silent, waiting for the stranger to