To run up the inclined surface
of the palisade and drop to the
ground outside 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 over the sharpened
stakes and lower him upon the
outside. To find Ajor in the
unknown country to the north
seemed rather hopeless; yet I
could do no less than try, praying
in the meanwhile that she would
come through unscathed and in
safety to her father.
As Nobs and I swung along in
the growing light of the coming
day, I was impressed by the lessening
numbers of savage beasts the
farther north I traveled. With
the decrease among the carnivora,
the herbivora increased in quantity,
though anywhere in Caspak they
are sufficiently plentiful to
furnish ample food for the meateaters
of each locality. The wild cattle,
antelope, deer, and horses I
passed showed changes in evolution
from their cousins farther south.
The kine were smaller and less
shaggy, the horses larger. North
of the Kro-lu village I saw a
small band of the latter of about
the size of those of our old
Western plains--such as the Indians
bred in former days and to a
lesser extent even now. They
were fat and sleek, and I looked
upon them with covetous eyes
and with thoughts that any old
cow-puncher may well imagine
I might entertain after having
hoofed it for weeks; but they
were wary, scarce permitting
me to approach within bow-and-arrow
range, much less within roping-distance;
yet I still had hopes which I
never discarded.
Twice before noon we were stalked
and charged by man-eaters; but
even though I was without firearms,
I still had ample protection
in Nobs, who evidently had learned
something of Caspakian hunt rules
under the tutelage of Du-seen
or some other Galu, and of course
a great deal more by experience.
He always was on the alert for
dangerous foes, invariably warning
me by low growls of the approach
of a large carnivorous animal
long before I could either see
or hear it, and then when the
thing appeared, he would run
snapping at its heels, drawing
the charge away from me until
I found safety in some tree;
yet never did the wily Nobs take
an unnecessary chance of a mauling.
He would dart in and away so
quickly that not even the lightning-like
movements of the great cats could
reach him. I have seen him tantalize
them thus until they fairly screamed
in rage.
The greatest inconvenience
the hunters caused me was the
delay, for they have a nasty
habit of keeping one treed for
an hour or more if balked in
their designs; but at last we
came in sight of a line of cliffs
running east and west across
our path as far as the eye could
see in either direction, and
I knew that we reached the natural
boundary which marks the line
between the Kro-lu and Galu countries.
The southern face of these cliffs
loomed high and forbidding, rising
to an altitude of some two hundred
feet, sheer and precipitous,
without a break that the eye
could perceive. How I was to
find a crossing I could not guess.
Whether to search to the east
toward the still loftier barrier-cliffs
fronting upon the ocean, or westward
in the direction of the inland
sea was a question which baffled
me. Were there many passes or
only one? I had no way of knowing.
I could but trust to chance.
It never occurred to me that
Nobs had made the crossing at
least once, possibly a greater
number of times, and that he
might lead me to the pass; and
so it was with no idea of assistance
that 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
an Airedale is a mighty intelligent
dog; but I do swear that he seemed
to understand me, for he wheeled
about, barking joyously and trotted
off toward the west; and when
I didn't follow him, he ran back
to me barking furiously, and
at last taking hold of the calf
of my leg in an effort to pull
me along in the direction he
wished me to go. Now, as my legs
were naked and Nobs' jaws are
much more powerful than he realizes,
I gave in and followed him, for
I knew that I might as well go
west as east, as far as any knowledge
I had of the correct direction
went.
We followed the base of the
cliffs for a considerable distance.
The ground was rolling and tree-dotted
and covered with grazing animals,
alone, in pairs and in herds--a
motley aggregation of the modern
and extinct herbivore of the
world. A huge woolly mastodon
stood swaying to and fro in the
shade of a giant fern--a mighty
bull with enormous upcurving
tusks. Near him grazed an aurochs
bull with a cow and a calf, close
beside a lone rhinoceros asleep
in a dust-hole. Deer, antelope,
bison, horses, sheep, and goats
were all in sight at the same
time, and at a little distance
a great megatherium reared up
on its huge 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, and before
him trotted a creature of a breed
scarce sixty years old. Nobs
was a parvenu; but it failed
to worry him.
As we neared the inland sea
we saw more flying reptiles and
several great amphibians, but
none of them attacked us. As
we were topping a rise in the
middle of the afternoon, I saw
something that brought me to
a sudden stop. Calling Nobs in
a whisper, I cautioned him to
silence and kept him at heel
while I threw myself flat and
watched, from behind a sheltering
shrub, a body of warriors approaching
the cliff from the south. I could
see that they were Galus, and
I guessed that Du-seen led them.
They had taken a shorter route
to the pass and so had overhauled
me. I could see them plainly,
for they were no great distance
away, and saw with relief that
Ajor was not with them.
The cliffs before them were
broken and ragged, those coming
from the east overlapping the
cliffs from the west. Into the
defile formed by this overlapping
the party filed. I could see
them climbing upward for a few
minutes, and then they disappeared
from view. When the last of them
had passed from sight, I rose
and bent my steps in the direction
of the pass--the same pass toward
which Nobs had evidently been
leading me. I went warily as
I approached it, for fear the
party might have halted to rest.
If they hadn't halted, I had
no fear of being discovered,
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 were chief
of the Galus for a few weeks.
A dozen men could hold off forever
in that narrow pass all the hordes
which might be brought up from
the south; yet there it lay entirely
unguarded.
The Galus might be a great
people in Caspak; but they were
pitifully inefficient in even
the simpler forms of military
tactics. I was surprised that
even a man of the Stone Age should
be so lacking in military perspicacity.
Du-seen dropped far below par
in my estimation as I saw the
slovenly formation of his troop
as it passed through an enemy
country and entered the domain
of the chief against whom he
had risen in revolt; but Du-seen
must have known Jor the chief
and known that Jor would not
be waiting for him at the pass.
Nevertheless he took unwarranted
chances. With one squad of a
home-guard company I could have
conquered Caspak.
Nobs and I followed to the
summit of the pass, and there
we saw the party defiling into
the Galu country, the level of
which was not, on an average,
over fifty feet below the summit
of the cliffs and about a hundred
and fifty feet above the adjacent
Kro-lu domain. Immediately the
landscape changed. The trees,
the flowers and the shrubs were
of a hardier type, and I realized
that at night the Galu blanket
might be almost a necessity.
Acacia and eucalyptus predominated
among the trees; yet there were
ash and oak and even pine and
fir and hemlock. The tree-life
was riotous. The forests were
dense and peopled by enormous
trees. From the summit of the
cliff I could see forests rising
hundreds of feet above the level
upon which I stood, and even
at the distance they were from
me I realized that the boles
were of gigantic size.
At last I had come to the Galu
country. Though not conceived
in Caspak, I had indeed come
up cor-sva jo--from the beginning
I had come up through the hideous
horrors of the lower Caspakian
spheres of evolution, and I could
not but feel something of the
elation and pride which had filled
To-mar and So-al when they realized
that the call had come to them
and they were about to rise from
the estate of Band-lus to that
of Kro-lus. I was glad that I
was not batu.
But where was Ajor? Though
my eyes searched the wide landscape
before me, I saw nothing other
than the warriors of Du-seen
and the beasts of the fields
and the forests. Surrounded by
forests, I could see wide plains
dotting the country as far as
the eye could reach; but nowhere
was a sign of a small Galu she--the
beloved she whom I would have
given my right hand to see.
Nobs and I were hungry; we
had not eaten since the preceding
night, and below us was game-deer,
sheep, anything that a hungry
hunter might crave; so down the
steep trail we made our way,
and then upon my belly with Nobs
crouching low behind me, I crawled
toward a small herd of red deer
feeding at the edge of a plain
close beside a forest. There
was ample cover, what with solitary
trees and dotting bushes so that
I found no difficulty in stalking
up wind to within fifty feet
of my quarry--a large, sleek
doe unaccompanied by a fawn.
Greatly then did I regret my
rifle. Never in my life had I
shot an arrow, but I knew how
it was done, and fitting the
shaft to my string, I aimed carefully
and let drive. At the same instant
I called to Nobs and leaped to
me feet.
The arrow caught the doe full
in the side, and in the same
moment Nobs was 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 a cast.
The balance of the herd sprang
quickly away; but the hurt doe
lagged, and in a moment Nobs
was beside her and had leaped
at her throat. He had her down
when I came up, and I finished
her with my spear. It didn't
take me long to have a fire going
and a steak broiling, and while
I was preparing for my own feast,
Nobs was filling himself with
raw venison. Never have I enjoyed
a meal so heartily.
For two days I searched fruitlessly
back and forth from the inland
sea almost to the barrier cliffs
for some trace of Ajor, and always
I trended northward; but I saw
no sign of any human being, not
even the band of Galu warriors
under Du-seen; and then I commenced
to have misgivings. Had Chal-az
spoken the truth to me when he
said that Ajor had quit the village
of the Kro-lu? Might he not have
been acting upon the orders of
Al-tan, in whose savage bosom
might have lurked some small
spark of shame that he had attempted
to do to death one who had befriended
a Kro-lu warrior--a guest who
had brought no harm upon the
Kro-lu race--and thus have sent
me out upon a fruitless mission
in the hope that the wild beasts
would do what Al-tan hesitated
to do? I did not know; but the
more I thought upon it, the more
convinced I became that Ajor
had not quitted the Kro-lu village;
but if not, what had brought
Du-seen forth without her? There
was a puzzler, and once again
I was all at sea.
On the second day of my experience
of the Galu country I came upon
a bunch of as magnificent horses
as it has ever been my lot to
see. They were dark bays with
blazed faces and perfect surcingles
of white about their barrels.
Their forelegs were white to
the knees. In height they stood
almost sixteen hands, the mares
being a trifle smaller than the
stallions, of which there were
three or four in this band of
a hundred, which comprised many
colts and half-grown horses.
Their markings were almost identical,
indicating a purity of strain
that might have persisted since
long ages ago. If I had coveted
one of the little ponies of the
Kro-lu country, imagine my state
of mind when I came upon these
magnificent creatures! No sooner
had I espied them than I determined
to possess one of them; nor did
it take me long to select a beautiful
young stallion--a four-year-old,
I guessed him.
The horses
were grazing close to the edge
of the forest in
which Nobs and I were concealed,
while the ground between us and
them was dotted with clumps of
flowering brush which offered
perfect concealment. The stallion
of my choice grazed with a filly
and two yearlings a little apart
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 I knew that he would not
again move until I called him,
unless danger threatened me from
the rear. Carefully I crept forward
toward my unsuspecting quarry,
coming undetected to the concealment
of a bush not more 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 that instant
the stallion would doubtless
be under way at top speed in
the opposite direction. Then
he would have to wheel about
when I surprised him, and in
doing so, he would most certainly
rise slightly upon his hind feet
and throw up his head, presenting
a perfect target for my noose
as he pivoted.
Yes, I had it beautifully worked
out, and I waited until he should
turn in my direction. At last
it became evident that he was
doing so, when apparently without
cause, the filly raised her head,
neighed and started off at a
trot in the opposite direction,
immediately followed, of course,
by the colts and my stallion.
It looked for a moment as though
my last hope was blasted; but
presently their fright, if fright
it was, passed, and they resumed
grazing again a hundred yards
farther on. This time there was
no bush within fifty feet of
them, and I was at a loss as
to how to get within safe roping-distance.
Anywhere under forty feet I am
an excellent roper, at fifty
feet I am fair; but over that
I knew it would be a matter of
luck if I succeeded in getting
my noose about that beautiful
arched neck.
As I stood debating the question
in my mind, I was almost upon
the point 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 the collies from the
ranch! At a word they would have
circled this little bunch and
driven it straight down to me;
and then it flashed into my mind
that Nobs had run with those
collies all one summer, that
he had gone down to the pasture
with them after the cows every
evening and done his part in
driving them back to the milking-barn,
and had done it intelligently;
but Nobs had never done the thing
alone, and it had been a year
since he had done it at all.
However, the chances were more
in favor of my foozling the long
throw than that Nobs would fall
down in his part if I gave him
the chance.
Having come
to a decision, I had to creep
back to Nobs and
get him, and then 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 animals
out 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 away from him;
but when they saw that he was
apparently giving them a wide
berth they stopped again, though
they stood watching him, with
high-held heads and quivering
nostrils. It was a beautiful
sight. And then Nobs turned in
behind them and trotted slowly
back toward me. He did not bark,
nor come rushing down upon them,
and when he had come closer to
them, he proceeded at a walk.
The splendid creatures seemed
more curious than fearful, making
no effort to escape until Nobs
was quite close to them; then
they trotted slowly away, but
at right angles.
And now the fun and trouble
commenced. Nobs, of course, attempted
to turn them, and he seemed to
have selected the stallion to
work upon, for he paid no attention
to the others, having intelligence
enough to know that a lone dog
could run his legs off before
he could round up four 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
pretty a race as one would care
to see. Gad, how that horse could
run! He seemed to flatten out
and shoot through the air with
the very minimum of 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's
flank; but this cost too much
effort and always lost him ground,
as each time he was hurled heels
over head by the impact; yet
before they disappeared over
a rise in the ground I was sure
that Nob's persistence was bearing
fruit; it seemed to me that the
horse was giving way a trifle
to the right. Nobs was between
him and the main herd, to which
the yearling and filly had already
fled.
As I stood waiting for Nobs'
return, I could not but speculate
upon my chances should I be attacked
by some formidable beast. I was
some distance from the forest
and armed with weapons in the
use of which I was quite untrained,
though I had practiced some with
the spear since leaving the Kro-lu
country. I must admit that my
thoughts were not pleasant ones,
verging almost upon cowardice,
until I chanced to think of little
Ajor alone in this same land
and armed only with a knife!
I was immediately filled with
shame; but in thinking the matter
over since, I have come to the
conclusion that my state of mind
was influenced largely by my
approximate nakedness. If you
have never wandered about in
broad daylight garbed in a bit
of red-deer skin in inadequate
length, you can have no conception
of the sensation of futility
that overwhelms one. Clothes,
to a man accustomed to wearing
clothes, impart a certain self-confidence;
lack of them induces panic.
But no beast attacked me, though
I saw several menacing forms
passing through the dark aisles
of the forest. At last I commenced
to worry over Nobs' protracted
absence and to fear that something
had befallen him. I was coiling
my rope to start out in search
of him, when I saw the stallion
leap into view at almost the
same spot behind which he had
disappeared, and at his heels
ran Nobs. Neither was running
so fast or furiously as when
last I had seen them.
The horse, as he approached
me, I could see was laboring
hard; yet he kept gamely to his
task, and Nobs, too. The splendid
fellow was driving the quarry
straight toward me. I crouched
behind my bush and laid my noose
in readiness to throw. As the
two approached my hiding-place,
Nobs reduced his speed, and the
stallion, evidently only too
glad of the respite, dropped
into a trot. It was at this gait
that he passed me; my rope-hand
flew forward; the honda, well
down, held the noose open, and
the beautiful bay fairly ran
his head into it.
Instantly he wheeled to dash
off at right angles. I braced
myself with the rope around my
hip and brought him to a sudden
stand. Rearing and struggling,
he fought for his liberty while
Nobs, panting and with lolling
tongue, came and threw himself
down near me. He seemed to know
that his work was done and that
he had earned his rest. The stallion
was pretty well spent, and after
a few minutes of struggling he
stood with feet far spread, nostrils
dilated and eyes wide, watching
me as I edged toward him, taking
in the slack of the rope as I
advanced. A dozen times he reared
and tried to break away; but
always I spoke soothingly to
him and after an hour of effort
I succeeded in reaching his head
and stroking his muzzle. Then
I gathered a handful of grass
and offered it to him, and always
I talked to him in a quiet and
reassuring voice.
I had expected a battle royal;
but on the contrary I found his
taming a matter of comparative
ease. Though wild, he was gentle
to a degree, and of such remarkable
intelligence that he soon discovered
that I had no intention of harming
him. After that, all was easy.
Before that day was done, I had
taught him to lead and to stand
while I stroked his head and
flanks, and to eat from my hand,
and had the satisfaction of seeing
the light of fear die in his
large, intelligent eyes.
The following day I fashioned
a hackamore from a piece which
I cut from the end of my long
Galu rope, and then I mounted
him fully prepared for a struggle
of titanic proportions in which
I was none too sure that he would
not come off victor; but he never
made the slightest effort to
unseat me, and from then on his
education was rapid. No horse
ever learned more quickly the
meaning of the rein and the pressure
of the knees. I think he soon
learned to love me, and I know
that I loved him; while he and
Nobs were the best of pals. I
called him Ace. I had a friend
who was once in the French flying-corps,
and when Ace let himself out,
he certainly flew.
I cannot explain to you, nor
can you understand, unless you
too are a horseman, the exhilarating
feeling of well-being which pervaded
me from the moment that I commenced
riding Ace. I was a new man,
imbued with a sense of superiority
that led me to feel that I could
go forth and conquer all Caspak
single-handed. Now, when I needed
meat, I ran it down on Ace and
roped it, and when some great
beast with which we could not
cope threatened us, we galloped
away to safety; but for the most
part the creatures we met looked
upon us in terror, for Ace and
I in combination presented a
new and unusual beast beyond
their experience and ken.
For five days I rode back and
forth across the southern end
of the Galu country without seeing
a human being; yet all the time
I was working slowly toward the
north, for I had determined to
comb the territory thoroughly
in search of Ajor; but on the
fifth day as I emerged from a
forest, I saw some distance ahead
of me a single small figure pursued
by many others. Instantly I recognized
the quarry as Ajor. The entire
party was fully a mile away from
me, and they were crossing my
path at right angles. Ajor a
few hundred yards in advance
of those who followed 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 the knees I
sent Ace leaping out into the
open, and with Nobs running close
alongside, we raced toward her.
At first none of them saw us;
but as we neared Ajor, the pack
behind the foremost pursuer discovered
us and set up such a howl as
I never before have heard. They
were all Galus, and I soon recognized
the foremost as Du-seen. He was
almost upon Ajor now, and with
a sense of terror such as I had
never before experienced, I saw
that he ran with his knife in
his hand, and that his intention
was to slay rather than capture.
I could not understand it, but
I could only urge Ace to greater
speed, and most nobly did the
wondrous creature respond to
my demands. If ever a four-footed
creature approximated flying,
it was Ace that day.
Du-seen, intent
upon his brutal design, had
as yet not noticed
us. He was 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 of an arm and
up on the withers of my glorious
Ace. We had snatched her from
the very clutches of Du-seen,
who halted, mystified and raging.
Ajor, too, was mystified, as
we had come up from diagonally
behind her so that she had no
idea that we were near until
she was swung to Ace's back.
The little savage turned with
drawn knife to stab me, thinking
that I was some new enemy, when
her eyes found my face and she
recognized 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 I were thrown far
over his head. He had run into
one of those numerous springs
which cover Caspak. Sometimes
they are little lakes, again
but tiny pools, and often mere
quagmires of mud, as was this
one overgrown with lush grasses
which effectually hid its treacherous
identity. It is a wonder that
Ace did not break a leg, so fast
he was going when he fell; but
he didn't, though with four good
legs he was unable to wallow
from the mire. Ajor and I had
sprawled face down in the covering
grasses and so had not sunk deeply;
but when we tried to rise, we
found that there was not footing,
and presently we saw that Du-seen
and his followers were coming
down upon us. There was no escape.
It was evident that we were doomed.
"Slay me!" begged Ajor. "Let
me die at thy loved hands rather
than beneath the knife of this
hateful thing, for he will kill
me. He has sworn to kill me.
Last night he captured me, and
when later he would have his
way with me, I struck him with
my fists and with my knife I
stabbed him, and then I escaped,
leaving him raging in pain and
thwarted desire. Today they searched
for me and found me; and as I
fled, Du-seen ran after me crying
that he would slay me. Kill me,
my Tom, and then fall upon thine
own spear, for they will kill
you horribly if they take you
alive."
I couldn't kill her--not at
least until the last moment;
and I told her so, and that I
loved her, and that until death
came, I would live and fight
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 flounder about. We
were in this predicament when
Du-seen and his followers approached
the edge of the horrible swamp.
I saw that Al-tan was with him
and many other Kro-lu warriors.
The alliance against Jor the
chief had, therefore, been consummated,
and this horde was already marching
upon the Galu city. I sighed
as I thought how close I had
been to saving not only Ajor
but her father and his people
from defeat and death.
Beyond the
swamp was a dense wood. Could
we have reached this,
we would have been safe; but
it might as well have been a
hundred miles away as a hundred
yards across that hidden lake
of sticky mud. Upon the edge
of the swamp Du-seen and his
horde halted to revile us. They
could not reach us with their
hands; but at a command from
Du-seen they fitted arrows to
their bows, and I saw that the
end had come. Ajor huddled close
to me, and I took her in my arms. "I
love you, Tom," she said, "only
you." Tears came to my eyes then,
not tears of self-pity for my
predicament, but tears from a
heart filled with a great love--a
heart that sees the sun of its
life and its love setting even
as it rises.
The renegade Galus and their
Kro-lu allies stood waiting for
the word from Du-seen that would
launch that barbed avalanche
of death upon us, when there
broke from the wood beyond the
swamp the sweetest music that
ever fell upon the ears of man--the
sharp staccato of at least two
score rifles fired rapidly at
will. Down went the Galu and
Kro-lu warriors like tenpins
before that deadly fusillade.
What could
it mean? To me it meant but
one thing, and that
was that Hollis and Short and
the others had scaled the cliffs
and made their way north to the
Galu country upon the opposite
side of the island in time to
save Ajor and me from almost
certain death. I didn't have
to have an introduction to them
to know that the men who held
those rifles were the men of
my own party; and when, a few
minutes later, they came forth
from their concealment, my eyes
verified my hopes. There they
were, 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 men in the garb of Galus.
Each was tall and straight and
wonderfully muscled; yet they
differed as Ace might differ
from a perfect specimen of another
species. As they approached the
mire, Ajor held forth her arms
and cried, "Jor, my chief! My
father!" and the elder of the
two rushed in knee-deep to rescue
her, and then the other came
close and looked 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 the man we had searched a
new world to find. They cut saplings
from the forest 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 there was great rejoicing
when Ajor came home again mounted
upon the glossy back of the stallion
Ace.
Tyler and Hollis and Short
and all the rest of us Americans
nearly worked our jaws loose
on the march back to the village,
and for days afterward we kept
it up. They told me how they
had crossed the barrier cliffs
in five days, working twenty-four
hours a day in three eight-hour
shifts with two reliefs to each
shift alternating half-hourly.
Two men with electric drills
driven from the dynamos aboard
the Toreador drilled two holes
four feet apart in the face of
the cliff and in the same horizontal
planes. The holes slanted slightly
downward. Into these holes the
iron rods brought as a part of
our equipment and for just this
purpose were inserted, extending
about a foot beyond the face
of the rock, across these two
rods a plank was laid, and then
the next shift, mounting to the
new level, bored two more holes
five feet above the new platform,
and so on.
During the nights the searchlights
from the Toreador were kept playing
upon the cliff at the point where
the drills were working, and
at the rate of ten feet an hour
the summit was reached upon the
fifth day. Ropes were lowered,
blocks lashed to trees at the
top, and crude elevators rigged,
so that by the night of the fifth
day the entire party, 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 vain and perilous effort to
enter the hideous reptile-infested
country to the south. Owing to
the number of guns among them,
they had not lost a man; but
their path was strewn with the
dead creatures they had been
forced to slay to win their way
to the north end of the island,
where they had found Bowen and
his bride among the Galus of
Jor.
The reunion between Bowen and
Nobs was marked by a frantic
display upon Nobs' part, which
almost stripped Bowen of the
scanty attire that the Galu custom
had vouchsafed him. When we arrived
at the Galu city, Lys La Rue
was waiting to welcome us. She
was Mrs. Tyler now, as the master
of the Toreador had married them
the very day that the search-party
had found them, though neither
Lys nor Bowen would admit that
any civil or religious ceremony
could have rendered more sacred
the bonds with which God had
united them.
Neither Bowen nor the party
from the Toreador had seen any
sign of Bradley and his party.
They had been so long lost now
that any hopes for them must
be definitely abandoned. The
Galus had heard rumors of them,
as had the Western Kro-lu and
Band-lu; but none had seen aught
of them since they had left Fort
Dinosaur months since.
We rested in Jor's village
for a fortnight while we prepared
for the southward journey to
the point where the Toreador
was to lie off shore in wait
for us. During these two weeks
Chal-az came up from the Krolu
country, now a full-fledged Galu.
He told us that the remnants
of Al-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 under a new leader
whom all respected.
Nobs stuck close to Bowen;
but Ace and Ajor and I went out
upon many long rides through
the beautiful north Galu country.
Chal-az had brought my arms and
ammunition up from Kro-lu with
him; but my clothes were gone;
nor did I miss them once I became
accustomed to the free attire
of the Galu.
At last came the time for our
departure; upon the following
morning we were to set out toward
the south and the Toreador and
dear old California. I had asked
Ajor to go with us; but Jor her
father had refused to listen
to the suggestion. No pleas could
swerve him from his decision:
Ajor, the cos-ata-lo, from whom
might spring a new and greater
Caspakian race, could not be
spared. I might have any other
she among the Galus; but Ajor--no!
The poor child was heartbroken;
and as for me, I was slowly realizing
the hold that Ajor had upon my
heart and wondered how I should
get along without her. As I held
her in my arms that last night,
I tried to imagine what life
would be like without her, for
at last there had come 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 a few 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 and that back
in my native land I should find
a mate who would be all and more
to me than little Ajor could
ever be--a woman of my own race
and my own culture.
Morning came more quickly than
I could have wished. I rose and
breakfasted, but saw nothing
of Ajor. It was best, I thought,
that I go thus without the harrowing
pangs of a last farewell. The
party formed 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. The night
before, I had given him to Ajor,
and now in my mind the two seemed
inseparable.
And so we marched away, down
the street flanked with its stone
houses and out through the wide
gateway in the stone wall which
surrounds the city and on across
the clearing toward the forest
through which we must pass to
reach the northern boundary of
Galu, beyond which we would turn
south. At the edge of the forest
I cast a backward glance at the
city which held my heart, and
beside the massive gateway I
saw that which brought me to
a sudden halt. It was a little
figure leaning against one of
the great upright posts upon
which the gates swing--a crumpled
little figure; and even at this
distance I could see its shoulders
heave 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 grasped
my 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 from her eyes and a smile
to her lips while together we
watched the last of the Americans
disappear into the forest.
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