"Because the time be ripe for it. Are not all our kind looking forward
to it? Are we not all expecting and longing for it? Know we not that we
shall, must, have what we all so earnestly desire?" It was striking, to
hear this bit of modern psychology uttered by this primitive woman. "Let
me hear no more of thy weeping! Ye shall not be made to wed Corrus!"
Nevertheless, at the speaking of her lover's name, the older woman's
lips trembled despite themselves; and she said nothing further beyond a
brief "Sleep well." After which the two women turned in, and shortly
reached the drowsy point.
Thus it happened that Rolla, after a minute or two, once more aroused
Cunora in great excitement, and after securely closing the entrance to
the hut against all comers, proceeded to relate what she had seen. She
finished:
"The seed of the flower can be grown in the heart of rotting wood!" And
for hours afterward the two whispered excitedly in the darkness. It was
hard to have to wait till dawn.
As for Corrus and Dulnop, they even went so far as to search the heaps
of stone in the mineral yards, although neither really expected to find
what they sought.
But the four on the earth, not being able to do anything further until
morning, proceeded to make themselves at home in the doctor's house.
Smith and the doctor slept together, likewise Billie and Mrs. Kinney;
Van Emmon occupied the guest-room in lonely grandeur. When he came down
to breakfast he said he had dreamed that he was Corrus, and that he had
burned himself on a blazing cow.
Again in the trance state, the four found that Rolla and Cunora, after
reaching an understanding with Corrus and Dulnop, had already left their
huts in search of the required stone. Five bees accompanied them. Within
a few minutes however, Corrus and Dulnop set out together in the
opposite direction, as agreed upon; and shortly the guards were
withdrawn. This meant that the holiday was officially sanctioned, so
long as the two couples kept apart; but if they were to join forces
afterward, and be caught in the act, they would be severely punished.
Such was bee efficiency--and sentiment.
The doctor had impressed Rolla with the fact that she would find the
desired stone in a mountainous country. Cunora, however, was for
examining every rock she came to; Rolla was continually passing judgment
upon some specimen.
"Nay," said she, for the hundredth time. "'Tis a very bright stone we
seek, very small and very shiny, like sunlight on the water. I shall
know it when I see it, and I shall see it not until we reach the
mountains."
Soon Cunora's impatience wore off, and the two concentrated upon making
time. By midday they were well into the hills, following the course of a
very dry creek; and now they kept a sharp lookout at every step.
Van Emmon and Smith had similarly impressed Corrus and Dulnop with the
result that there was no loss of time in the beginning. The two men
reached the hills on their side of the valley an hour before the women
reached theirs.
And thus the search began, the strangest search, beyond a doubt, within
the history of the universe. It was not like the work of some of earth's
prehistoric men, who already knew fire and were merely looking up fresh
materials; it was a quest in which an idea, an idea given in a vision,
was the sole driving force. The most curious part of the matter was that
these people were mentally incapable of conceiving that there was
intelligence at work upon them from another world, or even that there
was another world.
"Ye saw the stars last night?" Corrus spoke to Dulnop. "Well, 'tis just
such stars as shall awaken the seed of the flower. Ye shall see!"
Both knew exactly what to look for: the brassy, regularly cut crystals
with the black stripings, such as has led countless men to go through
untold hardships in the belief that they had found gold. In fact, iron
pyrites is often called "fool gold," so deceptive is its glitter.
Yet, it was just the thing for the purpose. Flint they already had,
large quantities of it; practically all their tools, such as axes and
knives, were made of it. Struck against iron pyrites, a larger, fatter,
hotter spark could be obtained than with any other natural combination.
It was Dulnop's luck to see the outcropping. He found the mineral
exposed to plain view, a few feet above the bottom of the ravine the two
were ascending. With a shout of triumph he leaped upon the rock.
"Here, Corrus!" he yelled, dancing like mad. "Here is the gift of the
gods!"
The older man didn't attempt to hide his delight. He grabbed his
companion and hugged him until his ribs began to crack. Then, with a
single blow from his huge club, the herdsman knocked the specimen clear
of the slate in which it was set. Such was their excitement, neither
dreamed of marking the place in any way.
First satisfying themselves that the pyrites really could produce
"stars" from the flint, the two hurried down-stream, in search of the
right kind of wood. In half an hour Corrus came across a dead, worm-
eaten tree, from which he nonchalantly broke off a limb as big as his
leg. The interior was filled with a dry, stringy rot, just the right
thing for making a spark "live."
Then came a real difficulty. It will be better appreciated when the
men's childish nature is borne in mind. Their patience was terribly
strained in their attempts to make the sparks fly into the tinder. Again
and again one of them would throw the rocks angrily to the ground,
fairly snarling with exasperation.
However, the other would immediately take them up and try again. Neither
man had a tenth the deftness that is common to adults on the earth. In
size and strength alone they were men; otherwise--it cannot too often be
repeated--they were mere children. All told, it was over two hours
before the punk began to smolder.
"By Mownoth!" swore the herdsman, staring reverently at the smoke. "We
have done a miracle, Dulnop--ye and I! Be ye sure this is no dream?"
Quite in human fashion, Dulnop seriously reached out and pinched the
herdsman's tremendous arm. Corrus winced, but was too well pleased with
the result to take revenge, although the nature of these men was such as
to call for it.
"It be no dream!" he declared, still awestruck.
"Nay," agreed Dulnop. "And now--to make the flower grow!"
It was Corrus's lungs which really did the work. His prodigious chest
was better than a small pair of bellows, and he blew just as he had been
told in the vision. Presently a small flame appeared in the tinder, and
leaped eagerly upward. Both men jumped back, and for lack of enough air
the flame went out.
"Never mind!" exclaimed Dulnop at Corrus's crestfallen look. "I remember
that we must be ready with leaves, and the like, as soon as the blossom
appears. Blow, ye great windmaker, and I shall feed the flower!"
And thus it came about that two men of Sanus, for the first time in the
history of the planet, looked upon fire itself. And when they had got it
to burning well, each of them stared at his hands, and from his hands to
the little heap of "flowers"; from hands to fire they looked, again and
again; and then gazed at one another in awe.
X