Chapter 7
To run up the inclined surface of the palisade and drop to the groundoutside was the work of but a moment, or would have been but for Nobs.I had to put my rope about him after we reached the top, lift him overthe sharpened stakes and lower him upon the outside. To find Ajor inthe unknown country to the north seemed rather hopeless; yet I could dono less than try, praying in the meanwhile that she would come throughunscathed and in safety to her father.
As Nobs and I swung along in the growing light of the coming day, I wasimpressed by the lessening numbers of savage beasts the farther north Itraveled. With the decrease among the carnivora, the herbivoraincreased in quantity, though anywhere in Caspak they are sufficientlyplentiful to furnish ample food for the meateaters of each locality.The wild cattle, antelope, deer, and horses I passed showed changes inevolution from their cousins farther south. The kine were smaller andless shaggy, the horses larger. North of the Kro-lu village I saw asmall band of the latter of about the size of those of our old Westernplains--such as the Indians bred in former days and to a lesser extenteven now. They were fat and sleek, and I looked upon them withcovetous eyes and with thoughts that any old cow-puncher may wellimagine I might entertain after having hoofed it for weeks; but theywere wary, scarce permitting me to approach within bow-and-arrow range,much less within roping-distance; yet I still had hopes which I neverdiscarded.
Twice before noon we were stalked and charged by man-eaters; but eventhough I was without firearms, I still had ample protection in Nobs,who evidently had learned something of Caspakian hunt rules under thetutelage of Du-seen or some other Galu, and of course a great deal moreby experience. He always was on the alert for dangerous foes,invariably warning me by low growls of the approach of a largecarnivorous animal long before I could either see or hear it, and thenwhen the thing appeared, he would run snapping at its heels, drawingthe charge away from me until I found safety in some tree; yet neverdid the wily Nobs take an unnecessary chance of a mauling. He woulddart in and away so quickly that not even the lightning-like movementsof the great cats could reach him. I have seen him tantalize them thusuntil they fairly screamed in rage.
The greatest inconvenience the hunters caused me was the delay, forthey have a nasty habit of keeping one treed for an hour or more ifbalked in their designs; but at last we came in sight of a line ofcliffs running east and west across our path as far as the eye couldsee in either direction, and I knew that we reached the naturalboundary which marks the line between the Kro-lu and Galu countries.The southern face of these cliffs loomed high and forbidding, rising toan altitude of some two hundred feet, sheer and precipitous, without abreak that the eye could perceive. How I was to find a crossing Icould not guess. Whether to search to the east toward the stillloftier barrier-cliffs fronting upon the ocean, or westward in thedirection of the inland sea was a question which baffled me. Werethere many passes or only one? I had no way of knowing. I could buttrust to chance. It never occurred to me that Nobs had made thecrossing at least once, possibly a greater number of times, and that hemight lead me to the pass; and so it was with no idea of assistancethat I appealed to him as a man alone with a dumb brute so often does.
"Nobs," I said, "how the devil are we going to cross those cliffs?"
I do not say that he understood me, even though I realize that anAiredale is a mighty intelligent dog; but I do swear that he seemed tounderstand me, for he wheeled about, barking joyously and trotted offtoward the west; and when I didn't follow him, he ran back to mebarking furiously, and at last taking hold of the calf of my leg in aneffort to pull me along in the direction he wished me to go. Now, asmy legs were naked and Nobs' jaws are much more powerful than herealizes, I gave in and followed him, for I knew that I might as wellgo west as east, as far as any knowledge I had of the correct directionwent.
We followed the base of the cliffs for a considerable distance. Theground was rolling and tree-dotted and covered with grazing animals,alone, in pairs and in herds--a motley aggregation of the modern andextinct herbivora of the world. A huge woolly mastodon stood swayingto and fro in the shade of a giant fern--a mighty bull with enormousupcurving tusks. Near him grazed an aurochs bull with a cow and acalf, close beside a lone rhinoceros asleep in a dust-hole. Deer,antelope, bison, horses, sheep, and goats were all in sight at the sametime, and at a little distance a great megatherium reared up on itshuge tail and massive hind feet to tear the leaves from a tall tree.The forgotten past rubbed flanks with the present--while Tom Billings,modern of the moderns, passed in the garb of pre-Glacial man, andbefore him trotted a creature of a breed scarce sixty years old. Nobswas a parvenu; but it failed to worry him.
As we neared the inland sea we saw more flying reptiles and severalgreat amphibians, but none of them attacked us. As we were topping arise in the middle of the afternoon, I saw something that brought me toa sudden stop. Calling Nobs in a whisper, I cautioned him to silenceand kept him at heel while I threw myself flat and watched, from behinda sheltering shrub, a body of warriors approaching the cliff from thesouth. I could see that they were Galus, and I guessed that Du-seenled them. They had taken a shorter route to the pass and so hadoverhauled me. I could see them plainly, for they were no greatdistance away, and saw with relief that Ajor was not with them.
The cliffs before them were broken and ragged, those coming from theeast overlapping the cliffs from the west. Into the defile formed bythis overlapping the party filed. I could see them climbing upward fora few minutes, and then they disappeared from view. When the last ofthem had passed from sight, I rose and bent my steps in the directionof the pass--the same pass toward which Nobs had evidently been leadingme. I went warily as I approached it, for fear the party might havehalted to rest. If they hadn't halted, I had no fear of beingdiscovered, for I had seen that the Galus marched without point,flankers or rear guard; and when I reached the pass and saw a narrow,one-man trail leading upward at a stiff angle, I wished that I werechief of the Galus for a few weeks. A dozen men could hold off foreverin that narrow pass all the hordes which might be brought up from thesouth; yet there it lay entirely unguarded.
The Galus might be a great people in Caspak; but they were pitifullyinefficient in even the simpler forms of military tactics. I wassurprised that even a man of the Stone Age should be so lacking inmilitary perspicacity. Du-seen dropped far below par in my estimationas I saw the slovenly formation of his troop as it passed through anenemy country and entered the domain of the chief against whom he hadrisen in revolt; but Du-seen must have known Jor the chief and knownthat Jor would not be waiting for him at the pass. Nevertheless hetook unwarranted chances. With one squad of a home-guard company Icould have conquered Caspak.
Nobs and I followed to the summit of the pass, and there we saw theparty defiling into the Galu country, the level of which was not, on anaverage, over fifty feet below the summit of the cliffs and about ahundred and fifty feet above the adjacent Kro-lu domain. Immediatelythe landscape changed. The trees, the flowers and the shrubs were of ahardier type, and I realized that at night the Galu blanket might bealmost a necessity. Acacia and eucalyptus predominated among thetrees; yet there were ash and oak and even pine and fir and hemlock.The tree-life was riotous. The forests were dense and peopled byenormous trees. From the summit of the cliff I could see forestsrising hundreds of feet above the level upon which I stood, and even atthe distance they were from me I realized that the boles were ofgigantic size.
At last I had come to the Galu country. Though not conceived inCaspak, I had indeed come up cor-sva-jo--from the beginning I had comeup through the hideous horrors of the lower Caspakian spheres ofevolution, and I could not but feel something of the elation and pridewhich had filled To-mar and So-al when they realized that the call hadcome to them and they were about to rise from the estate of Band-lus tothat of Kro-lus. I was glad that I was not batu.
But where was Ajor? Though my eyes searched the wide landscape beforeme, I saw nothing ot
her than the warriors of Du-seen and the beasts ofthe fields and the forests. Surrounded by forests, I could see wideplains dotting the country as far as the eye could reach; but nowherewas a sign of a small Galu she--the beloved she whom I would have givenmy right hand to see.
Nobs and I were hungry; we had not eaten since the preceding night, andbelow us was game--deer, sheep, anything that a hungry hunter mightcrave; so down the steep trail we made our way, and then upon my bellywith Nobs crouching low behind me, I crawled toward a small herd of reddeer feeding at the edge of a plain close beside a forest. There wasample cover, what with solitary trees and dotting bushes so that Ifound no difficulty in stalking up wind to within fifty feet of myquarry--a large, sleek doe unaccompanied by a fawn. Greatly then did Iregret my rifle. Never in my life had I shot an arrow, but I knew howit was done, and fitting the shaft to my string, I aimed carefully andlet drive. At the same instant I called to Nobs and leaped to my feet.
The arrow caught the doe full in the side, and in the same moment Nobswas after her. She turned to flee with the two of us pursuing her,Nobs with his great fangs bared and I with my short spear poised for acast. The balance of the herd sprang quickly away; but the hurt doelagged, and in a moment Nobs was beside her and had leaped at herthroat. He had her down when I came up, and I finished her with myspear. It didn't take me long to have a fire going and a steakbroiling, and while I was preparing for my own feast, Nobs was fillinghimself with raw venison. Never have I enjoyed a meal so heartily.
For two days I searched fruitlessly back and forth from the inland seaalmost to the barrier cliffs for some trace of Ajor, and always Itrended northward; but I saw no sign of any human being, not even theband of Galu warriors under Du-seen; and then I commenced to havemisgivings. Had Chal-az spoken the truth to me when he said that Ajorhad quit the village of the Kro-lu? Might he not have been acting uponthe orders of Al-tan, in whose savage bosom might have lurked somesmall spark of shame that he had attempted to do to death one who hadbefriended a Kro-lu warrior--a guest who had brought no harm upon theKro-lu race--and thus have sent me out upon a fruitless mission in thehope that the wild beasts would do what Al-tan hesitated to do? I didnot know; but the more I thought upon it, the more convinced I becamethat Ajor had not quitted the Kro-lu village; but if not, what hadbrought Du-seen forth without her? There was a puzzler, and once againI was all at sea.
On the second day of my experience of the Galu country I came upon abunch of as magnificent horses as it has ever been my lot to see. Theywere dark bays with blazed faces and perfect surcingles of white abouttheir barrels. Their forelegs were white to the knees. In height theystood almost sixteen hands, the mares being a trifle smaller than thestallions, of which there were three or four in this band of a hundred,which comprised many colts and half-grown horses. Their markings werealmost identical, indicating a purity of strain that might havepersisted since long ages ago. If I had coveted one of the littleponies of the Kro-lu country, imagine my state of mind when I came uponthese magnificent creatures! No sooner had I espied them than Idetermined to possess one of them; nor did it take me long to select abeautiful young stallion--a four-year-old, I guessed him.
The horses were grazing close to the edge of the forest in which Nobsand I were concealed, while the ground between us and them was dottedwith clumps of flowering brush which offered perfect concealment. Thestallion of my choice grazed with a filly and two yearlings a littleapart from the balance of the herd and nearest to the forest and to me.At my whispered "Charge!" Nobs flattened himself to the ground, and Iknew that he would not again move until I called him, unless dangerthreatened me from the rear. Carefully I crept forward toward myunsuspecting quarry, coming undetected to the concealment of a bush notmore than twenty feet from him. Here I quietly arranged my noose,spreading it flat and open upon the ground.
To step to one side of the bush and throw directly from the ground,which is the style I am best in, would take but an instant, and in thatinstant the stallion would doubtless be under way at top speed in theopposite direction. Then he would have to wheel about when I surprisedhim, and in doing so, he would most certainly rise slightly upon hishind feet and throw up his head, presenting a perfect target for mynoose as he pivoted.
Yes, I had it beautifully worked out, and I waited until he should turnin my direction. At last it became evident that he was doing so, whenapparently without cause, the filly raised her head, neighed andstarted off at a trot in the opposite direction, immediately followed,of course, by the colts and my stallion. It looked for a moment asthough my last hope was blasted; but presently their fright, if frightit was, passed, and they resumed grazing again a hundred yards fartheron. This time there was no bush within fifty feet of them, and I wasat a loss as to how to get within safe roping-distance. Anywhere underforty feet I am an excellent roper, at fifty feet I am fair; but overthat I knew it would be a matter of luck if I succeeded in getting mynoose about that beautiful arched neck.
As I stood debating the question in my mind, I was almost upon thepoint of making the attempt at the long throw. I had plenty of rope,this Galu weapon being fully sixty feet long. How I wished for thecollies from the ranch! At a word they would have circled this littlebunch and driven it straight down to me; and then it flashed into mymind that Nobs had run with those collies all one summer, that he hadgone down to the pasture with them after the cows every evening anddone his part in driving them back to the milking-barn, and had done itintelligently; but Nobs had never done the thing alone, and it had beena year since he had done it at all. However, the chances were more infavor of my foozling the long throw than that Nobs would fall down inhis part if I gave him the chance.
Having come to a decision, I had to creep back to Nobs and get him, andthen with him at my heels return to a large bush near the four horses.Here we could see directly through the bush, and pointing the animalsout to Nobs I whispered: "Fetch 'em, boy!"
In an instant he was gone, circling wide toward the rear of the quarry.They caught sight of him almost immediately and broke into a trot awayfrom him; but when they saw that he was apparently giving them a wideberth they stopped again, though they stood watching him, withhigh-held heads and quivering nostrils. It was a beautiful sight. Andthen Nobs turned in behind them and trotted slowly back toward me. Hedid not bark, nor come rushing down upon them, and when he had comecloser to them, he proceeded at a walk. The splendid creatures seemedmore curious than fearful, making no effort to escape until Nobs wasquite close to them; then they trotted slowly away, but at right angles.
And now the fun and trouble commenced. Nobs, of course, attempted toturn them, and he seemed to have selected the stallion to work upon,for he paid no attention to the others, having intelligence enough toknow that a lone dog could run his legs off before he could round upfour horses that didn't wish to be rounded up. The stallion, however,had notions of his own about being headed, and the result was as prettya race as one would care to see. Gad, how that horse could run! Heseemed to flatten out and shoot through the air with the very minimumof exertion, and at his forefoot ran Nobs, doing his best to turn him.He was barking now, and twice he leaped high against the stallion'sflank; but this cost too much effort and always lost him ground, aseach time he was hurled heels over head by the impact; yet before theydisappeared over a rise in the ground I was sure that Nobs' persistencewas bearing fruit; it seemed to me that the horse was giving way atrifle to the right. Nobs was between him and the main herd, to whichthe yearling and filly had already fled.
As I stood waiting for Nobs' return, I could not but speculate upon mychances should I be attacked by some formidable beast. I was somedistance from the forest and armed with weapons in the use of which Iwas quite untrained, though I had practiced some with the spear sinceleaving the Kro-lu country. I must admit that my thoughts were notpleasant ones, verging almost upon cowardice, until I chanced to thinkof little Ajor alone in this same land and armed only with a knife! Iwas i
mmediately filled with shame; but in thinking the matter oversince, I have come to the conclusion that my state of mind wasinfluenced largely by my approximate nakedness. If you have neverwandered about in broad daylight garbed in a bit of red-deer skin ininadequate length, you can have no conception of the sensation offutility that overwhelms one. Clothes, to a man accustomed to wearingclothes, impart a certain self-confidence; lack of them induces panic.
But no beast attacked me, though I saw several menacing forms passingthrough the dark aisles of the forest. At last I commenced to worryover Nobs' protracted absence and to fear that something had befallenhim. I was coiling my rope to start out in search of him, when I sawthe stallion leap into view at almost the same spot behind which he haddisappeared, and at his heels ran Nobs. Neither was running so fast orfuriously as when last I had seen them.
The horse, as he approached me, I could see was laboring hard; yet hekept gamely to his task, and Nobs, too. The splendid fellow wasdriving the quarry straight toward me. I crouched behind my bush andlaid my noose in readiness to throw. As the two approached myhiding-place, Nobs reduced his speed, and the stallion, evidently onlytoo glad of the respite, dropped into a trot. It was at this gait thathe passed me; my rope-hand flew forward; the honda, well down, held thenoose open, and the beautiful bay fairly ran his head into it.
Instantly he wheeled to dash off at right angles. I braced myself withthe rope around my hip and brought him to a sudden stand. Rearing andstruggling, he fought for his liberty while Nobs, panting and withlolling tongue, came and threw himself down near me. He seemed to knowthat his work was done and that he had earned his rest. The stallionwas pretty well spent, and after a few minutes of struggling he stoodwith feet far spread, nostrils dilated and eyes wide, watching me as Iedged toward him, taking in the slack of the rope as I advanced. Adozen times he reared and tried to break away; but always I spokesoothingly to him and after an hour of effort I succeeded in reachinghis head and stroking his muzzle. Then I gathered a handful of grassand offered it to him, and always I talked to him in a quiet andreassuring voice.
I had expected a battle royal; but on the contrary I found his taming amatter of comparative ease. Though wild, he was gentle to a degree,and of such remarkable intelligence that he soon discovered that I hadno intention of harming him. After that, all was easy. Before thatday was done, I had taught him to lead and to stand while I stroked hishead and flanks, and to eat from my hand, and had the satisfaction ofseeing the light of fear die in his large, intelligent eyes.
The following day I fashioned a hackamore from a piece which I cut fromthe end of my long Galu rope, and then I mounted him fully prepared fora struggle of titanic proportions in which I was none too sure that hewould not come off victor; but he never made the slightest effort tounseat me, and from then on his education was rapid. No horse everlearned more quickly the meaning of the rein and the pressure of theknees. I think he soon learned to love me, and I know that I lovedhim; while he and Nobs were the best of pals. I called him Ace. I hada friend who was once in the French flying-corps, and when Ace lethimself out, he certainly flew.
I cannot explain to you, nor can you understand, unless you too are ahorseman, the exhilarating feeling of well-being which pervaded me fromthe moment that I commenced riding Ace. I was a new man, imbued with asense of superiority that led me to feel that I could go forth andconquer all Caspak single-handed. Now, when I needed meat, I ran itdown on Ace and roped it, and when some great beast with which we couldnot cope threatened us, we galloped away to safety; but for the mostpart the creatures we met looked upon us in terror, for Ace and I incombination presented a new and unusual beast beyond their experienceand ken.
For five days I rode back and forth across the southern end of the Galucountry without seeing a human being; yet all the time I was workingslowly toward the north, for I had determined to comb the territorythoroughly in search of Ajor; but on the fifth day as I emerged from aforest, I saw some distance ahead of me a single small figure pursuedby many others. Instantly I recognized the quarry as Ajor. The entireparty was fully a mile away from me, and they were crossing my path atright angles, Ajor a few hundred yards in advance of those whofollowed her. One of her pursuers was far in advance of the others,and was gaining upon her rapidly. With a word and a pressure of theknees I sent Ace leaping out into the open, and with Nobs running closealongside, we raced toward her.
At first none of them saw us; but as we neared Ajor, the pack behindthe foremost pursuer discovered us and set up such a howl as I neverbefore have heard. They were all Galus, and I soon recognized theforemost as Du-seen. He was almost upon Ajor now, and with a sense ofterror such as I had never before experienced, I saw that he ran withhis knife in his hand, and that his intention was to slay rather thancapture. I could not understand it, but I could only urge Ace togreater speed, and most nobly did the wondrous creature respond to mydemands. If ever a four-footed creature approximated flying, it wasAce that day.
Du-seen, intent upon his brutal design, had as yet not noticed us. Hewas within a pace of Ajor when Ace and I dashed between them, and I,leaning down to the left, swept my little barbarian into the hollow ofan arm and up on the withers of my glorious Ace. We had snatched herfrom the very clutches of Du-seen, who halted, mystified and raging.Ajor, too, was mystified, as we had come up from diagonally behind herso that she had no idea that we were near until she was swung to Ace'sback. The little savage turned with drawn knife to stab me, thinkingthat I was some new enemy, when her eyes found my face and sherecognized me. With a little sob she threw her arms about my neck,gasping: "My Tom! My Tom!"
And then Ace sank suddenly into thick mud to his belly, and Ajor and Iwere thrown far over his head. He had run into one of those numeroussprings which cover Caspak. Sometimes they are little lakes, again buttiny pools, and often mere quagmires of mud, as was this one overgrownwith lush grasses which effectually hid its treacherous identity. Itis a wonder that Ace did not break a leg, so fast he was going when hefell; but he didn't, though with four good legs he was unable to wallowfrom the mire. Ajor and I had sprawled face down in the coveringgrasses and so had not sunk deeply; but when we tried to rise, we foundthat there was not footing, and presently we saw that Du-seen and hisfollowers were coming down upon us. There was no escape. It wasevident that we were doomed.
"Slay me!" begged Ajor. "Let me die at thy loved hands rather thanbeneath the knife of this hateful thing, for he will kill me. He hassworn to kill me. Last night he captured me, and when later he wouldhave his way with me, I struck him with my fists and with my knife Istabbed him, and then I escaped, leaving him raging in pain andthwarted desire. Today they searched for me and found me; and as Ifled, Du-seen ran after me crying that he would slay me. Kill me, myTom, and then fall upon thine own spear, for they will kill youhorribly if they take you alive."
I couldn't kill her--not at least until the last moment; and I told herso, and that I loved her, and that until death came, I would live andfight for her.
Nobs had followed us into the bog and had done fairly well at first,but when he neared us he too sank to his belly and could only flounderabout. We were in this predicament when Du-seen and his followersapproached the edge of the horrible swamp. I saw that Al-tan was withhim and many other Kro-lu warriors. The alliance against Jor the chiefhad, therefore, been consummated, and this horde was already marchingupon the Galu city. I sighed as I thought how close I had been tosaving not only Ajor but her father and his people from defeat anddeath.
Beyond the swamp was a dense wood. Could we have reached this, wewould have been safe; but it might as well have been a hundred milesaway as a hundred yards across that hidden lake of sticky mud. Uponthe edge of the swamp Du-seen and his horde halted to revile us. Theycould not reach us with their hands; but at a command from Du-seen theyfitted arrows to their bows, and I saw that the end had come. Ajorhuddled close to me, and I took her in my arms. "I love you, Tom," shesaid,
"only you." Tears came to my eyes then, not tears of self-pityfor my predicament, but tears from a heart filled with a great love--aheart that sees the sun of its life and its love setting even as itrises.
The renegade Galus and their Kro-lu allies stood waiting for the wordfrom Du-seen that would launch that barbed avalanche of death upon us,when there broke from the wood beyond the swamp the sweetest music thatever fell upon the ears of man--the sharp staccato of at least twoscore rifles fired rapidly at will. Down went the Galu and Kro-luwarriors like tenpins before that deadly fusillade.
What could it mean? To me it meant but one thing, and that was thatHollis and Short and the others had scaled the cliffs and made theirway north to the Galu country upon the opposite side of the island intime to save Ajor and me from almost certain death. I didn't have tohave an introduction to them to know that the men who held those rifleswere the men of my own party; and when, a few minutes later, they cameforth from their concealment, my eyes verified my hopes. There theywere, every man-jack of them; and with them were a thousand straight,sleek warriors of the Galu race; and ahead of the others came two menin the garb of Galus. Each was tall and straight and wonderfullymuscled; yet they differed as Ace might differ from a perfect specimenof another species. As they approached the mire, Ajor held forth herarms and cried, "Jor, my chief! My father!" and the elder of the tworushed in knee-deep to rescue her, and then the other came close andlooked into my face, and his eyes went wide, and mine too, and I cried:"Bowen! For heaven's sake, Bowen Tyler!"
It was he. My search was ended. Around me were all my company and theman we had searched a new world to find. They cut saplings from theforest and laid a road into the swamp before they could get us all out,and then we marched back to the city of Jor the Galu chief, and therewas great rejoicing when Ajor came home again mounted upon the glossyback of the stallion Ace.
Tyler and Hollis and Short and all the rest of us Americans nearlyworked our jaws loose on the march back to the village, and for daysafterward we kept it up. They told me how they had crossed the barriercliffs in five days, working twenty-four hours a day in threeeight-hour shifts with two reliefs to each shift alternatinghalf-hourly. Two men with electric drills driven from the dynamosaboard the _Toreador_ drilled two holes four feet apart in the face ofthe cliff and in the same horizontal planes. The holes slantedslightly downward. Into these holes the iron rods brought as a part ofour equipment and for just this purpose were inserted, extending abouta foot beyond the face of the rock, across these two rods a plank waslaid, and then the next shift, mounting to the new level, bored twomore holes five feet above the new platform, and so on.
During the nights the searchlights from the _Toreador_ were kept playingupon the cliff at the point where the drills were working, and at therate of ten feet an hour the summit was reached upon the fifth day.Ropes were lowered, blocks lashed to trees at the top, and crudeelevators rigged, so that by the night of the fifth day the entireparty, with the exception of the few men needed to man the _Toreador_,were within Caspak with an abundance of arms, ammunition and equipment.
From then on, they fought their way north in search of me, after a vainand perilous effort to enter the hideous reptile-infested country tothe south. Owing to the number of guns among them, they had not lost aman; but their path was strewn with the dead creatures they had beenforced to slay to win their way to the north end of the island, wherethey had found Bowen and his bride among the Galus of Jor.
The reunion between Bowen and Nobs was marked by a frantic display uponNobs' part, which almost stripped Bowen of the scanty attire that theGalu custom had vouchsafed him. When we arrived at the Galu city, LysLa Rue was waiting to welcome us. She was Mrs. Tyler now, as themaster of the _Toreador_ had married them the very day that thesearch-party had found them, though neither Lys nor Bowen would admitthat any civil or religious ceremony could have rendered more sacredthe bonds with which God had united them.
Neither Bowen nor the party from the _Toreador_ had seen any sign ofBradley and his party. They had been so long lost now that any hopesfor them must be definitely abandoned. The Galus had heard rumors ofthem, as had the Western Kro-lu and Band-lu; but none had seen aught ofthem since they had left Fort Dinosaur months since.
We rested in Jor's village for a fortnight while we prepared for thesouthward journey to the point where the _Toreador_ was to lie off shorein wait for us. During these two weeks Chal-az came up from the Kro-lucountry, now a full-fledged Galu. He told us that the remnants ofAl-tan's party had been slain when they attempted to re-enter Kro-lu.Chal-az had been made chief, and when he rose, had left the tribe undera new leader whom all respected.
Nobs stuck close to Bowen; but Ace and Ajor and I went out upon manylong rides through the beautiful north Galu country. Chal-az hadbrought my arms and ammunition up from Kro-lu with him; but my clotheswere gone; nor did I miss them once I became accustomed to the freeattire of the Galu.
At last came the time for our departure; upon the following morning wewere to set out toward the south and the _Toreador_ and dear oldCalifornia. I had asked Ajor to go with us; but Jor her father hadrefused to listen to the suggestion. No pleas could swerve him fromhis decision: Ajor, the cos-ata-lo, from whom might spring a new andgreater Caspakian race, could not be spared. I might have any othershe among the Galus; but Ajor--no!
The poor child was heartbroken; and as for me, I was slowly realizingthe hold that Ajor had upon my heart and wondered how I should getalong without her. As I held her in my arms that last night, I triedto imagine what life would be like without her, for at last there hadcome to me the realization that I loved her--loved my little barbarian;and as I finally tore myself away and went to my own hut to snatch afew hours' sleep before we set off upon our long journey on the morrow,I consoled myself with the thought that time would heal the wound andthat back in my native land I should find a mate who would be all andmore to me than little Ajor could ever be--a woman of my own race andmy own culture.
Morning came more quickly than I could have wished. I rose andbreakfasted, but saw nothing of Ajor. It was best, I thought, that Igo thus without the harrowing pangs of a last farewell. The partyformed for the march, an escort of Galu warriors ready to accompany us.I could not even bear to go to Ace's corral and bid him farewell. Thenight before, I had given him to Ajor, and now in my mind the twoseemed inseparable.
And so we marched away, down the street flanked with its stone housesand out through the wide gateway in the stone wall which surrounds thecity and on across the clearing toward the forest through which we mustpass to reach the northern boundary of Galu, beyond which we would turnsouth. At the edge of the forest I cast a backward glance at the citywhich held my heart, and beside the massive gateway I saw that whichbrought me to a sudden halt. It was a little figure leaning againstone of the great upright posts upon which the gates swing--a crumpledlittle figure; and even at this distance I could see its shouldersheave to the sobs that racked it. It was the last straw.
Bowen was near me. "Good-bye old man," I said. "I'm going back."
He looked at me in surprise. "Good-bye, old man," he said, and graspedmy hand. "I thought you'd do it in the end."
And then I went back and took Ajor in my arms and kissed the tears fromher eyes and a smile to her lips while together we watched the last ofthe Americans disappear into the forest.
[Transcriber's note: I have made the following changes to the text:
PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO
75 15 later latter 108 14 in is 123 24 the he 131 13 plans planes 131 28 new few 132 24 Donosaur Dinosaur]
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The People That Time Forgot Page 7