Chapter 6
After dinner I rolled a cigaret and stretched myself at ease upon apile of furs before the doorway, with Ajor's head pillowed in my lapand a feeling of great content pervading me. It was the first timesince my plane had topped the barrier-cliffs of Caspak that I had feltany sense of peace or security. My hand wandered to the velvet cheekof the girl I had claimed as mine, and to her luxuriant hair and thegolden fillet which bound it close to her shapely head. Her slenderfingers groping upward sought mine and drew them to her lips, and thenI gathered her in my arms and crushed her to me, smothering her mouthwith a long, long kiss. It was the first time that passion had tingedmy intercourse with Ajor. We were alone, and the hut was ours untilmorning.
But now from beyond the palisade in the direction of the main gate camethe hallooing of men and the answering calls and queries of the guard.We listened. Returning hunters, no doubt. We heard them enter thevillage amidst the barking dogs. I have forgotten to mention the dogsof Kro-lu. The village swarmed with them, gaunt, wolflike creaturesthat guarded the herd by day when it grazed without the palisade, tendogs to a cow. By night the cows were herded in an outer inclosureroofed against the onslaughts of the carnivorous cats; and the dogs,with the exception of a few, were brought into the village; these fewwell-tested brutes remained with the herd. During the day they fedplentifully upon the beasts of prey which they killed in protection ofthe herd, so that their keep amounted to nothing at all.
Shortly after the commotion at the gate had subsided, Ajor and I aroseto enter the hut, and at the same time a warrior appeared from one ofthe twisted alleys which, lying between the irregularly placed huts andgroups of huts, form the streets of the Kro-lu village. The fellowhalted before us and addressed me, saying that Al-tan desired mypresence at his hut. The wording of the invitation and the manner ofthe messenger threw me entirely off my guard, so cordial was the oneand respectful the other, and the result was that I went willingly,telling Ajor that I would return presently. I had laid my arms andammunition aside as soon as we had taken over the hut, and I left themwith Ajor now, as I had noticed that aside from their hunting-knivesthe men of Kro-lu bore no weapons about the village streets. There wasan atmosphere of peace and security within that village that I had nothoped to experience within Caspak, and after what I had passed through,it must have cast a numbing spell over my faculties of judgment andreason. I had eaten of the lotus-flower of safety; dangers no longerthreatened for they had ceased to be.
The messenger led me through the labyrinthine alleys to an open plazanear the center of the village. At one end of this plaza was a longhut, much the largest that I had yet seen, before the door of whichwere many warriors. I could see that the interior was lighted and thata great number of men were gathered within. The dogs about the plazawere as thick as fleas, and those I approached closely evinced a strongdesire to devour me, their noses evidently apprising them of the factthat I was of an alien race, since they paid no attention whatever tomy companion. Once inside the council-hut, for such it appeared to be,I found a large concourse of warriors seated, or rather squatted,around the floor. At one end of the oval space which the warriors leftdown the center of the room stood Al-tan and another warrior whom Iimmediately recognized as a Galu, and then I saw that there were manyGalus present. About the walls were a number of flaming torches stuckin holes in a clay plaster which evidently served the purpose ofpreventing the inflammable wood and grasses of which the hut wascomposed from being ignited by the flames. Lying about among thewarriors or wandering restlessly to and fro were a number of savagedogs.
The warriors eyed me curiously as I entered, especially the Galus, andthen I was conducted into the center of the group and led forwardtoward Al-tan. As I advanced I felt one of the dogs sniffing at myheels, and of a sudden a great brute leaped upon my back. As I turnedto thrust it aside before its fangs found a hold upon me, I beheld ahuge Airedale leaping frantically about me. The grinning jaws, thehalf-closed eyes, the back-laid ears spoke to me louder than might thewords of man that here was no savage enemy but a joyous friend, andthen I recognized him, and fell to one knee and put my arms about hisneck while he whined and cried with joy. It was Nobs, dear old Nobs.Bowen Tyler's Nobs, who had loved me next to his master.
"Where is the master of this dog?" I asked, turning toward Al-tan.
The chieftain inclined his head toward the Galu standing at his side."He belongs to Du-seen the Galu," he replied.
"He belongs to Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., of Santa Monica," I retorted, "andI want to know where his master is."
The Galu shrugged. "The dog is mine," he said. "He came to mecor-sva-jo, and he is unlike any dog in Caspak, being kind and docileand yet a killer when aroused. I would not part with him. I do notknow the man of whom you speak."
So this was Du-seen! This was the man from whom Ajor had fled. Iwondered if he knew that she was here. I wondered if they had sent forme because of her; but after they had commenced to question me, my mindwas relieved; they did not mention Ajor. Their interest seemedcentered upon the strange world from which I had come, my journey toCaspak and my intentions now that I had arrived. I answered themfrankly as I had nothing to conceal and assured them that my only wishwas to find my friends and return to my own country. In the GaluDu-seen and his warriors I saw something of the explanation of the term"golden race" which is applied to them, for their ornaments and weaponswere either wholly of beaten gold or heavily decorated with theprecious metal. They were a very imposing set of men--tall andstraight and handsome. About their heads were bands of gold like thatwhich Ajor wore, and from their left shoulders depended theleopard-tails of the Galus. In addition to the deer-skin tunic whichconstituted the major portion of their apparel, each carried a lightblanket of barbaric yet beautiful design--the first evidence of weavingI had seen in Caspak. Ajor had had no blanket, having lost it duringher flight from the attentions of Du-seen; nor was she so heavilyincrusted with gold as these male members of her tribe.
The audience must have lasted fully an hour when Al-tan signified thatI might return to my hut. All the time Nobs had lain quietly at myfeet; but the instant that I turned to leave, he was up and after me.Du-seen called to him; but the terrier never even so much as looked inhis direction. I had almost reached the doorway leading from thecouncil-hall when Al-tan rose and called after me. "Stop!" he shouted."Stop, stranger! The beast of Du-seen the Galu follows you."
"The dog is not Du-seen's," I replied. "He belongs to my friend, as Itold you, and he prefers to stay with me until his master is found."And I turned again to resume my way. I had taken but a few steps whenI heard a commotion behind me, and at the same moment a man leanedclose and whispered "Kazar!" close to my ear--kazar, the Caspakianequivalent of beware. It was To-mar. As he spoke, he turned quicklyaway as though loath to have others see that he knew me, and at thesame instant I wheeled to discover Du-seen striding rapidly after me.Al-tan followed him, and it was evident that both were angry.
Du-seen, a weapon half drawn, approached truculently. "The beast ismine," he reiterated. "Would you steal him?"
"He is not yours nor mine," I replied, "and I am not stealing him. Ifhe wishes to follow you, he may; I will not interfere; but if he wishesto follow me, he shall; nor shall you prevent." I turned to Al-tan."Is not that fair?" I demanded. "Let the dog choose his master."
Du-seen, without waiting for Al-tan's reply, reached for Nobs andgrasped him by the scruff of the neck. I did not interfere, for Iguessed what would happen; and it did. With a savage growl Nobs turnedlike lightning upon the Galu, wrenched loose from his hold and leapedfor his throat. The man stepped back and warded off the first attackwith a heavy blow of his fist, immediately drawing his knife with whichto meet the Airedale's return. And Nobs would have returned, allright, had not I spoken to him. In a low voice I called him to heel.For just an instant he hesitated, standing there trembling and withbared fangs, glaring at his foe; but he was well trained and had b
eenout with me quite as much as he had with Bowen--in fact, I had had mostto do with his early training; then he walked slowly and verystiff-legged to his place behind me.
Du-seen, red with rage, would have had it out with the two of us hadnot Al-tan drawn him to one side and whispered in his ear--upon which,with a grunt, the Galu walked straight back to the opposite end of thehall, while Nobs and I continued upon our way toward the hut and Ajor.As we passed out into the village plaza, I saw Chal-az--we were soclose to one another that I could have reached out and touched him--andour eyes met; but though I greeted him pleasantly and paused to speakto him, he brushed past me without a sign of recognition. I waspuzzled at his behavior, and then I recalled that To-mar, though he hadwarned me, had appeared not to wish to seem friendly with me. I couldnot understand their attitude, and was trying to puzzle out some sortof explanation, when the matter was suddenly driven from my mind by thereport of a firearm. Instantly I broke into a run, my brain in a whirlof forebodings, for the only firearms in the Kro-lu country were thoseI had left in the hut with Ajor.
That she was in danger I could not but fear, as she was now somethingof an adept in the handling of both the pistol and rifle, a fact whichlargely eliminated the chance that the shot had come from anaccidentally discharged firearm. When I left the hut, I had felt thatshe and I were safe among friends; no thought of danger was in my mind;but since my audience with Al-tan, the presence and bearing of Du-seenand the strange attitude of both To-mar and Chal-az had eachcontributed toward arousing my suspicions, and now I ran along thenarrow, winding alleys of the Kro-lu village with my heart fairly in mymouth.
I am endowed with an excellent sense of direction, which has beengreatly perfected by the years I have spent in the mountains and uponthe plains and deserts of my native state, so that it was with littleor no difficulty that I found my way back to the hut in which I hadleft Ajor. As I entered the doorway, I called her name aloud. Therewas no response. I drew a box of matches from my pocket and struck alight and as the flame flared up, a half-dozen brawny warriors leapedupon me from as many directions; but even in the brief instant that theflare lasted, I saw that Ajor was not within the hut, and that my armsand ammunition had been removed.
As the six men leaped upon me, an angry growl burst from behind them.I had forgotten Nobs. Like a demon of hate he sprang among thoseKro-lu fighting-men, tearing, rending, ripping with his long tusks andhis mighty jaws. They had me down in an instant, and it goes withoutsaying that the six of them could have kept me there had it not beenfor Nobs; but while I was struggling to throw them off, Nobs wasspringing first upon one and then upon another of them until they wereso put to it to preserve their hides and their lives from him that theycould give me only a small part of their attention. One of them wasassiduously attempting to strike me on the head with his stone hatchet;but I caught his arm and at the same time turned over upon my belly,after which it took but an instant to get my feet under me and risesuddenly.
As I did so, I kept a grip upon the man's arm, carrying it over oneshoulder. Then I leaned suddenly forward and hurled my antagonist overmy head to a hasty fall at the opposite side of the hut. In the dimlight of the interior I saw that Nobs had already accounted for one ofthe others--one who lay very quiet upon the floor--while the fourremaining upon their feet were striking at him with knives and hatchets.
Running to one side of the man I had just put out of the fighting, Iseized his hatchet and knife, and in another moment was in the thick ofthe argument. I was no match for these savage warriors with their ownweapons and would soon have gone down to ignominious defeat and deathhad it not been for Nobs, who alone was a match for the four of them.I never saw any creature so quick upon its feet as was that greatAiredale, nor such frightful ferocity as he manifested in his attacks.It was as much the latter as the former which contributed to theundoing of our enemies, who, accustomed though they were to theferocity of terrible creatures, seemed awed by the sight of thisstrange beast from another world battling at the side of his equallystrange master. Yet they were no cowards, and only by teamwork didNobs and I overcome them at last. We would rush for a man,simultaneously, and as Nobs leaped for him upon one side, I wouldstrike at his head with the stone hatchet from the other.
As the last man went down, I heard the running of many feet approachingus from the direction of the plaza. To be captured now would meandeath; yet I could not attempt to leave the village without firstascertaining the whereabouts of Ajor and releasing her if she were helda captive. That I could escape the village I was not at all sure; butof one thing I was positive; that it would do neither Ajor nor myselfany service to remain where I was and be captured; so with Nobs, bloodybut happy, following at heel, I turned down the first alley and slunkaway in the direction of the northern end of the village.
Friendless and alone, hunted through the dark labyrinths of this savagecommunity, I seldom have felt more helpless than at that moment; yetfar transcending any fear which I may have felt for my own safety wasmy concern for that of Ajor. What fate had befallen her? Where wasshe, and in whose power? That I should live to learn the answers tothese queries I doubted; but that I should face death gladly in theattempt--of that I was certain. And why? With all my concern for thewelfare of my friends who had accompanied me to Caprona, and of my bestfriend of all, Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., I never yet had experienced thealmost paralyzing fear for the safety of any other creature which nowthrew me alternately into a fever of despair and into a cold sweat ofapprehension as my mind dwelt upon the fate on one bit of half-savagefemininity of whose very existence even I had not dreamed a few shortweeks before.
What was this hold she had upon me? Was I bewitched, that my mindrefused to function sanely, and that judgment and reason were dethronedby some mad sentiment which I steadfastly refused to believe was love?I had never been in love. I was not in love now--the very thought waspreposterous. How could I, Thomas Billings, the right-hand man of thelate Bowen J. Tyler, Sr., one of America's foremost captains ofindustry and the greatest man in California, be in love with a--a--theword stuck in my throat; yet by my own American standards Ajor could benothing else; at home, for all her beauty, for all her delicatelytinted skin, little Ajor by her apparel, by the habits and customs andmanners of her people, by her life, would have been classed a squaw.Tom Billings in love with a squaw! I shuddered at the thought.
And then there came to my mind, in a sudden, brilliant flash upon thescreen of recollection the picture of Ajor as I had last seen her, andI lived again the delicious moment in which we had clung to oneanother, lips smothering lips, as I left her to go to the council hallof Al-tan; and I could have kicked myself for the snob and the cad thatmy thoughts had proven me--me, who had always prided myself that I wasneither the one nor the other!
These things ran through my mind as Nobs and I made our way through thedark village, the voices and footsteps of those who sought us still inour ears. These and many other things, nor could I escape theincontrovertible fact that the little figure round which myrecollections and my hopes entwined themselves was that ofAjor--beloved barbarian! My reveries were broken in upon by a hoarsewhisper from the black interior of a hut past which we were making ourway. My name was called in a low voice, and a man stepped out besideme as I halted with raised knife. It was Chal-az.
"Quick!" he warned. "In here! It is my hut, and they will not searchit."
I hesitated, recalled his attitude of a few minutes before; and asthough he had read my thoughts, he said quickly: "I could not speak toyou in the plaza without danger of arousing suspicions which wouldprevent me aiding you later, for word had gone out that Al-tan hadturned against you and would destroy you--this was after Du-seen theGalu arrived."
I followed him into the hut, and with Nobs at our heels we passedthrough several chambers into a remote and windowless apartment where asmall lamp sputtered in its unequal battle with the inky darkness. Ahole in the roof permitted the smoke from burning oil egress; yet th
eatmosphere was far from lucid. Here Chal-az motioned me to a seat upona furry hide spread upon the earthen floor.
"I am your friend," he said. "You saved my life; and I am no ingrateas is the batu Al-tan. I will serve you, and there are others here whowill serve you against Al-tan and this renegade Galu, Du-seen."
"But where is Ajor?" I asked, for I cared little for my own safetywhile she was in danger.
"Ajor is safe, too," he answered. "We learned the designs of Al-tanand Du-seen. The latter, learning that Ajor was here, demanded her;and Al-tan promised that he should have her; but when the warriors wentto get her To-mar went with them. Ajor tried to defend herself. Shekilled one of the warriors, and then To-mar picked her up in his armswhen the others had taken her weapons from her. He told the others tolook after the wounded man, who was really already dead, and to seizeyou upon your return, and that he, To-mar, would bear Ajor to Al-tan;but instead of bearing her to Al-tan, he took her to his own hut, whereshe now is with So-al, To-mar's she. It all happened very quickly.To-mar and I were in the council-hut when Du-seen attempted to take thedog from you. I was seeking To-mar for this work. He ran outimmediately and accompanied the warriors to your hut while I remainedto watch what went on within the council-hut and to aid you if youneeded aid. What has happened since you know."
I thanked him for his loyalty and then asked him to take me to Ajor;but he said that it could not be done, as the village streets werefilled with searchers. In fact, we could hear them passing to and froamong the huts, making inquiries, and at last Chal-az thought it bestto go to the doorway of his dwelling, which consisted of many hutsjoined together, lest they enter and search.
Chal-az was absent for a long time--several hours which seemed aneternity to me. All sounds of pursuit had long since ceased, and I wasbecoming uneasy because of his protracted absence when I heard himreturning through the other apartments of his dwelling. He wasperturbed when he entered that in which I awaited him, and I saw aworried expression upon his face.
"What is wrong?" I asked. "Have they found Ajor?"
"No," he replied; "but Ajor has gone. She learned that you had escapedthem and was told that you had left the village, believing that she hadescaped too. So-al could not detain her. She made her way out overthe top of the palisade, armed with only her knife."
"Then I must go," I said, rising. Nobs rose and shook himself. He hadbeen dead asleep when I spoke.
"Yes," agreed Chal-az, "you must go at once. It is almost dawn.Du-seen leaves at daylight to search for her." He leaned close to myear and whispered: "There are many to follow and help you. Al-tan hasagreed to aid Du-seen against the Galus of Jor; but there are many ofus who have combined to rise against Al-tan and prevent this ruthlessdesecration of the laws and customs of the Kro-lu and of Caspak. Wewill rise as Luata has ordained that we shall rise, and only thus. Nobatu may win to the estate of a Galu by treachery and force of armswhile Chal-az lives and may wield a heavy blow and a sharp spear withtrue Kro-lus at his back!"
"I hope that I may live to aid you," I replied. "If I had my weaponsand my ammunition, I could do much. Do you know where they are?" "No,"he said, "they have disappeared." And then: "Wait! You cannot goforth half armed, and garbed as you are. You are going into the Galucountry, and you must go as a Galu. Come!" And without waiting for areply, he led me into another apartment, or to be more explicit,another of the several huts which formed his cellular dwelling.
Here was a pile of skins, weapons, and ornaments. "Remove your strangeapparel," said Chal-az, "and I will fit you out as a true Galu. I haveslain several of them in the raids of my early days as a Kro-lu, andhere are their trappings."
I saw the wisdom of his suggestion, and as my clothes were by now soragged as to but half conceal my nakedness, I had no regrets in layingthem aside. Stripped to the skin, I donned the red-deerskin tunic, theleopard-tail, the golden fillet, armlets and leg-ornaments of a Galu,with the belt, scabbard and knife, the shield, spear, bow and arrow andthe long rope which I learned now for the first time is the distinctiveweapon of the Galu warrior. It is a rawhide rope, not dissimilar tothose of the Western plains and cow-camps of my youth. The honda is agolden oval and accurate weight for the throwing of the noose. Thisheavy honda, Chal-az explained, is used as a weapon, being thrown withgreat force and accuracy at an enemy and then coiled in for anothercast. In hunting and in battle, they use both the noose and the honda.If several warriors surround a single foeman or quarry, they rope itwith the noose from several sides; but a single warrior against a loneantagonist will attempt to brain his foe with the metal oval.
I could not have been more pleased with any weapon, short of a rifle,which he could have found for me, since I have been adept with the ropefrom early childhood; but I must confess that I was less favorablyinclined toward my apparel. In so far as the sensation was concerned,I might as well have been entirely naked, so short and light was thetunic. When I asked Chal-az for the Caspakian name for rope, he toldme ga, and for the first time I understood the derivation of the wordGalu, which means ropeman.
Entirely outfitted I would not have known myself, so strange was mygarb and my armament. Upon my back were slung my bow, arrows, shield,and short spear; from the center of my girdle depended my knife; at myright hip was my stone hatchet; and at my left hung the coils of mylong rope. By reaching my right hand over my left shoulder, I couldseize the spear or arrows; my left hand could find my bow over my rightshoulder, while a veritable contortionist-act was necessary to place myshield in front of me and upon my left arm. The shield, long and oval,is utilized more as back-armor than as a defense against frontalattack, for the close-set armlets of gold upon the left forearm areprincipally depended upon to ward off knife, spear, hatchet, or arrowfrom in front; but against the greater carnivora and the attacks ofseveral human antagonists, the shield is utilized to its best advantageand carried by loops upon the left arm.
Fully equipped, except for a blanket, I followed Chal-az from hisdomicile into the dark and deserted alleys of Kro-lu. Silently wecrept along, Nobs silent at heel, toward the nearest portion of thepalisade. Here Chal-az bade me farewell, telling me that he hoped tosee me soon among the Galus, as he felt that "the call soon would come"to him. I thanked him for his loyal assistance and promised thatwhether I reached the Galu country or not, I should always stand readyto repay his kindness to me, and that he could count on me in therevolution against Al-tan.