_Question Upon Question_
John Pride opened his eyes as a moan escaped his lips. The haze
cleared and he found himself lying upon a cool stone floor looking up
into the concerned face of the younger man. "What happened?" John
Pride asked feebly. He tried to refocus.
"I don't know except that the heat of that fire was upon us with such
swiftness that we were almost incapacitated. I picked you up and
started walking. Fortunately I moved in the direction of the door.
Otherwise we would have been doomed."
"I am in your debt."
"No more so than I in yours."
"Did you extinguish the fire?"
"It burned out of its own accord. But only after the cave was
completely gutted. There is nothing left in there but the bare rock
walls."
John Pride sat up with quick concern. "The book!"
"It is gone." The young man looked ruefully down at his own naked
body. "Gone--together with my precious robe."
"That can easily be replaced along with other raiment but the book--I
was supposed to deliver it--"
"--to the cavern. You did that, my friend. It was not through you that
the fire consumed it. You have dispatched your obligation. Let your
mind be at ease."
John Pride got to his feet. He shook his head in the negative. "No. A
portion of my obligation still exists. Fortunately I did not bring
forth the second and last item I was to place in the cavern."
"The second item?"
"Yes, and I believe the most important."
* * * * *
With that, Pride took from his pocket a small box wrapped in heavy
material and sealed and resealed with a sort of rubberized wax.
"This," he said. "I know not what is in the box nor I think, did my
father, my grandfather, nor my great grandfather before me. We have
been given to understand that its delivery to the cavern was the most
important single duty of the trust. So I now place it in your hands,
praying that this act fulfills the long-standing obligation of my
family."
The younger man had salvaged a portion of his robe, a length of
material that went over his shoulders and draped skimpily down the
sides of his body. This did nothing whatever in the way of covering
his nudity but rather accentuated and added to it.
He took the box and was scanning it with great interest when the
excitement and strenuous action of the preceding few minutes again
took grip upon John Pride's comparatively less rugged physique.
His eyes closed and he began sinking again to the floor whereupon the
younger man slipped the box hastily in the pocket that had not burned
away from his robe and caught John Pride in his arms.
He lifted the elder man and carried him up from the mansion caverns
and into the great hall that swept forward to the main entrance. As he
walked, bearing the heavy burden as though it were but a mere feather,
he was of two minds.
One mind entertained concern for his new-found friend and the other
was occupied with interest in these new and strange surroundings.
Dawn had broken over the forest and in a brooding light within the
great hall, he saw the withered body of the dead man on the floor. He
paused for a moment and then went out across the flagstone porch and
into the open air.
He marveled at the green expanse of forest that reared in majesty
about him. He drew in deep gusts of the cool air and found it good. He
smiled.
Then John Pride stirred in his arms and showed signs of returning
consciousness. The young man laid the financier on the soft grass and
watched until his eyes opened.
"Are you feeling better? Is there anything I can do?"
John Pride smiled feebly as he raised himself with the younger man's
aid. "I'm afraid this has been more strenuous than I bargained for. If
I'd known what would transpire I would have kept myself in better
condition."
"But you feel better now?"
"Yes. If you will be so good as to help me to my car, I'll be all
right."
"Certainly. Your car--?"
"A means of conveyance that will take me back to the city. It stands
but a few yards down the road beyond the gate."
A short time later, the two men stood at the place that was to be the
parting of their ways. Both sensed this and Pride held out his hand.
The younger man grasped it firmly.
"Godspeed to you, my friend," John Pride said. "I fear I can help you
no further but if there is ever a time when my services are needed, I
will be waiting for your command."
"Thank you. Whatever befalls me I will always remember you as the
first friend I ever set eyes upon in this world."
With that, John Pride turned his car and drove off down the winding
road. As he left, the younger man realized the older man had said
nothing of the dead ancient in the great hall but realized it was
because of the strain Pride had suffered. The man was still somewhat
dazed from the shock of the fire.
* * * * *
He turned and walked slowly back toward the mansion until he stood
again in the great front yard. There he stopped and stood looking up
at the sun as it topped the hill east of the mansion.
"Who am I?" he asked himself. "Why was I given knowledge but not all
the knowledge necessary to intelligently pursue my destiny? In my
heart there is a certainty that I am an educated man. I am aware of
the fact that there are different groups of people who speak different
languages and I know I will be able to converse with any I meet.
"I know that there are planets and stars and moons and I know what is
to be known of the universe. But where is the exact personal knowledge
that would help me in my dealings with the future? Why was I left here
carefully tended and provided for these hundred years only to be
hurled suddenly upon my own?"
He walked slowly into the great hall and knelt beside the still figure
on the floor. A feeling of compassion stirred him but there was no
warmth of recognition, no personal sorrow as a result of the ancient's
death.
"Have I ever seen you before?" he asked softly. "Were you--Portox?"
The dead one did not answer and the young man lifted him and took him
from the hall and buried him. He could find no tools to dig the soil
but located a hole that had once been a shallow well. He dropped the
body therein and followed it with stones until the hole was filled. He
did this with no sense of callousness but rather with an impersonal
reverence he instinctively felt but could not analyze.
[Illustration: The cryptic verse had become a visual symbol in Bram's
mind.]
Returning slowly to the front yard, he pondered the dimension of
time. How, he wondered, could John Pride's line have gone through
three sires to John Pride, the last of the males, while he himself lay
for one hundred years to emerge in his obvious prime? Or perhaps even
on the near side of his prime.
* * * * *
He pondered this and other points until his mind grew weary from
unanswered questions and turned to things of the moment.
"I know not what my destiny is but at least I am able to have a name.
What shall it be?"
He remembered the one Portox had used--C. D. Bram. "Bram," he said.
"That I like." But the C. D. meant nothing to him and Bram seemed
somehow incomplete.
"John Price had a name of two parts," he said, "so why should I not
have the same?"
He looked about him and a breeze in the green branches above seemed to
whisper the answer. He heard and considered, then smiled to himself,
raised his voice.
"I christen myself Bram Forest, to be known from this moment on by
that name."
Suddenly his smile deepened, then laughter welled from his great
chest; a laughter arising from the sheer joy of this new thing called
living into which he had stepped.
Now he stretched his arms over his head, palms upward as though
supplicating to some far-off deity. He leaped high in the air testing
his muscles and finding them good.
Then he was running, naked and golden off across the open hill. He ran
until his huge chest pounded with delicious pain as his lungs labored
for air. Finally he dropped to the ground and lay spread-eagled
looking up at the sky.
He laughed long and joyously.
He lay for a long time thus, then suddenly remembered the box John
Pride had given him. But the scanty garment had dropped from his
shoulders so he sprang to his feet and ran back until he discovered
it.
The box was still there. He examined it curiously turning it over and
over in his hands. The seal was stubborn but it finally gave and he
peeled off the heavy wrapping. A small white box came to light.
This he opened to stand frowning at what it contained. An odd
instrument of some sort--a flat disc about two inches in diameter and
possibly a quarter of an inch thick. Both faces were of shining,
crystalline metal reflecting back anything that was imaged upon them.
Two short metal straps appended from opposite sides of the queer
instrument, one of which held a buckle at its end. He held the shining
disc to his ear but there was no sound that he could detect.
Frustrated he looked again into the box. It appeared to be empty. But
no. As he was about to fling it away, he noted that what appeared to
be its inner bottom was in reality a second flat package that fitted
perfectly into the receptacle. He shook it free and found it to be
merely a flat rectangle wrapped tightly in white paper.
* * * * *
He was about to rip the paper with his thumbnail when his attention
switched suddenly to the shining disc. He had envisioned a use for it;
or at least a place for which it seemed constructed.
He tested his theory and found the straps fit snugly and perfectly
around his wrist. He pondered which wrist to place it on and decided
the right one would be appropriate. Quickly, he snapped the buckle
into its hasp and then held forth his arm to admire the brightness of
the queer device.
If he had expected anything to happen, he was disappointed and he
stood there wondering what use was to be found from such a seemingly
useless device.
After a while he unbuckled the disc and moved it to his left wrist.
Perhaps it would look better there. Again he raised his arm to admire
it and had stood thus for some moments when he became conscious of an
odd sickness in the pit of his stomach.
He did not associate this with the disc at all and immediately forgot
the thing, giving his whole attention to the uncomfortable feeling
that had come upon him.
The sickness increased in intensity and he bent down, doubling over
his abdomen as the nausea became a pain. As he sank to his knees, he
noted the disc had changed, had taken on an odd, transparent glow.
There had to be a connection between his illness and the abominable
device and he clawed at the buckle, seeking to loosen it and hurl the
thing away.
But there was no time. The pain sharpened and a black cloud dimmed his
sight. He clawed feebly at the buckle and then his numbed fingers
weakened, fell away from it.
The darkness increased and seemed to lift him from the ground upon
which he lay. It clawed at his throat, entered his nostrils like a
malignant force.
As his consciousness faded a single thought was in his mind: _Born but
to live a few brief moments and die again. What sense is there to such
a farce as this? Born--but--to die--again. Portox! Help me! It can't
be--There must be some help!_