It is significant that Billie, because of her connection with the
bee, Supreme, was spared the sight that the doctor saw from Rolla's
point of view. Otherwise, the geologist's wife might have had a
different opinion of the matter. As it was--
"Corrus and Dulnop," said she as cooly as Supreme herself might have
spoken, "are not the first to suffer because they have discovered
something big."
Whereupon her husband's wrath got beyond his grip. "Not the first!
Is that all you can say?" he demanded hotly. "Why, of all the
damnably cruel, cold-blooded creatures I ever heard of, those
infernal bees--"
Van Emmon stopped, unable to go on without blasphemy.
The doctor had got over the horror of what he had seen. "We want to
be fair, Van. Look at this matter from the bees' view-point for
awhile. What were they to do? They had to make sure, as far as
possible, that their supremacy would never be threatened again.
Didn't they?"
"Oh, but--damn it all!" cried Van Emmon. "There's a limit somewhere!
Such cruelty as that--no one could conceive of it!"
"As for the bees," flared Billie, "I don't blame 'em! And unless I'm
very much mistaken, the ruling class anywhere, here on the earth or
wherever you investigate, will go the limit to hold the reins, once
they get them!"
The expression on Van Emmon's face was curious to see. There was no
fear there, only a puzzled astonishment. Strange as it may seem,
Billie had told him something that had never occurred to him before.
And he recognized it as truth, as soon as she had said it.
"Just a minute," remarked Smith in his ordinary voice; "just a
minute. You're forgetting that we don't really know whether Rolla
and Cunora are safe. Everything depends upon them now, you know."
In silence the four went back into telepathic connection. Now, of
course, Smith and Van Emmon were practically without agents. The
prisoners could tell them nothing whatever except the tale of
increasing agony as their torture went on. All that Van Emmon and
Smith could do was lend the aid of their mentality to the efforts of
the other two, and for a while had to be content with what Billie,
through Supreme, and the doctor, through Rolla, were able to learn.
However, Kinney did suggest that one of the other two men get in
touch with Cunora.
"Good idea," said Smith. "Go to it, Van Emmon."
The geologist stirred uneasily, and avoided his wife's eyes. "I--I'm
afraid not, Smith. Rather think I'd prefer to rest a while. You do
it!"
Smith laughed and reddened. "Nothing doing for an old bach like me.
Cunora might--well, you know--go in bathing, for instance. It's all
right for the doctor, of course; but--let me out!"
Meanwhile the two women on Sanus, taking the utmost care, managed to
retreat from the river bank without being discovered. Keeping their
eyes very wide open and their ears strained for the slightest buzz,
the two contrived to pass through the village, out into the fields,
and thence, from cover to cover, into the foothills on that side of
the valley where their lovers had found the pyrites.
"If only we knew which stream they ascended!" lamented Cunora, as
they stood in indecision before a fork in the river.
"But we don't!" Rolla pointed out philosophically. "We must trust to
luck and Mownoth, ye and I."
And despite all the effort the doctor could put forth to the
contrary, the two women picked out the wrong branch. They searched
as diligently as two people possibly could; but somehow the doctor
knew, just because of the wrong choice that had been made, that
their search would be unsuccessful. He thought the matter over for a
few moments, and finally admitted to his three friends:
"I wonder if I haven't been a little silly? Why should I have been
so precious specific in impressing Rolla about the pyrites? Pshaw!
Almost any hard rock will strike sparks from flint!"
"Why, of course!" exploded Van Emmon. "Here--let's get busy and tell
Rolla!"
But it proved astonishingly difficult. The two women were in an
extraordinary condition now. They were continually on the alert. In
fact, the word "alert" scarcely described the state of mind, the
keen, desperate watchfulness which filled every one of their waking
hours, and caused each to remain awake as long as possible; so that
they invariably fell to sleep without warning. They could not be
caught in the drowsy state!
For they knew something about the bees which the four on the earth
did not learn until Billie had overheard Supreme giving some orders.
"Set a guard on that river bank," she told her subordinate, "and
maintain it night and day. If any inferior attempts to recover the
magic stone, deal with him or her in the same manner in which we
punished the finders of the deadly flower."
"It shall be done, Supreme. Is there anything further?"
"Yes. Make quite sure that none of the inferiors are missing."
Shortly afterward the lieutenant reported that one of the huts was
empty.
"Rolla, the soil-tester, and Cunora, the vineyardist, are gone."
"Seek them!" Supreme almost became excited. "They are the lovers of
the men we punished! They would not absent themselves unless they
knew something! Find them, and torture them into revealing the
secret! We must weed out this flowing blossom forever!"
"It shall be done!"
Such methods were well known to Rolla and Cunora. Had not their
fellow villagers, many of them, tried time after time to escape from
bondage? And had they not inevitably been apprehended and driven
back, to be tortured as an example to the rest? It would never do to
be caught!
So they made it a practice to travel only during twilight and dawn,
remaining hidden through the day. Invariably one stood watch while
the other slept. The bees were--everywhere!
Upon crossing the range of mountains going down the other side,
Cunora and Rolla began to feel hopeful of two things--first, that
their luck would change, and the wonderful stone be found; and
second, that they would be in no danger from the bees in this new
country, which seemed to be a valley much like the one they had
quit. It was all quite new and strange to them, and in their
interest they almost forgot at times that each had a terrible score
to settle when her chance finally came.
Twice they had exceedingly narrow escapes. Always they kept
carefully hid, but on the third day Cunora, advancing cautiously
through some brush, came suddenly upon two bees feeding. She stopped
short and held her breath. Neither saw her, so intent were they upon
their honey; yet Cunora felt certain that each had been warned to
watch out for her. This was true; Billie learned that every bee on
the planet had been told. And so Cunora silently backed away, an
inch at a time, until it was safe to turn and run.
On another occasion Rolla surprised a big drone bee, just as she
bent to take a drink of water from a stream. The insect had been out
of her sight, on the other side of a boulder. It rose with an angry
buzz as she bent down; a few feet away from her it hung in the air,
apparently scrutinizing her to make sure that she was one of the
runaways. Her heart leaped to her mouth. Suppose they were reported!
She made a lightninglike grab at the thing, and very nearly caught
it. Straight up it shot, taken by surprise, and dashed blindly into
a ledge of rock which hung overhead. For a second it floundered,
dazed; and that second was its last. Cunora gave a single bound
forward, and with a vicious swing of a palm-leaf, which she always
carried, smashed the bee flat.
Before they had been free five days they came to an exceedingly
serious conclusion: that it was only a question of time until they
were caught. Sooner or later they must be forced to return; they
could not hope to dodge bees much longer. When Rolla fully realized
this she turned gravely to the younger girl.
"Methinks the time has come for us to make a choice, Cunora. Which
shall it be: live as we have been living for the past four days,
with the certainty of being caught in time or--face the unknown
perils on the edge of the world?"
Cunora dropped the piece of stone she had been inspecting and
shivered with fear. "A dreadful choice ye offer, Rolla! Think of the
horrible beasts we must encounter!"
"Ye mean"--corrected the philosophical one--"ye mean, the beasts
which men SAY they have seen. Tell me; hast ever seen such thyself?
Many times hast thou been near the edge, I know."
The girl shook her head. "Nay; not I. Yet these beasts must be,
Rolla; else why should all men tell of them?"
"I note," remarked Rolla thoughtfully, "that each man tells of
seeing a different sort of beast. Perchance they were all but lies."
However, it was Cunora's fear of capture, rather than her faith in
Rolla's reasoning, which drove the girl to the north. For to the
north they traveled, a matter of some two weeks; and not once did
they dare relax their vigilance. Wherever they went, there was
vegetation of some sort, and wherever there was vegetation bees were
likely to be found. By the time the two weeks were over, the women
were in a state of near-hysteria, from the nervous strain of it all.
Moreover, both suffered keenly for want of cereals, to which they
were accustomed; they were heartily tired of such fruits and nuts as
they were able to pick up without exposing themselves.
One morning before daybreak they came to the upper end of a long,
narrow valley--one which paralleled their own, by the way--and as
they emerged from the plain into the foothills it was clear that
they had reached a new type of country. There was comparatively
little brush; and with every step the rockiness increased. By dawn
they were on the edge of a plateau; back of them stretched the
inhabited country; ahead, a haze-covered expanse. Nothing but rocks
was about them.
"Ye are sure that we had best keep on?" asked Cunora uneasily.
Rolla nodded, slowly but positively. "It is best. Back of us lies
certain capture. Ahead--we know not what; but at least there is a
chance!"
Nevertheless, both hesitated before starting over the plateau. Each
gazed back longingly over the home of their kind; and for a moment
Holla's resolution plainly faltered. She hesitated; Cunora made a
move as though to return. And at that instant their problem was
decided for them.
A large drone passed within six feet of them. Both heard the buzz,
and whirled about to see the bee darting frantically out of reach.
At a safe distance it paused, as though to make sure of its find,
then disappeared down the valley. They had been located!
"We have no choice now!" cried Rolla, speaking above a whisper for
the first time in weeks. "On, as fast as ye can, Cunora!"
The two sped over the rocks, making pretty good time considering the
loads they carried. Each had a good-sized goatskin full of various
dried fruits and nuts, also a gourd not so full. In fact, it had
been some while since they had had fresh water. Cunora was further
weighed down by some six pounds of dried rabbit meat; the animals
had been caught in snares. Both, however, discarded their palm
leaves; they would be of no further use now.
And thus they fled, knowing that they had, at most, less than a day
before the drone would return with enough soldiers to compel
obedience. For the most part, the surface was rough granite, with
very little sign of erosion. There was almost no water; both women
showed intense joy when they found a tiny pool of it standing in a
crevasse. They filled their gourds as well as their stomachs.
A few steps farther on, and the pair stepped out of the shallow
gully in which they had been walking. Immediately they were exposed
to a very strong and exceedingly cold wind, such as seemed to
surprise them in no way, but compelled both to actually lean against
its force. Moreover, although this pressure was all from the left,
it proved exceedingly difficult to go on. Their legs seemed made of
lead, and their breathing was strangely labored. This, also,
appeared to be just what they had expected.
Presently, however, they found another slight depression in the
rocks; and sheltered from the wind, made a little better progress
ahead. It was bitter cold, however; only the violence of their
exercise could make them warm enough to stand it. All in all, the
two were considerably over three hours in making the last mile; they
had to stop frequently to rest. The only compensating thing was
their freedom from worry; the bees would not bother them where the
wind was so strong. So long as they could keep on the move they were
safe.
But what made it worse was the steadily increasing difficulty of
moving their legs. For, although the surface continued level, they
seemed to be CLIMBING now, where before they had simply walked. It
was just as though the plateau had changed into a mountain, and they
were ascending it; only, upon looking back, nothing but
comparatively flat rock met the gaze. What made them lean forward so
steeply anyhow?
Rolla seemed to think it all very ordinary. She was more concerned
about the wind, to which they had become once more exposed as they
reached the end of the rift. On they pressed, five or six steps at
each attempt, stopping to rest twice the length of time they
actually traveled. It was necessary now to cling to the rock with
both hands, and once Cunora lost her grip, so that she would have
been blown to one side, or else have slipped backward, had not Rolla
grasped her heel and held her until she could get another hand-hold.
"Courage!" gasped Rolla. Perspiration was streaming down her face,
despite the bitter cold of the wind; her hands trembled from the
strain she was undergoing. "Courage, Cunora! It be not much
farther!"
On they strove. Always it seemed as though they were working upward
as well as onward, although the continued flatness of the surface
argued obstinately against this. Also, the sun remained in the same
position relative to the rocks; if they were climbing, it should
have appeared overhead. What did it mean?
Finally Rolla saw, about a hundred yards farther on, something which
caused her to shout: "Almost there, Cunora!"
The younger girl could not spare breath enough to reply. They
struggled on in silence.
Now they were down on their hands and knees. Before half the hundred
yards was covered, they were flat on their faces, literally clawing
their way upward and onward. Had the wind increased in violence in
proportion as the way grew harder, they could never have made it,
physical marvels though they were. Only the absolute knowledge that
they dared not return drove them on; that, and the possibility of
finding the precious stone, and of ultimately saving the two men
they had left behind.
The last twenty feet was the most extraordinary effort that any
human had ever been subjected to. They had to take turns in
negotiating the rock; one would creep a few inches on, get a good
hold, and brace herself against the wind, while the other, crawling
alongside, used her as a sort of a crutch. Their fingers were
bleeding and their finger-nails cracked from the rock and cold; the
same is equally true of their toes. Had it been forty feet instead
of twenty--
The rocks ended there. Beyond was nothing but sky; even this was not
like what they were used to, but was very nearly black. Two more
spurts, and Rolla threw one hand ahead and caught the edge of the
rock. Cunora dragged herself alongside. The effort brought blood to
her nostrils.
They rested a minute or two, then looked at one another in mute
inquiry. Cunora nodded; Rolla took great breath; and they drew
themselves to the edge and looked over.