"And you let me lower you into the river without telling me!" I was
amazed by the sheer bravery of her act.
"There was nothing else to do," she said simply. "Had I told you, you
would not have lowered me, and we both should have been recaptured. I
do not see even now how you got down before they seized you."
"I dived," I explained.
"You jumped from the top of that castle? It is incredible!"
"You do not come from a land where there is much water," I commented
with a laugh.
"What makes you think so?"
"If you did you would have seen enough diving to know that mine was
nothing extraordinary."
"My country is in a mountainous district," she admitted, "where the
streams are torrents and there is little swimming."
"And where is that?" I asked.
"Oh, it is very far," she replied. "I do not even know where."
"How did you happen to get into Skor's country?"
"During a war in my country I was captured with others by the enemy.
They carried us down out of the mountains into a great plain. One night
two of us escaped. My companion was a soldier who had been long in the
service of my father. He was very loyal. He tried to return me to my
country, but we became lost. I do not know how long we wandered, but at
last we came to a great river.
"Here were people who went in boats upon the river. They lived in the
boats always, fighting. They sought to capture us, and my companion
was killed defending me; then they took me. But I was not with them
long. The first night several men were quarreling over me; each of them
claimed me as his own. And while they quarreled, I slipped into a small
boat tied to the larger one and floated away down the great river.
"I drifted for many days and nearly starved to death, although I saw
fruits and nuts growing along the banks of the river. But the boat was
without oars and was so heavy that I could not bring it in to shore.
"Finally it ran aground by itself on a sand bar where the river ran
slowly about a great bend, and it chanced that Skor was hunting near
and saw me. That is all. I have been here a long time."