“THE LION AND THE MOUSE”
There is an ancient Cupian fable about a brink which once did a favor
for a woofus, thus so surprising the woofus that he died of the shock.
But in the present case, the brinks figured a little bit differently, as
you shall see as you read on.
To realize Cabot’s predicament, take a pair of compasses and draw five
equally spaced circles, each tangent to the next.
The center of each circle will then represent a post, and the circle
will represent the area in which the woofus, tied to that post can bite.
The small star-shaped figure, bounded by the five circles, will
represent the space in which Myles Cabot was to live during the next
twenty-four days, while King Yuri was getting Cabot’s marriage annulled
by the Assembly, and was trying to persuade Lilla to reconsider her
choice.
What irony of fate! The ground which Cabot now occupied was the
identical spot where, a little over two years ago, he had directed the
firing of the first shot for Cupian freedom. Here had been erected by
him the stadium to commemorate his victory over the Formians. And here
he now languished in his own stadium, a prisoner of those same accursed
Formians, whom he had thought he had driven from Cupia forever. What
irony of fate!
The first night of his peculiar incarceration was uneventfully spent.
Cabot switched off his headset, so as to shut out the screaming of the
purple beasts, and slept the sleep of the just. The joke was on the
king, if that august personage had thought to annoy his victim with the
noise of the woofuses.
The next morning was unusually hot. Myles awoke, stretched himself, sat
up and watched his purple jailers. The largest of them appeared to be
ill. Its eyes were running, and its head was covered with swarms of
brinks, those tiny hopping lizards which infest the concrete roads and
other flat open spaces of Poros.
Instantly Cabot’s interest turned to pity. This poor creature was, of
course, a dreaded carnivore, a man-eater, and all that; but it was in
dire trouble. Switching on his headset, he started talking to the woofus
in a soothing crooning tone.
The huge beast pricked up its antennae, then whined and rubbed its paw
across its face, to wipe off some of the crawling brinks. The other
purple saurians eyed Cabot hungrily and ferociously.
Cabot’s bowl of water from the night before was still standing at his
side. Tearing off one corner of his toga, he dipped it in the bowl, and
shook a few drops onto the head of the sick woofus. The poor beast
stiffened with surprise, then settled down again and whined a bit more
contentedly.
Creeping cautiously forward, Cabot wiped some of the brinks away with
the cool, wet rag. The whining ceased, and the woofus flattened itself
out with a sigh. It made no attempt to strike at its benefactor; and
Cabot, emboldened, drew the bowl nearer and tenderly cleaned every
filthy brink from the creature’s face.
As the washing was concluded, the woofus opened its eyes and stared
steadily at the man, yet still made no move to attack him; and Cabot
with a sudden inspiration, began to scratch the edge of the woofus’ jaw.
The beast stretched its claws with pleasure and submitted to the caress.
Thus the prisoner seemed to have made a friend where one would be least
expected. Yet, when the man moved as if to pass by his keeper, the
latter growled menacingly and started to rise; whereat Cabot beat a
hasty retreat to the center of his prison.
After a while the huge woofus settled down again. Then it whined softly.
Once more Cabot bathed its sore eyes. They were friends again.
All this time Cabot kept a careful watch for his Formian jailers, and
finally one of them arrived with breakfast, which was shoved in to him
at the end of a long pole. Plain fare, but satisfying, alta and green
milk.
Cabot asked for wash water, rags, and a clean toga. The wash water and
rags were forthcoming, but the toga was refused. Then the Formian
withdrew, and Cabot resumed the care of his patient.
Off and on throughout the day he bathed the poor creature’s eyes and
massaged its tired muscles.
Toward evening Yuri appeared, carrying a long whip, with which he
proceeded to flick the five purple guardians into a state of frenzy.
“Stand up, or I’ll flick you, too,” he called out to the captive.
“Haven’t you sufficient manners to stand in the presence of your king?”
“Yes,” Myles answered, “but, according to your own statement, I am only
a mere animal, by which token you are not _my_ king, unless you lay
claim to being king of the beasts.”
In reply, Yuri gave a few vicious swipes at Cabot’s pet woofus, which
strained at its chain with rage. The earthman went white.
“Are you doing that to frighten me, or just for the fun of it?” he asked
tensely.
“Not that it is any of your business,” answered the king, “but, as a
matter of fact, I am doing it merely because it gives me intense
pleasure to demonstrate my power over these five fierce creatures, any
one of which is a match for ten Cupians.”
“Then stop it at once,” Cabot thundered, rising to his feet, “or, by all
that is holy, I’ll risk my life to untie their chains.”
Yuri saw that Myles meant it, and so desisted, but could not resist a
parting shot: “So you did stand up for your king after all! I thought I
could get you to.”
And he strode away, laughing.
When Yuri had made his exit from the arena, Cabot walked over to his
woofus, which, with foaming mouth and staring eyes, was still straining
at its leash. Myles patted him on the back. It was the supreme test. The
woofus ceased his straining and rubbed against the man’s side. So they
were still friends, and here was a friendship which would last.
Night came, and no guards entered the dimly lighted stadium. Cabot’s
huge pet slept with its head contentedly in his lap like a St. Bernard
dog. As the earthman stroked the sleek purple hide, he suddenly had an
idea, and immediately put it into execution. He unstrapped and removed
the collar from the neck of the beast.
“You are free, my friend,” said he, “and if you take your freedom, it
will leave me free too.”
At his words, the woofus stirred, stood erect, shook itself, and then
bounded off silently into the darkness. And the captive, now a captive
no longer, followed through the gap which the woofus had left vacant. In
a few strides, he reached the parapet which divided the tiers of seats
from the sands, and was just about to leap up and grasp its edge, when a
swift rushing form collided with him and sent him sprawling. Then great
webbed paws were planted on his chest, and he saw the horrid face of a
woofus leering down at him out of the half-darkness.
Nearer and nearer came the dripping jaws to his face,
until—finally—the creature lapped his cheek. It was his own woofus,
come back for him.
And thereupon Cabot abruptly changed his plans.
All through that warm tropical night, Cabot, the earthman, and this huge
purple saurian of the planet Venus, ranged the Kuana stadium together,
alone and in silence.
Myles started teaching the beast to heel, to lie down, and to attack, at
his command. And, as the first touch of pink diffused the eastern sky,
the two returned to the charmed circle together, the collar was snapped
again in its proper place, and Cabot switched off his headset and lay
down in the center for a sleep.
* * * * *
Night after night this performance was repeated, until the woofus was as
letter-perfect as any dog ever trained. Then Myles started to teach the
woofus to hate the other four, above which it towered now that it had
regained its health. In fact he had never seen a larger or a more
perfect specimen.
Meanwhile Cabot’s hair and beard grew long and unkempt, and his toga
became indescribably filthy. And every day came Yuri to gloat over him.
But never again did he bring his whip, and the purple beasts, although
they glared at him with the eyes of rage, did nothing further to
evidence their intense hatred of him.
One day Yuri brought Lilla. Her compassion at her husband’s appearance
was pitiful, but what could she do?
“My poor, poor dear, how are you?” she cried.
“Fine,” Myles replied. “Never felt better in my life. Please don’t worry
about me, dear. I know I look horribly, but I feel perfectly fit, and
with a few more days of rest and wholesome food, I shall be able to
wring the necks of at least four out of these five woofuses.”
“Good!” Yuri exclaimed, clapping his hands. “Then we shall have capital
fun, for I plan to have you fight all five of them in the arena day
after to-morrow, for the delectation of our sport-loving people. The two
sangths will then be up, and the princess has not relented.”
“But please, Yuri, do me one little favor,” begged Lilla. “Please let
Myles shave, and give him a clean toga for the occasion.”
Cabot smiled. How feminine of her! If her husband had to be a corpse,
she at least wished him to be a presentable one.
But Yuri was obdurate. “I am sorry not to be able to do as you wish, but
I can think of no better way to impress upon my deluded people the fact
that this Minorian is after all merely a lower animal than to let them
see him in his present filthy condition.”
“Grant me this one favor,” again urged Lilla, “and I will try to be a
docile slave.”
“You had better be,” Yuri sneered, “favor or no favor. Else will I throw
you to the Royal Husbands of Queen Formis when I have done with you. I
have spoken.”
Lilla winced. Cabot noted it, and stiffened.
“Sic ’em,” said he, under his breath.
There came a flash of purple and the clink of a taut chain, then a thud,
as the largest woofus dropped to the ground with its neck nearly broken.
Yuri and Lilla staggered backward affrighted.
“I am content,” Myles said to himself. And that night he drilled his pet
as never before.
The next day was uneventful. Yuri did not appear, but along toward
evening, Formian guards came with poles, and led the five purple beasts
away to cells under the stadium. The earthman was similarly confined.
It was filthy, and hot, and circus-smelling in his cell, and accordingly
he spent a bad night; but when morning came, he felt unusually well,
buoyed up by the excitement of the occasion. Shortly after breakfast, he
heard the crowd tramping over his head, as they began to fill the
stadium.
He knew that his army undoubtedly had word of the “games” by means of
the black-light signal-telescopes of Toron, and he knew that they would
make every effort to reach the city in time to rescue him. But he was
not counting on their aid. He hoped, in fact, to have the tables
effectually turned on Yuri, long before their arrival.
Thus he mused, until finally he was led out onto the sands. The seats
were nearly filled. All the standing-space was crowded with black
Formians. The royal box was occupied by Lilla, Yuri and Queen Formis,
surrounded by a bodyguard of ants.
Cabot walked over the edge of the arena nearest the box and waved to
Lilla. At this a sporadic cheer arose, which the king suppressed with an
angry gesture. But there remained a tenseness in the air as though there
were many others present who would like to cheer, but dared not.
Yuri was plainly annoyed, for it was evident that his victim, wretched
and bearded though he was, had quite a following in the audience.
Cabot waved again to Lilla.
“Be of good cheer, my princess,” he called up to her. “My enemies have
had me nearer to death than this before. But ‘they cannot kill a
Minorian.’”
His supreme confidence reassured Lilla somewhat, and for a moment even
Yuri’s brow darkened with uncertainty. But then the king smiled
quizzically, as one who knows a very amusing secret.
At last the stands were full. Yuri arose, and spoke into the self-same
broadcaster which the present victim, before his downfall, had rigged up
for the use of the venerable King Kew.
“People of Cupia,” he declaimed, “behold Cabot the Minorian, the beast
from another world. Long has he deceived you by disguising himself as a
Cupian being; but now he stands before you in his true nature;
hairy-faced, long-locked, filthy and bestial. It is he who brought war
upon this peaceful planet. For that crime he is to die, to be torn to
pieces by other creatures no lower than he. And, with his well-deserved
death, peace and tranquillity will return upon Poros. Let his punishment
be a lesson to those misguided Cupians to whom he taught the art of war.
I have spoken.”
A tense silence met the king’s words. He paused a moment, expectantly
awaiting the cheer that never came, then frowned and raised his hand as
a signal. The iron gates at one end of the arena were pulled aside, and
out trotted one woofus, then another, and another, and another.
Cabot strained his eyes for the appearance of the fifth woofus, _his_
woofus, but it was nowhere to be seen. The iron gates swung shut; and
the four beasts, each a match for ten Cupians, trotted out to do him
battle.
Upon entering the arena, each woofus blinked its eyes for a few
paraparths until it became accustomed to the glare; then stretched
itself, and began to sniff and stare around and agitate its antennae.
Finally one of them noticed their prospective victim and called to the
others. They pricked up their antennae, and gazed in Myles’ direction.
Then all four started a stealthy catlike crawl toward him.
Where was his own trained woofus?