_Ru the Eagle-Hearted_
Ru's ascension to leadership was followed by six or eight days of
intensive activity, during which the cave buzzed with excitement.
First of all, Ru solved the food problem by showing the people the
secluded cave entrance which he had found; and through this, unobserved
by the beast-men, they passed daily into the woods, returning always
with roots and nuts enough to ward off immediate starvation. Meanwhile
Ru labored assiduously at the construction of bows and arrows, which he
made in an isolated little nook of the cavern, while Yonyo kept watch
to see that no tribesman approached. And several hours each day he
devoted to training the chosen ten in the use of the "wonder stick."
He found not only that he had eager and imitative and hence capable
pupils, but that his own skill vastly improved with practice, so that
he was soon able to direct an arrow with accuracy to almost any desired
spot. This art his followers, likewise, were not slow in acquiring, and
he knew that the time for the encounter with the beast-men could not be
far off.
The interval between the burial of Grumgra and the battle of the
"wonder stick" was marked by two important events. To begin with, there
was the disappearance of Wuff. The young wolf, who had been growing
manifestly restive of late and at times distinctly ill-tempered even
toward his master, at last found the summons of his kind to be stronger
than the appeal of human companionship. Standing with Ru one evening
near the rear cave entrance, he started forward with sudden alertness
and with wildly gleaming eyes as a long-drawn, doleful call sounded
from far away out of the twilight. The next moment he had answered that
call in high-pitched notes of his own--and then suddenly he vanished.
Ru waited for a while, whistling softly to the animal, but Wuff did not
come back; nor did he come back on the next day, nor on the day that
followed. And Ru sighed regretfully, and realized that he had lost a
friend.
The second event was of a more personal nature. It concerned his
courtship of Yonyo--and its successful culmination. Standing proudly
before the tribe in Grumgra's old place beside the fire, he announced
one evening: "Yonyo the Smiling-Eyed is my woman. Is it not so, Yonyo?"
Yonyo came sedately forward, and admitted that it was so--and there was
no one who had anything more to say, although Woonoo the Hot-Blooded
and Kuff the Bear-Hunter did scowl furiously and mutter angrily under
their breath. Ru, however, did not heed them, but proceeded forthwith
to perform a little ceremony which the tradition of the tribe made
necessary. Taking a sharp bit of flint, he cut a sudden gash in Yonyo's
left arm; then, while the blood gushed forth and she bit her lip to
keep back a groan, he made a similar wound in his own arm, muttered a
prayer to the god of the cave, and let a drop of his blood flow into
the released blood of Yonyo and mingle with it. And thus was their
marriage solemnized.
Then, with Yonyo's hand tucked in one of his hands and his club gripped
in the other, he led his bride away with him into their secret nook
among the shadows.
After they had disappeared, an excited chattering burst forth among the
tribespeople, for never had so quiet a wedding been known before. The
older and more experienced folk predicted that not many days would pass
before Ru would be beating Yonyo with his club and taking another woman.
But soon they forgot all about Ru's marriage in contemplation of a more
momentous event.
Curious throngs would gather daily to watch their chieftain and his
chosen ten at practice with the "wonder stick"--and an atmosphere of
dread anticipation filled the cavern, gradually rising to a pitch
of apprehension that compelled prayers from the lips of the more
fearful-minded and put the others in a constant state of shuddering
excitement. For the people realized that the "wonder stick" was to be
the ultimate test not only of Ru's power but of the tribe's chances for
very life.
Ru himself understood this fact not less clearly than any of the
others. He knew that the failure or success of the weapon would decide
his own future and that of his people; and he looked forward to the
approaching conflict with something of the sensations of a general who
knows that a single defeat will mean disaster, a single victory win him
an eternal crown.
Recognizing how much was at stake, he planned his campaign with the
most careful forethought. When at length the chosen day arrived, he
led his ten followers down the cliff in the early dawn, when the
first tinge of gray was barely beginning to touch the cliffs. All had
been carefully trained in the use of the "wonder stick"; and each
man carried one of the weapons and eight or ten flint-tipped arrows.
Confidently they stole from the cave, while the other men stood by in a
glowering silence and the women poured forth encouragement, advice, and
tears; stealthily and without a sound, each a shadow against the dark
rocks, they made their precarious way along the ledges and to the base
of the precipice.
Having reached the floor of the cañon, they crept forward a few dozen
yards with Ru at their head; then, following orders which had been
drilled into their heads beforehand, each concealed himself behind a
boulder. And, until the daylight shone full upon them, not a sound nor
a motion came from any of that watching band.
The beast-men meanwhile were unaware of their presence. The invaders
could see the hideous black forms swarming about the brink of the
river, could see them dipping into the water with hoarse gibbering
and hissing laughter; they could watch some sucking in long thirsty
draughts, some chewing greedily at great bones, some casting logs into
the blazing fire, and some snarling and quarreling like embattled dogs.
Suddenly, leaping up from behind his rock with waving arms, Ru let
forth a shrill and blood-curdling scream, the battle-cry of his
tribe--"Oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow!" And at the same time his followers darted
into the open, brandishing their bows high in air and joining in Ru's
ferocious howl. And the watchers on the cliff above took up the call,
so that it seemed like the roaring of a multitude.
The beast-men, startled, ceased their screeching and jabbering, and
stared as if thunderstruck at their unexpected foes. For a moment they
seemed unable to utter a sound; then confused low cries of surprise and
fear broke from their lips.
Headed by Ru, the assailants were meanwhile striding forward. And
the hairy, growling throng, unorganized and terror-smitten, appeared
uncertain whether to charge and overwhelm the intruders or dash for
safety to the woods.
But when Ru and his followers were within a hundred yards of the
nearest beast-man, a tall befeathered individual stalked forth from the
crowd, beating his chest and growling pugnaciously. In his enormous
right hand was a club nearly as tall as himself; above his thick
eyebrow ridge was a ghastly painted streak of red; his teeth, chiseled
to a point and stained black, gaped like the fangs of some gruesome
monster. At his side, encouraged by his boldness, shambled a dozen of
his fellows, their forms gigantic and stooping, their evil little eyes
staring out from thickets of black hair. All snarled and angrily swung
their clubs, while behind them their people pressed, gibbering at a
distance, as if expecting Ru's tiny band to turn and flee.
But they did not turn and flee. Some, indeed, did tremble and draw back
a pace; but there came the reassuring, commanding voice of Ru: "Now,
now is the time!" And instead of taking flight, they hastily adjusted
the arrows to their bows.
Still the feathered one stalked onward, side by side with his mighty
companions. The space between them and Ru had been cut in half; in
another instant the invaders would feel the touch of their clubs.
"Now, now is the time!" repeated Ru. And the bows were drawn back by
powerful hands, then furiously recoiled. There came a sudden whizzing
sound--and an amazing thing befell.
Howling with agony, two of the beast-men stopped short, clutched at
long sticks protruding from their chests, staggered, and fell to earth
while the blood spouted from new-made wounds.
Their fellows, startled and aghast, halted and turned with bewildered
cries to the smitten ones. But even while they gaped and hesitated,
there came another whizzing sound, and one of the men screamed, dropped
his club, and wildly clutched a crimson wrist; while another, reeling
as the blood burst from the split arteries of his neck, gave out a
series of horrible gasps and gurgles, and toppled helplessly to earth.
Again came the battle-cry of the Umbaddu--"Oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow!"--taken
up by the watchers on the cliff, and repeated in a long-drawn, furious
chorus.
And while the uninjured beast-men, rooted to the spot by terror, gaped
stupidly at their foes, they heard once more that mysterious whizzing
sound--and still another of their number shrieked with pain, and fell
to earth with a long reddened stick protruding from between his ribs.
And this time the stricken one was the feathered giant!
A low moan of horror and dismay sounded from the watching ranks of
beast-men. And rising to a deep-toned dreary monody, it seemed like the
mourning of a multitude.
Simultaneously, louder and more insistent than before, there rang forth
that terrorizing battle-cry, "Oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow!"
Then came another ominous whizzing, and another beast-man fell with a
scream. And brandishing his bow high above his head, Ru started forward
with a great leap; while after him dashed his followers in a yelling
band.
The beast-men screeched with terror. Those nearest the charging squad
dropped their clubs, wheeled about, and dashed pell-mell toward their
frightened fellows.
It was as though they had touched a spark to dry straw. The flight
turned into a panic; in all directions the beast-men began to scamper,
howling and bellowing with fear, tumbling over one another in mad haste
to escape, scattering and running like stampeding sheep. Into the
concealment of the woods they vanished, men, women, and children in an
insane mob, until in a moment the last of them had been lost to view.
And Ru, following with hoots and screams of triumph, knew that the
battle had been won. The beast-men would not return; the "wonder stick"
had made the new cave secure for his people....
High above him, from the throng on the cliff, there still sounded that
tremulous, victorious chorus, "Oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow,
oo-ow...."
CONCLUSION
For many generations the legends of the Umbaddu told of the deeds of Ru
the Eagle-Hearted. From father to son, and from father to son, and then
again from father to son, passed the stories of the great chieftain
who had brought his tribe to the warm lands and the cave above the
river, and who had driven out the beast-men and given his people the
"wonder stick." It was known how he had twice died and come back to the
world; how he had made friends of the wind-spirit and the spirit of
the waters; how he had tamed even the wild creatures, so that a great
wolf, whom none other dare approach, would come out of the woods to
lick his hands. And it was said that he had led his tribe through many
bold hunts and many brave wars; and that always at his side walked his
woman, Yonyo the Smiling-Eyed.
Mothers, whispering by the light of the cave fire when winter nights
were long, would counsel their half-grown lads to try to be like Ru;
fathers would murmur how tall he was of limb, how firm of arm, how
noted for his courage from his childhood days.... Thus the years and
the centuries went by, while the Umbaddu tribe throve and multiplied,
and sent out its children to occupy caves near at hand and then caves
many days' travel away.... And as the waves of migration spread, and
the people wandered into strange hills and woods, and sowed the seeds
of that which was one day to transform the world, they bore with them
always one prized and reverenced name, the name of him who was not as
other men but was kin to the spirits of the air and the fire--the name
of Ru the Eagle-Hearted.
THE END