After dinner I rolled a cigaret and stretched myself at ease upon a
pile of furs before the doorway, with Ajor's head pillowed in my lap
and a feeling of great content pervading me. It was the first time
since my plane had topped the barrier-cliffs of Caspak that I had felt
any sense of peace or security. My hand wandered to the velvet cheek
of the girl I had claimed as mine, and to her luxuriant hair and the
golden fillet which bound it close to her shapely head. Her slender
fingers groping upward sought mine and drew them to her lips, and then
I gathered her in my arms and crushed her to me, smothering her mouth
with a long, long kiss. It was the first time that passion had tinged
my intercourse with Ajor. We were alone, and the hut was ours until
morning.
But now from beyond the palisade in the direction of the main gate came
the hallooing of men and the answering calls and queries of the guard.
We listened. Returning hunters, no doubt. We heard them enter the
village amidst the barking dogs. I have forgotten to mention the dogs
of Kro-lu. The village swarmed with them, gaunt, wolflike creatures
that guarded the herd by day when it grazed without the palisade, ten
dogs to a cow. By night the cows were herded in an outer inclosure
roofed against the onslaughts of the carnivorous cats; and the dogs,
with the exception of a few, were brought into the village; these few
well-tested brutes remained with the herd. During the day they fed
plentifully upon the beasts of prey which they killed in protection of
the herd, so that their keep amounted to nothing at all.
Shortly after the commotion at the gate had subsided, Ajor and I arose
to enter the hut, and at the same time a warrior appeared from one of
the twisted alleys which, lying between the irregularly placed huts and
groups of huts, form the streets of the Kro-lu village. The fellow
halted before us and addressed me, saying that Al-tan desired my
presence at his hut. The wording of the invitation and the manner of
the messenger threw me entirely off my guard, so cordial was the one
and respectful the other, and the result was that I went willingly,
telling Ajor that I would return presently. I had laid my arms and
ammunition aside as soon as we had taken over the hut, and I left them
with Ajor now, as I had noticed that aside from their hunting-knives
the men of Kro-lu bore no weapons about the village streets. There was
an atmosphere of peace and security within that village that I had not
hoped to experience within Caspak, and after what I had passed through,
it must have cast a numbing spell over my faculties of judgment and
reason. I had eaten of the lotus-flower of safety; dangers no longer
threatened for they had ceased to be.
The messenger led me through the labyrinthine alleys to an open plaza
near the center of the village. At one end of this plaza was a long
hut, much the largest that I had yet seen, before the door of which
were many warriors. I could see that the interior was lighted and that
a great number of men were gathered within. The dogs about the plaza
were as thick as fleas, and those I approached closely evinced a strong
desire to devour me, their noses evidently apprising them of the fact
that I was of an alien race, since they paid no attention whatever to
my companion. Once inside the council-hut, for such it appeared to be,
I found a large concourse of warriors seated, or rather squatted,
around the floor. At one end of the oval space which the warriors left
down the center of the room stood Al-tan and another warrior whom I
immediately recognized as a Galu, and then I saw that there were many
Galus present. About the walls were a number of flaming torches stuck
in holes in a clay plaster which evidently served the purpose of
preventing the inflammable wood and grasses of which the hut was
composed from being ignited by the flames. Lying about among the
warriors or wandering restlessly to and fro were a number of savage
dogs.
The warriors eyed me curiously as I entered, especially the Galus, and
then I was conducted into the center of the group and led forward
toward Al-tan. As I advanced I felt one of the dogs sniffing at my
heels, and of a sudden a great brute leaped upon my back. As I turned
to thrust it aside before its fangs found a hold upon me, I beheld a
huge Airedale leaping frantically about me. The grinning jaws, the
half-closed eyes, the back-laid ears spoke to me louder than might the
words of man that here was no savage enemy but a joyous friend, and
then I recognized him, and fell to one knee and put my arms about his
neck while he whined and cried with joy. It was Nobs, dear old Nobs.
Bowen Tyler's Nobs, who had loved me next to his master.
"Where is the master of this dog?" I asked, turning toward Al-tan.
The chieftain inclined his head toward the Galu standing at his side.
"He belongs to Du-seen the Galu," he replied.
"He belongs to Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., of Santa Monica," I retorted, "and
I want to know where his master is."
The Galu shrugged. "The dog is mine," he said. "He came to me
cor-sva-jo, and he is unlike any dog in Caspak, being kind and docile
and yet a killer when aroused. I would not part with him. I do not
know the man of whom you speak."
So this was Du-seen! This was the man from whom Ajor had fled. I
wondered if he knew that she was here. I wondered if they had sent for
me because of her; but after they had commenced to question me, my mind
was relieved; they did not mention Ajor. Their interest seemed
centered upon the strange world from which I had come, my journey to
Caspak and my intentions now that I had arrived. I answered them
frankly as I had nothing to conceal and assured them that my only wish
was to find my friends and return to my own country. In the Galu
Du-seen and his warriors I saw something of the explanation of the term
"golden race" which is applied to them, for their ornaments and weapons
were either wholly of beaten gold or heavily decorated with the
precious metal. They were a very imposing set of men--tall and
straight and handsome. About their heads were bands of gold like that
which Ajor wore, and from their left shoulders depended the
leopard-tails of the Galus. In addition to the deer-skin tunic which
constituted the major portion of their apparel, each carried a light
blanket of barbaric yet beautiful design--the first evidence of weaving
I had seen in Caspak. Ajor had had no blanket, having lost it during
her flight from the attentions of Du-seen; nor was she so heavily
incrusted with gold as these male members of her tribe.
The audience must have lasted fully an hour when Al-tan signified that
I might return to my hut. All the time Nobs had lain quietly at my
feet; but the instant that I turned to leave, he was up and after me.
Du-seen called to him; but the terrier never even so much as looked in
his direction. I had almost reached the doorway leading from the
council-hall when Al-tan rose and called after me. "Stop!" he shouted.
"Stop, stranger! The beast of Du-seen the Galu follows you."
"The dog is not Du-seen's," I replied. "He belongs to my friend, as I
told you, and he prefers to stay with me until his master is found."
And I turned again to resume my way. I had taken but a few steps when
I heard a commotion behind me, and at the same moment a man leaned
close and whispered "Kazar!" close to my ear--kazar, the Caspakian
equivalent of beware. It was To-mar. As he spoke, he turned quickly
away as though loath to have others see that he knew me, and at the
same instant I wheeled to discover Du-seen striding rapidly after me.
Al-tan followed him, and it was evident that both were angry.
Du-seen, a weapon half drawn, approached truculently. "The beast is
mine," he reiterated. "Would you steal him?"
"He is not yours nor mine," I replied, "and I am not stealing him. If
he wishes to follow you, he may; I will not interfere; but if he wishes
to follow me, he shall; nor shall you prevent." I turned to Al-tan.
"Is not that fair?" I demanded. "Let the dog choose his master."
Du-seen, without waiting for Al-tan's reply, reached for Nobs and
grasped him by the scruff of the neck. I did not interfere, for I
guessed what would happen; and it did. With a savage growl Nobs turned
like lightning upon the Galu, wrenched loose from his hold and leaped
for his throat. The man stepped back and warded off the first attack
with a heavy blow of his fist, immediately drawing his knife with which
to meet the Airedale's return. And Nobs would have returned, all
right, had not I spoken to him. In a low voice I called him to heel.
For just an instant he hesitated, standing there trembling and with
bared fangs, glaring at his foe; but he was well trained and had been
out with me quite as much as he had with Bowen--in fact, I had had most
to do with his early training; then he walked slowly and very
stiff-legged to his place behind me.
Du-seen, red with rage, would have had it out with the two of us had
not Al-tan drawn him to one side and whispered in his ear--upon which,
with a grunt, the Galu walked straight back to the opposite end of the
hall, while Nobs and I continued upon our way toward the hut and Ajor.
As we passed out into the village plaza, I saw Chal-az--we were so
close to one another that I could have reached out and touched him--and
our eyes met; but though I greeted him pleasantly and paused to speak
to him, he brushed past me without a sign of recognition. I was
puzzled at his behavior, and then I recalled that To-mar, though he had
warned me, had appeared not to wish to seem friendly with me. I could
not understand their attitude, and was trying to puzzle out some sort
of explanation, when the matter was suddenly driven from my mind by the
report of a firearm. Instantly I broke into a run, my brain in a whirl
of forebodings, for the only firearms in the Kro-lu country were those
I had left in the hut with Ajor.
That she was in danger I could not but fear, as she was now something
of an adept in the handling of both the pistol and rifle, a fact which
largely eliminated the chance that the shot had come from an
accidentally discharged firearm. When I left the hut, I had felt that
she and I were safe among friends; no thought of danger was in my mind;
but since my audience with Al-tan, the presence and bearing of Du-seen
and the strange attitude of both To-mar and Chal-az had each
contributed toward arousing my suspicions, and now I ran along the
narrow, winding alleys of the Kro-lu village with my heart fairly in my
mouth.
I am endowed with an excellent sense of direction, which has been
greatly perfected by the years I have spent in the mountains and upon
the plains and deserts of my native state, so that it was with little
or no difficulty that I found my way back to the hut in which I had
left Ajor. As I entered the doorway, I called her name aloud. There
was no response. I drew a box of matches from my pocket and struck a
light and as the flame flared up, a half-dozen brawny warriors leaped
upon me from as many directions; but even in the brief instant that the
flare lasted, I saw that Ajor was not within the hut, and that my arms
and ammunition had been removed.
As the six men leaped upon me, an angry growl burst from behind them.
I had forgotten Nobs. Like a demon of hate he sprang among those
Kro-lu fighting-men, tearing, rending, ripping with his long tusks and
his mighty jaws. They had me down in an instant, and it goes without
saying that the six of them could have kept me there had it not been
for Nobs; but while I was struggling to throw them off, Nobs was
springing first upon one and then upon another of them until they were
so put to it to preserve their hides and their lives from him that they
could give me only a small part of their attention. One of them was
assiduously attempting to strike me on the head with his stone hatchet;
but I caught his arm and at the same time turned over upon my belly,
after which it took but an instant to get my feet under me and rise
suddenly.
As I did so, I kept a grip upon the man's arm, carrying it over one
shoulder. Then I leaned suddenly forward and hurled my antagonist over
my head to a hasty fall at the opposite side of the hut. In the dim
light of the interior I saw that Nobs had already accounted for one of
the others--one who lay very quiet upon the floor--while the four
remaining upon their feet were striking at him with knives and hatchets.
Running to one side of the man I had just put out of the fighting, I
seized his hatchet and knife, and in another moment was in the thick of
the argument. I was no match for these savage warriors with their own
weapons and would soon have gone down to ignominious defeat and death
had it not been for Nobs, who alone was a match for the four of them.
I never saw any creature so quick upon its feet as was that great
Airedale, nor such frightful ferocity as he manifested in his attacks.
It was as much the latter as the former which contributed to the
undoing of our enemies, who, accustomed though they were to the
ferocity of terrible creatures, seemed awed by the sight of this
strange beast from another world battling at the side of his equally
strange master. Yet they were no cowards, and only by teamwork did
Nobs and I overcome them at last. We would rush for a man,
simultaneously, and as Nobs leaped for him upon one side, I would
strike at his head with the stone hatchet from the other.
As the last man went down, I heard the running of many feet approaching
us from the direction of the plaza. To be captured now would mean
death; yet I could not attempt to leave the village without first
ascertaining the whereabouts of Ajor and releasing her if she were held
a captive. That I could escape the village I was not at all sure; but
of one thing I was positive; that it would do neither Ajor nor myself
any service to remain where I was and be captured; so with Nobs, bloody
but happy, following at heel, I turned down the first alley and slunk
away in the direction of the northern end of the village.
Friendless and alone, hunted through the dark labyrinths of this savage
community, I seldom have felt more helpless than at that moment; yet
far transcending any fear which I may have felt for my own safety was
my concern for that of Ajor. What fate had befallen her? Where was
she, and in whose power? That I should live to learn the answers to
these queries I doubted; but that I should face death gladly in the
attempt--of that I was certain. And why? With all my concern for the
welfare of my friends who had accompanied me to Caprona, and of my best
friend of all, Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., I never yet had experienced the
almost paralyzing fear for the safety of any other creature which now
threw me alternately into a fever of despair and into a cold sweat of
apprehension as my mind dwelt upon the fate on one bit of half-savage
femininity of whose very existence even I had not dreamed a few short
weeks before.
What was this hold she had upon me? Was I bewitched, that my mind
refused to function sanely, and that judgment and reason were dethroned
by some mad sentiment which I steadfastly refused to believe was love?
I had never been in love. I was not in love now--the very thought was
preposterous. How could I, Thomas Billings, the right-hand man of the
late Bowen J. Tyler, Sr., one of America's foremost captains of
industry and the greatest man in California, be in love with a--a--the
word stuck in my throat; yet by my own American standards Ajor could be
nothing else; at home, for all her beauty, for all her delicately
tinted skin, little Ajor by her apparel, by the habits and customs and
manners of her people, by her life, would have been classed a squaw.
Tom Billings in love with a squaw! I shuddered at the thought.
And then there came to my mind, in a sudden, brilliant flash upon the
screen of recollection the picture of Ajor as I had last seen her, and
I lived again the delicious moment in which we had clung to one
another, lips smothering lips, as I left her to go to the council hall
of Al-tan; and I could have kicked myself for the snob and the cad that
my thoughts had proven me--me, who had always prided myself that I was
neither the one nor the other!
These things ran through my mind as Nobs and I made our way through the
dark village, the voices and footsteps of those who sought us still in
our ears. These and many other things, nor could I escape the
incontrovertible fact that the little figure round which my
recollections and my hopes entwined themselves was that of
Ajor--beloved barbarian! My reveries were broken in upon by a hoarse
whisper from the black interior of a hut past which we were making our
way. My name was called in a low voice, and a man stepped out beside
me as I halted with raised knife. It was Chal-az.
"Quick!" he warned. "In here! It is my hut, and they will not search
it."
I hesitated, recalled his attitude of a few minutes before; and as
though he had read my thoughts, he said quickly: "I could not speak to
you in the plaza without danger of arousing suspicions which would
prevent me aiding you later, for word had gone out that Al-tan had
turned against you and would destroy you--this was after Du-seen the
Galu arrived."
I followed him into the hut, and with Nobs at our heels we passed
through several chambers into a remote and windowless apartment where a
small lamp sputtered in its unequal battle with the inky darkness. A
hole in the roof permitted the smoke from burning oil egress; yet the
atmosphere was far from lucid. Here Chal-az motioned me to a seat upon
a furry hide spread upon the earthen floor.
"I am your friend," he said. "You saved my life; and I am no ingrate
as is the batu Al-tan. I will serve you, and there are others here who
will serve you against Al-tan and this renegade Galu, Du-seen."
"But where is Ajor?" I asked, for I cared little for my own safety
while she was in danger.
"Ajor is safe, too," he answered. "We learned the designs of Al-tan
and Du-seen. The latter, learning that Ajor was here, demanded her;
and Al-tan promised that he should have her; but when the warriors went
to get her To-mar went with them. Ajor tried to defend herself. She
killed one of the warriors, and then To-mar picked her up in his arms
when the others had taken her weapons from her. He told the others to
look after the wounded man, who was really already dead, and to seize
you upon your return, and that he, To-mar, would bear Ajor to Al-tan;
but instead of bearing her to Al-tan, he took her to his own hut, where
she now is with So-al, To-mar's she. It all happened very quickly.
To-mar and I were in the council-hut when Du-seen attempted to take the
dog from you. I was seeking To-mar for this work. He ran out
immediately and accompanied the warriors to your hut while I remained
to watch what went on within the council-hut and to aid you if you
needed aid. What has happened since you know."
I thanked him for his loyalty and then asked him to take me to Ajor;
but he said that it could not be done, as the village streets were
filled with searchers. In fact, we could hear them passing to and fro
among the huts, making inquiries, and at last Chal-az thought it best
to go to the doorway of his dwelling, which consisted of many huts
joined together, lest they enter and search.
Chal-az was absent for a long time--several hours which seemed an
eternity to me. All sounds of pursuit had long since ceased, and I was
becoming uneasy because of his protracted absence when I heard him
returning through the other apartments of his dwelling. He was
perturbed when he entered that in which I awaited him, and I saw a
worried expression upon his face.
"What is wrong?" I asked. "Have they found Ajor?"
"No," he replied; "but Ajor has gone. She learned that you had escaped
them and was told that you had left the village, believing that she had
escaped too. So-al could not detain her. She made her way out over
the top of the palisade, armed with only her knife."
"Then I must go," I said, rising. Nobs rose and shook himself. He had
been dead asleep when I spoke.
"Yes," agreed Chal-az, "you must go at once. It is almost dawn.
Du-seen leaves at daylight to search for her." He leaned close to my
ear and whispered: "There are many to follow and help you. Al-tan has
agreed to aid Du-seen against the Galus of Jor; but there are many of
us who have combined to rise against Al-tan and prevent this ruthless
desecration of the laws and customs of the Kro-lu and of Caspak. We
will rise as Luata has ordained that we shall rise, and only thus. No
batu may win to the estate of a Galu by treachery and force of arms
while Chal-az lives and may wield a heavy blow and a sharp spear with
true Kro-lus at his back!"
"I hope that I may live to aid you," I replied. "If I had my weapons
and my ammunition, I could do much. Do you know where they are?" "No,"
he said, "they have disappeared." And then: "Wait! You cannot go
forth half armed, and garbed as you are. You are going into the Galu
country, and you must go as a Galu. Come!" And without waiting for a
reply, he led me into another apartment, or to be more explicit,
another of the several huts which formed his cellular dwelling.
Here was a pile of skins, weapons, and ornaments. "Remove your strange
apparel," said Chal-az, "and I will fit you out as a true Galu. I have
slain several of them in the raids of my early days as a Kro-lu, and
here are their trappings."
I saw the wisdom of his suggestion, and as my clothes were by now so
ragged as to but half conceal my nakedness, I had no regrets in laying
them aside. Stripped to the skin, I donned the red-deerskin tunic, the
leopard-tail, the golden fillet, armlets and leg-ornaments of a Galu,
with the belt, scabbard and knife, the shield, spear, bow and arrow and
the long rope which I learned now for the first time is the distinctive
weapon of the Galu warrior. It is a rawhide rope, not dissimilar to
those of the Western plains and cow-camps of my youth. The honda is a
golden oval and accurate weight for the throwing of the noose. This
heavy honda, Chal-az explained, is used as a weapon, being thrown with
great force and accuracy at an enemy and then coiled in for another
cast. In hunting and in battle, they use both the noose and the honda.
If several warriors surround a single foeman or quarry, they rope it
with the noose from several sides; but a single warrior against a lone
antagonist will attempt to brain his foe with the metal oval.
I could not have been more pleased with any weapon, short of a rifle,
which he could have found for me, since I have been adept with the rope
from early childhood; but I must confess that I was less favorably
inclined toward my apparel. In so far as the sensation was concerned,
I might as well have been entirely naked, so short and light was the
tunic. When I asked Chal-az for the Caspakian name for rope, he told
me ga, and for the first time I understood the derivation of the word
Galu, which means ropeman.
Entirely outfitted I would not have known myself, so strange was my
garb and my armament. Upon my back were slung my bow, arrows, shield,
and short spear; from the center of my girdle depended my knife; at my
right hip was my stone hatchet; and at my left hung the coils of my
long rope. By reaching my right hand over my left shoulder, I could
seize the spear or arrows; my left hand could find my bow over my right
shoulder, while a veritable contortionist-act was necessary to place my
shield in front of me and upon my left arm. The shield, long and oval,
is utilized more as back-armor than as a defense against frontal
attack, for the close-set armlets of gold upon the left forearm are
principally depended upon to ward off knife, spear, hatchet, or arrow
from in front; but against the greater carnivora and the attacks of
several human antagonists, the shield is utilized to its best advantage
and carried by loops upon the left arm.
Fully equipped, except for a blanket, I followed Chal-az from his
domicile into the dark and deserted alleys of Kro-lu. Silently we
crept along, Nobs silent at heel, toward the nearest portion of the
palisade. Here Chal-az bade me farewell, telling me that he hoped to
see me soon among the Galus, as he felt that "the call soon would come"
to him. I thanked him for his loyal assistance and promised that
whether I reached the Galu country or not, I should always stand ready
to repay his kindness to me, and that he could count on me in the
revolution against Al-tan.