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diff --git a/old/64053.txt b/old/64053.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b9eb2f9..0000000 --- a/old/64053.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2328 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Calling World-4 of Kithgol, by H. B. Fyfe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Calling World-4 of Kithgol - -Author: H. B. Fyfe - -Release Date: December 15, 2020 [EBook #64053] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CALLING WORLD-4 OF KITHGOL *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - Calling World-4 of Kithgol! - - By H. B. FYFE - - _Accidentally, Yorgh sent whirling - off into space a grim, 200-year-old - message ... and lived to see his - dead world meet the vibrant future._ - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Planet Stories January 1952. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The Star was obscured by blowing sand, and Yorgh could not see much of -The World either. The wolly he rode snorted in panic at the howl of the -sandstorm. Finally, the big hunter swung down to the ground and dragged -the six-legged beast by the guide rope. - -"Where are those trees I passed this morning?" he muttered. - -He longed for a drink from the water-skin slung at his shoulder with -his rolled cloak, but there was so much sand in his short, golden -beard that he would probably choke himself. - -The sand whipped against his gray pants of coarse wool and the dark -red tunic for which he had given the Sea People two dozen copper -arrowheads, and twirled loosely beneath his calf-high leather boots. -Yorgh squinted his eyes till they were mere gleams of bright blue among -the laughter wrinkles. - -"And I didn't even find the copper rocks!" he growled. "I should have -stayed in the flatlands, hunting with the others." - -He discovered that he was heading into a gully where the ripping winds -had scooped sand from between ridges of dark rocks. Yorgh was not sure -whether it offered shelter or the chance to be buried alive, but he -plunged ahead to investigate. Within fifty paces, the howl at his back -diminished. - -"Not the rocks; it's a lull," he exclaimed, peering upward. - -The sky was an ugly reddish brown, dark and menacing. He wondered -how soon more tons of sand would sweep down to refill the gully. As -he gazed upward, a round stone rolled under his foot and he sprawled -forward. Even as he dropped, it seemed that he was falling further than -he should be. - -He brushed sand from his eyes and looked up. From the edge of a hollow -whirled from the floor of the gully by opposing winds, the wolly stared -down at him with an expression of scared idiocy. The ends of his horn -bow and copper-tipped lance thrust up beside the saddle. - -As Yorgh scrambled up and his head came above ground level, he saw that -the hollow was at the junction of his gully with another. Sand was -already beginning to collect again as the wind shifted. Behind a worn -rock at his side, Yorgh glimpsed a glint of metal. - -Copper? he wondered, stepping forward. - -It was not copper, nor any other metal he had ever seen. - -To judge from what protruded above the sand, the thing was shaped -slightly like the wagons the people of the Hunter tribe used in their -migrations. Every part of it was smoothly rounded, even the skeleton -sitting in the front seat. - -Yorgh stared, feeling the prickle of rising hairs on his neck. - -The moan of rising wind made him shiver. At least, he told himself it -was the wind. It sounded uncomfortably like a wailing spirit. - -Any skins or leather padding on the seat had long since crumbled. Only -sand-scoured bones and metal remained. Except-- - -Something gleamed from the small deposit of sand remaining about the -feet of the skeleton. Yorgh reached out cautiously and touched the end -of a whitish metal cylinder as thick as his thumb. It was loose enough -to pull out. He did, and it lay in his palm, about six inches long. - -Yorgh could see no mark of any kind on the surface. He wondered if it -would stand sharpening as a spearhead. - -"Must have been one of the Old Ones," he muttered uneasily. "It is said -they had strange and wonderful powers. I wonder if this was one of the -wagons that skimmed over the ground with nothing pulling them, as are -told of in the legends." - -He had been turning the cylinder over in his hands as he considered. -One end moved beneath his fingers and the opposite extreme abruptly -flashed a bluish green light at him. - -"Gaaghk!" choked Yorgh, and flung the thing from him. - -It arched over the edge of the hollow, and its flight was followed by -the thud of hooves as the wolly scampered away. The growing wind was -again raising stinging flurries of sand. - -"Ho! Come back here, you knob-headed idiot!" roared the man, scrambling -up the side of the hole to give chase. - - * * * * * - -The animal, stung by the flying sand, ran faster. Yorgh stooped, -groping for a stone to throw ahead of it, so as to turn it back in his -direction. His fingers grasped upon something hard, but the shape felt -wrong and he looked down. - -It was the white metal cylinder. - -I never should have touched it, he thought. Naturally, it would have a -curse on it. I must put it back! - -Glancing over his shoulder, he saw there would be little time. Sand was -heaping up again all along the gully. But the wolly had disappeared up -a slope to the surface of the desert. - -"I'll come right back!" said Yorgh aloud, with an uneasy feeling that -there just might be someone to hear him. - -He thrust the object into the leather pouch on his belt beside his -bronze knife, and ran up the slope with long-legged strides, even in -the sliding sand. The wolly was out of sight. - -The moan of wind rose to a shriek from the blackening sky. - -Yorgh staggered blindly ahead. Once, peering between his fingers, -he thought he caught a glimpse of the animal, but a gust whirled him -around and he lost the direction. He floundered onward, wishing he had -stayed in the gully. Then he remembered the company he would have had, -and wondered if the Old One had been trapped by a similar false hope of -shelter there. - -With fumbling fingers, Yorgh unslung the cloak that hung behind his -shoulder and wrapped it about his head. It gave some relief, and he -plodded forward, afraid to stop in one spot. - -Something jarred his shoulder roughly. Yorgh reached out, but his wild -grab did not find the wooly fur of his mount. - -"The trees!" he gasped in relief. - -It was the only shelter this side of the hills that separated the -desert from the grassy plain. Yorgh pulled off his cloak, tied one -corner to the tree with the strap of his water-skin, and set about -making as good an imitation of a tent as possible. It might at least -give him breathing room till the storm ended. - -The Star shone hotly at noon the next day before Yorgh tramped wearily -into the shade of the tree-lined creek that would lead him to his -people's camp on the plain. He was lured to this route partly by the -promised coolness and partly by the sight of a herd of kromp out on the -open flat. These were six-legged, like every animal on The World except -man. There were eighty or a hundred, and a few of the ill-tempered -bulls were already sniffing the air and aiming their four horns about. - -Yorgh splashed water over his face and neck. He wished he could stop -for a swim, but he had walked all night after the sandstorm died down -to get through the hills and out of the desert. The only thing which -could have kept him from the camp, where he could hope for badly needed -sleep, was a chance to find the gully again. When the sand had settled, -however, he had found--not entirely to his surprise--that he had -completely lost the direction. - -"It's like the old legends," he murmured, standing up and taking the -cylinder out of his pouch to look at it again. "Things like this always -happened to the ancient heroes. They even flew among the stars--huh! -That's a likely tale! But this...?" - -Once again, as he had learned, he twisted the end of the cylinder. The -other end glowed with a blue-green light. - -Yorgh shook his head in wonder, and returned the object to his pouch. -He went ahead at a relaxed but steady pace. In a few minutes, the sound -of voices through the undergrowth brought his head up sharply. He went -on, parting the bushes silently. Presently, he grinned as he peered out -at a wide pool. - -Five of the younger women were swimming or splashing in the shallows. -Piles of wet clothing on the bank indicated the task that had brought -them to this sheltered eddy in the creek. Yorgh looked hopefully for -the red-gold tresses of Vaneen, the shapely--if too haughty--daughter -of Chief Tefior, but vainly. - -Let me see, he pondered, shall I be a clumsy kromp snorting through the -trees, or a meat-eating ponadu? - -Raising his hands to his mouth, he emitted a wailing cry that was the -trademark of the only prowling killer on The World large enough to hunt -a man. The splashing in the creek ceased immediately. - - * * * * * - -Yorgh ducked his head lower and wailed again. For good measure, he -added a few guttural coughs, as if the animal had scented game. The -splashing resumed for a second amid low cries of alarm, then was -replaced by the hasty pat-pat-pat of bare feet along the bank. Yorgh -peered after the wetly gleaming figures, and doubled up with one hand -firmly across his mouth. - -Taking time only to refill his water-skin, he followed the trail along -the creek at a good pace. Just as he sighted the outlines of tents -through the thinning trees, a handful of hunters ran pell-mell up the -trail toward him. - -"Hold! What's this?" snapped Chief Tefior, raising his spear to halt -those trotting behind him. His gray-streaked beard bristled as he eyed -Yorgh suspiciously. - -"Yorgh, your best hunter," answered Yorgh, casting his eyes modestly -downward. "I would have returned last night, had not my wolly run off -in a sandstorm." - -"About you, I do not worry!" retorted Tefior, fingering the haft of -his spear. "The girls just ran into camp shrieking that a ponadu was -stalking the woods." - -"Panting, wide-eyed, and in all the glory of their rather damp -tresses," added a dark young bowman named Kwint, hiding a grin behind -his hand as he examined Yorgh's innocent features. - -"I thought I heard something," admitted the latter. - -"Come then, Father!" half-grown Puko urked. "You'll help, won't you, -Yorgh? Here, take my spear!" - -Yorgh was half-inclined to let them go. He liked the sort of joke that -brewed a while, gaining savor, like the time last spring when he had -the luck to knock a ponadu unconscious with the butt of his broken -spear. He still dreamed of having another such inspiration as that -which impelled him to tie a dead log to the creature's hind legs, and -then lead a group of young hunters into that part of the woods on the -way to their nightly courting. - -They had been enraged at spending half the night up trees, not daring -to venture down in the dark with only their bronze knives. But they had -been unable to prove that Yorgh had done anything worse than run faster -than they, and he had enjoyed a unique evening being wined and fed and -listened to with respect due the only man present, while the others -waited for the disgruntled beast to free itself and slink unhappily off. - -Yes, it would be good fun to let them go on, but Yorgh could not -think of a quick excuse to separate Puko from the band. The boy was -his favorite, perhaps because he so admired Yorgh's feats of fun and -strength, or perhaps because his brown eyes so resembled those of his -older sister. - -"Well, truthfully," said Yorgh, "having only a knife in my belt, I -broke off a branch and yelled aloud to scare the slinking thing. I -distinctly heard it run off up the creek." - -Some stared at him; other glanced sidelong at each other. - -Yorgh grinned good-naturedly, until he saw Tefior's scowl. - -"Well," growled the chief, "I think we are too late to catch whatever -it was, much as I would have liked to!" - -Yorgh widened his eyes to their most innocent expression at the pointed -emphasis of the last phrase. - -"You, Puko!" added Tefior. "Run back to camp ahead of us and find the -fathers of those silly wenches. Tell them I said two or three are to -go back with the girls to get the wash, and to smack their bottoms for -going so far without even small bows!" - -The tramp back to camp was made in silence, save for subdued snickering -at the rear of the file, where Kwint and others whispered of the -winter camp. The Sea People there still told stories of sea monsters, -remembering the great, black, slippery thing that had been shot full of -arrows and hauled up on the river bank before it was seen to be a kromp -skin mounted on a frame of boughs. No one had admitted creating the -"monster," but Kwint thought he knew the maker. - -Despite Tefior's disapproving glare when Yorgh appeared before the -chief's tent at suppertime, the customs of hospitality suffered no -greater breach than that the tribal leader stamped off to inspect the -picket line of wollies below the camp immediately after finishing his -bowl of stew. Yorgh allowed Puko to shame Vaneen into offering a fourth -helping, on grounds that he had not eaten during his desperate trek -through the burning sands. He watched her move about the fire. - - - II - -She wore a dress of blue wool, dyed and woven by the Sea People into -finer material than was made by the Hunter tribe. It tended to cling as -she moved; and once Yorgh considered complimenting her on the way it -revealed the curve of her breast, but decided she might not laugh like -some of the other girls. - -"And then," he finished telling his story to Puko, "when the sand -stopped blowing, I pulled myself out and came home." - -"And the Old One is still there in his gully!" exclaimed the wide-eyed -boy. "Will you take me out to see, Yorgh?" - -"I doubt he will," said his sister, reaching out to place Yorgh's bowl -with the others. "Yorgh will do no riding till he earns a new wolly. -Moyt says he caught a saddled animal trotting out of the hills this -morning, and that it belongs to him now." - -"That Moyt!" Puko sprang up indignantly. "Why do you let him come to -our fire, Vaneen? I have heard him say he courts you only because -Tefior is chief." - -"Moyt is a good hunter," retorted Vaneen, frowning, "and more -trustworthy than some I could name. Maybe if Yorgh could borrow a bow, -he could bring down a kromp tomorrow and earn a new wolly." - -"He can borrow mine," cried Puko, "and I'll help him. Then he can make -a new bow of the horns." - -Vaneen laughed. - -"Yorgh, naturally, would never have the bad luck to get a kromp without -perfect horns. Well, anyway, he would be safer out of camp. Ahnee and -some of the other girls are angry." - -"With me?" demanded Yorgh. "I must stay and hear their complaints, -since Moyt has already given me back my things. As I pointed out, my -bow would be too strong for him to draw, especially with a broken arm." - -"He has a broken arm?" cried Puko, leaping up in delight. - -"Well, no. But he would have, had he not persuaded me to let go by -turning temporarily honest." - -Yorgh's laugh trailed off when Vaneen gave no sign of being amused, but -Puko continued to crow for some minutes. - -"Then we can go tomorrow," he said at last. - -He sobered at the expression on Yorgh's face. - -"Don't say it was just one of your stories, Yorgh! That the sand blew -in till it filled the gully again!" - -The big hunter nodded sadly. - -"This morning, on the crest of the hills, I even climbed a tree to look -back, but the sand is like waves of the sea." - -The firelight glinted in Vaneen's hair as she laughed scornfully. - -"You don't believe me?" he asked. - -"There are over three hundred men, women, and children in the tribe," -said the girl, stretching nonchalantly and smoothing the blue dress -over her hips, "and even the tiniest babes in their mothers' arms will -tell you that Yorgh seldom speaks in earnest!" - -"That was unkind!" said Yorgh, pulling down the corners of his mouth. -"But you always were too proud to be considerate, as is common with -beautiful women. Will you bet a kiss that I lie?" - -"A hundred!" Vaneen waved a hand contemptuously. "And that is a bet I -would not make lightly with an honest man!" - -Yorgh fumbled in his pouch for the shiny metal stick and held it up. -Puko watched eagerly. - -"Well?" challenged Vaneen, watching him warily. - -"As I told you, I picked up the thing that lay shining between the feet -of the skeleton. After chasing the wolly, I found it still in my hand. -Here is my proof!" - -Vaneen peered at it suspiciously, being careful not to come too close -to Yorgh. - -"Where did you really get it?" she asked. - -"Have you no ears, woman? I just now told you that--" - -"It's one of your tricks," said Vaneen, putting the fire between them. - -"Look, then!" said Yorgh. "Come around a little, so you can watch the -stick against the dark." - -She moved reluctantly, and Yorgh twisted the end of the metal cylinder. -The other end suddenly glowed blue-green, bringing breathless -exclamations from Puko and Vaneen. - -With an air of mastery, Yorgh turned the light off and on several -times before yielding to Puko's awed plea to be allowed to touch it. -Even when the boy, at Yorgh's instructions, also worked the light, his -sister remained dubious. - -"Enough!" declared Yorgh, grinning in anticipation. "You questioned me -once too often, Vaneen. Come here!" - -He reached out one huge arm and swept her to him, but it suddenly -seemed he had taken hold of an untamed wolly. A hard little elbow -thudded into his stomach and he let go. That was his second mistake, he -saw a second later as he staggered back with his left ear ringing from -a man-sized slap. - -Vaneen, with a swirl of blue skirt about her tanned knees, reached for -the woodpile. Yorgh changed his mind about grabbing her again to exact -his "winnings" when he saw the billet of wood in her hand. - -"Your sister is a poor loser," he told Puko, rubbing his ear tenderly. - -"I don't know how you made it light up," snapped Vaneen, "but as far -as I'm concerned, you haven't proved anything yet!" - -"Here, you try it!" offered Yorgh. "There is no trick." - -"I don't want the thing. Put it back in your belt and go show it to the -simple-minded!" - -"All right," said Yorgh, with dignity. "Here--you may keep it, until -you believe me." - -He tossed the metal object to the ground at her feet. - -"One hundred--remember!" he warned. "Or I'll tell every young hunter in -the tribe that you are a cheat!" - -He loved the way her eyes flashed at that, but did not let the sight -bemuse him when the billet of wood came whipping across the fire at -his head. He reached up one big hand and plucked it out of the air, to -Puko's admiring grunt. - -"Well, if that's the way you feel ..." said Yorgh. "I'll go see -just how angry Ahnee is with me. I believe you made that up, out of -jealousy!" - -He tossed the wood airily into the fire and walked away as Vaneen -clenched her fists in wordless rage. - -Which, in a woman, means she's really mad, he reflected. - -He turned sharply into the shadows of the nearest tent, lest another -length of wood come spinning past his ear to ruin the dignified -impression he had left behind him. Then he made for the two-wheeled -carts shared by the unmarried men, located his own tent bundle among -the baggage, and made himself comfortable for the night. - - * * * * * - -The next day, he rode out with Kwint, Puko, and two others. They headed -toward where the kromp herd had been reported, hoping for horn trophies -that might be traded to the Raydower tribe of the great mountains. -As with the Sea People, the Hunters relied largely upon wool from -their wollies for trading, but other items helped. The Raydowers were -sometimes difficult to get along with because of their bent toward -mysticism, but they made knives and buckles of hard bronze. - -Toward noon, they brought down a loppa, a fleet animal smaller than -a wolly but excellent eating. Yorgh lost when they drew straws, and -stayed to do the skinning as the others hunted back along a brook -toward camp, having promised to send him the first cart. The plain -thereabouts was dotted by clumps of thick brush, and Yorgh decided to -have a steak after he had ridden over to the brook, two hundred yards -away, to wash up. He got out his sparking stones from the mountains and -made a fire. - -He had just wiped his mouth on his wrist, careful not to soil the -sleeves of his prized crimson tunic, when a drumming thunder rolled -across the flatland. He leaped to his feet. - -"Kromps!" he exclaimed. - -It was the herd he had seen the day before. Something had aroused them, -and they pounded across the grassland in a black mass studded with -sweeping horns. They would go for miles, leaving a trail like a dozen -tribes on the march with all their wagons. - -They're heading for the brook, Yorgh thought. If they don't cross, but -swing and follow it down to the creek and the camp-- - -He reached his grazing wolly in three bounds and vaulted into the -saddle. The animal protested bleatingly at the impact. - -As Yorgh grabbed the end of the guide rope he saw the frenzied kromps -swerve away from the glint of water and turn parallel to the brook. - -"Can't gain fast enough to ride ahead," he muttered. "Why in the name -of the Three Moons do they act so scary, when every other thing on The -World is scared of them?" - -Reaching down from the saddle, he pulled up a handful of the long grass -already turning brown from the summer rays of The Star. When he held it -over the fire, it flared into ashes too quickly. - -With one hand, Yorgh tore loose the cloak rolled at the back of his -saddle; with the other he unslung the spear hanging down beside his -mount's first pair of shoulders. - -The cloak took fire and burned well as he forced the reluctant wolly -into a dash for the brook. With fifty yards to spare, he crossed in -front of the kromp herd and rode ahead of it. - -Occasional branches of trees growing along the brook whipped across -his chest or face, but Yorgh hardly felt them. He was trying to judge -how long his cloak would last. He slowed the wolly, which now displayed -commendable willingness to run. - -The kromp leading the side of the charge nearest the brook was a young -bull whose rear pair of horns had not yet grown to sweep out and -forward around the smaller pair. Yorgh hoped that he might not be as -stubborn as an older specimen. - -He held the flaming cloak out on the head of his spear as the animals -came up with him. - -The young bull snarled at him, almost like a ponadu. Kromps did not -bleat like the loppas and wollies they resembled in many other ways. - -Too mean, decided Yorgh. He doesn't like this, though! - -The young bull edged away from the flame. A branch snapped across -Yorgh's leading shoulder, and he almost lost his grip on the spear. -Then he missed the rustle of the bushes, and realized that the herd had -swerved very slightly away from the brook. - -He waved his disintegrating cloak before the eyes of the young bull -again, and was sure the direction of the charge shifted a bit more. The -kromp rolled reddened eyes at him and snarled again. - -Seeing that the last shreds of the cloak were slipping from the -spearhead, Yorgh wiped them off across the muzzle of the beast, and let -the kromp have a smart jab behind the second pair of legs as it passed -him. - -He started to pull up, but suddenly saw that he was not entirely in the -clear. An old bull, lumbering among the dust to the rear, had veered -wide of the herd and was outside Yorgh. It panted up alongside, and the -hunter's wolly lost its head and tried to run with the kromp. - -Yorgh gripped the point of the rough, battle-chipped horn that suddenly -appeared beside his ribs, and leaned his weight upon it in hopes of -guiding the bigger animal past. Then he caught a fleeting glimpse of a -dense clump of scrub growth thrusting out from the vegetation screening -the brook. - -Before he could shift his weight, his wolly swerved to the right. Yorgh -found himself supported in the air by only a one-handed grip on the -kromp's horn. - -He let his feet bounce against the ground once, reaching for the horn -with his other hand. Then the bull tossed his heavy head, and the man -sailed high into the air. - - * * * * * - -Time hung motionless for an instant, during which there floated to his -ears the irritable sounds made by the kromp as it blundered at full -speed through the brush. - -Then Yorgh crashed into the dense thicket on his back, with a ripping -and tearing of cloth and a loud yell as some thorny shrub raked his -ribs. He thudded straight through to the ground, but with his speed -fortunately reduced. - -"By Kloto, by Lax, and by the seldom-seen Atropo of legend!" he swore. -"And if The World has any more moons, by them too! I had done better to -stand squarely in their path!" - -He wiped blood from his left cheek and wriggled about until he thought -all his clothing was free. The dark red tunic was shredded, and the -heavier wool of his pants was gashed and torn. - -He loosed a pronged burr from his beard, pulled out a long splinter -lodged in the back of his right thigh, and squirmed through the -undergrowth on hands and knees until he came to an open swath trampled -straight through the hundred-foot clump. - -The kromp bull had not permitted a little jungle to hinder him. - -Yorgh pulled himself to his feet and limped back along the freshly -made trail to the open. In the distance, he could hear the herd still -stampeding. He hoped he had turned it enough so that the kromps' -propensity for straight-line charges would cause them to miss the camp. - -"Well, I'd better see to myself," he sighed. "Left on foot twice in -three days! Some will have a good time with me over that. Ouch! That -knee feels skinned." - -He made his way to the brook, where he stripped and bathed. As the -water stung them, he discovered nicks and scratches he had not known he -had, but he felt better after dressing again. - -He patched the worst slashes in his pants with a long thorn and a -bit of vine, but the proud crimson tunic was a tattered wreck. It -fluttered on his shoulders as he walked out into the open again. - -On the ground, his sharp eye noticed trampled splinters of wood. - -"The spear!" he muttered. "Funny--I can't even remember when I dropped -it." - -He searched the area, and finally dug up the copper spearhead with -the toe of his boot. He put it in his belt and walked out to his fire -beside the carcass of the loppa, feeling fairly fit although he knew he -would be stiff and sore the next day. His fire still smouldered, and he -piled on some dry sticks. - -As The Star drifted lower on the sky, he began to worry. - -"Someone should have come for me by now," he told himself. "Unless--" - -He finally banked the fire with turf and started out on foot for the -junction of the brook and the creek. Walking made it seem quite a -distance, and The Star was still lower, painting the eastern mountains -gold and red, before he came in sight of the camp. - -"Ho! It's still there!" he exclaimed in relief. - -Someone had seen him, for when he had gone a little way further, a -figure showed against the dark tents, walking toward Yorgh. He wondered -where all the carts were. - -He was still a quarter of a mile from camp when the lone figure met -him. It was Kwint, and he had changed somewhat in the four hours or so -since they had parted. He wore a discolored swelling beneath his left -eye, over which he peered at Yorgh. - -"You can't come back!" he said glumly. - -"What?" - -"Tefior sent me out to say they don't think your latest joke was funny. -They won't let you come back." - -"Joke? What do you talk of, man?" demanded Yorgh. - -"I suppose you meant just a little scare with that stampede, but it -passed right below camp--where the wollies were kept!" - -Yorgh realized then why Kwint had walked out to meet him. The tribe's -animals must have run their best as soon as the picket line went down, -and it would take time to catch them. - -He explained what had happened. - -"Well ... seeing the condition of you," admitted Kwint, examining the -tattered giant before him, "I myself believe it was really that way. -But you know, Yorgh, it is said of you--" - -"That I seldom speak in earnest," Yorgh finished for him. "But I did -what I could! Look at me! I am practically naked to the rays of The -Star!" - -Kwint was silent. - -"Well, say something!" roared Yorgh. - -The other kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. - -"Even so," he murmured, "it would be best to stay out a few days, till -we can tell your side of it around. They wanted to kill you!" - -"_Kill me!_" gasped Yorgh. - -It was a rough life they led, with brawling and even wounds when -tribes mingled, but the one strict taboo was that no human might kill -another--at least, not completely. It was the law of all tribes, handed -down with legends that they had come to The World from the stars and -were once as numerous as the stars. - -"I tried to quiet Moyt with my spear butt," said Kwint, "for he was -talking for hanging; but he is almost as big as you and knocked me -down, as you can see. Then the boy came charging out of his father's -tent and pushed the cooking pot over on Moyt, for which Tefior beat him -and tied him to the tent pole. And--this hurts me to say--the water -wasn't even hot!" - -"And they all believed it of me?" said Yorgh despondently. - -"Not all. Vaneen, I must say, tried to speak for you with others of us. -But we were few to the numbers whose saddles you have greased or whose -girls you have frightened out of swimming holes. Besides, we can't find -the wollies." - -"So they sent you to tell me not to come back?" - -"Yes. I tried to bring my bow and a quiver of arrows for you when I saw -how things were, but Tefior had them taken away." - -Yorgh's face flushed, and he tugged angrily at his beard. - -"I will go in and knock the old man's jaw loose from his head!" he -growled. "Even if it does lose me all hope of his daughter. He has no -right!" - -In the end, however, Kwint dissuaded him. Yorgh was touched to find -that his friend had brought his own cloak together with a bag of salt -and a water-skin. They parted, and Yorgh trudged out to his fire again. -On the way, he cut a tall, straight sapling by the brook, about two -inches thick, which he trimmed with his knife as he walked. - - - III - -After uncovering the embers and building up the fire again, he rigged -sticks to roast as much meat as he thought he could carry, and carved -the end of the pole to fit his copper spearhead. The Star had set and -it was nearly dark by the time he got the metal tip fitted on and -secured with the narrow strip of leather that had bound Kwint's cloak. - -With the alert senses of one who lives in the open, Yorgh looked up -before the girl came within a hundred yards. - -He watched wonderingly as she plodded out of the dusk and up to his -fire. The flames put copper glints in her hair, like rays of The Star -on water, but her features were set in a harsh expression. - -"You walked out?" asked Yorgh cautiously. - -Vaneen curled her lip at him. - -"Thanks to _you_!" she said, and the "you" was like a blow. - -"Some meat?" invited Yorgh, trying not to show his hurt. - -"No." - -He considered. On the whole, even putting the best possible -interpretation on it, he did not think he could call the girl's visit -friendly. - -"They didn't chase you out too, did they?" he asked mildly. - -"My father sent me!" she all but spat at him. "He found me with -something of yours, and nothing would do but I must get the accursed -thing out of camp to fling in your face before nightfall!" - -She took her hand from the belt of the blue dress, and Yorgh saw the -gleam of the metal stick from the desert. - -"It's already dark," he said hastily. - -Vaneen sneered and dropped the object at his feet. Yorgh showed no -resentment, thinking that she was beautiful even with a sneer. He could -think of any number of girls whose faces became twisted and ugly with -anger, but not Vaneen. - -"Are you going back?" he asked. - -"What do you think?" - -"I think you ought to sit down and make yourself comfortable with a -steak." - -Vaneen glared at him. - -"I can't sit down and be comfortable, if you must know!" - -"Why not?" - -"My father took a stick to me when he found out that thing belonged to -you." - -Yorgh peered at her, and saw that she did not joke. - -"If Moyt hadn't been there to stop him, I probably couldn't have even -walked out here. You made a fine, merry day, Yorgh!" - -The hunter rested his chin on his hand and looked down at the aimless -patterns he was tracing in the dust with the end of the metal cylinder. - -Time had been, he reflected, that he would have thought it funny to -hear of Vaneen's being turned upside down and having some of the -haughtiness knocked out of her. Once, even, he might have felt sorry -for her afterward, or been enraged at the thought of Moyt's being there -to ogle--or, worse, to intercede. - -At the moment, he merely felt weary and discouraged. - -"As you like," he said, "but it's dark out there, and a long way back." - -He drew a circle in the dust and sliced it into quarters. After a -moment, Vaneen turned back to the fire from staring across the dark -plain. The long grass looked light gray in the dim light of Kloto, -largest of The World's three moons. Lax would not rise till early -morning, and tiny Atropo was so seldom seen that walking in its "light" -was proverbial. - -"Here," said Yorgh, "you can have my cloak for a cushion." - -Vaneen stared expressionlessly at the tatters of his fine red tunic, -and he could not tell what she thought. - -"I have my own," she said, and unslung it from the back of her belt. - -She threw the cloak about her shoulders and eased herself to the -ground with just a hint of extra care. - -Maybe the old fish did beat her, thought Yorgh. I'll pull his straggly -beard for him one of these days! - -He cut off a portion of juicy loppa meat for her, and placed Kwint's -water-skin and salt between them. Then he went back to peeling the -remaining bark from his crude spear. - -He caught Vaneen watching him with her hand close to the small knife in -her belt. Yorgh snorted. - -"Go to sleep!" he said. - -I can recall when she'd have needed a spear, Yorgh thought, but I just -don't have any spirit tonight. - -He rolled himself in his cloak and stretched out. Something dug into -his ribs, and he found the metal cylinder under him. - - * * * * * - -Yorgh held it up before his eyes a moment, and muttered a few -obscenities. He could remember nothing but bad luck since the moment he -had found it. - -A twig snapping in the flames caught his attention. He hefted the metal -instrument in his palm, then tossed it into the fire. - -He slept better than he expected. Once or twice, instinct awakened him -in time to replenish the fire. - -The last time he awoke, he found himself already halfway to his feet -in the mist of dawn as Vaneen's scream was choked off by a hairy hand -slapped across her mouth. - -Yorgh groped for his spear. All he could see, at first, were legs of -wollies surrounding the fire. - -The spear was not where he had left it; it was in the hands of a slim, -black-bearded man in a fur cap who sat on the nearest wolly. He watched -Vaneen's writhings with amused admiration, but kept one eye on Yorgh. - -The big hunter sensed men behind him, and leaped forward. The dark man -looked surprised, and slid backwards off his mount just in time to -escape the clutch of Yorgh's big hands on his leg. Two bodies thudded -into Yorgh from the rear, pinning him momentarily against the animal. - -Then the wolly sidestepped and Yorgh reached around to grasp the men -holding him. - -Raydowers from the mountains, he thought, and swung them off balance, -around in front of him, and together with a soggy crunch. Then he -dropped them. - -The man in the fur cap was just bouncing to his feet, the wolly having -shuffled over his head. Yorgh snarled and drove at him, pulling out his -bronze knife. More men came from behind, not in time to stop him, but -in time for one to hang on his arm. The dark man swung the butt of the -spear, and it cracked on the side of Yorgh's skull. - -When he came to, all he could see was long, oily wool. He squirmed, and -found that he was tied face down across a wolly. Someone was telling -someone else to be careful about kicking dirt over the fire. - -Twisting his head, Yorgh found that he could see the fire, and some -of the mountain men sitting their wollies beyond it. Vaneen was among -them, not bound, but looking disheveled and resentful. - -"Ah, coming around?" asked a voice. - -The legs of a wolly moved into Yorgh's sight. - -"I am Ueln, of the Raydower tribe," said the man in the fur cap. "I -didn't expect you back so soon. You have a hard head." - -Yorgh looked up at him painfully and grunted. - -"We are going over to the brook to water the wollies," said Ueln, "and -to attend to other things before we start for the mountains. If you -behave I will let you ride in the saddle." - -"All right," said Yorgh, feeling he ought to make some answer to -disguise the fact that he was not yet thinking very clearly. - -"You promise not to try to ride away?" - -"Where would I ride to?" grumbled the hunter. - -As soon as he realized the explanation _that_ remark would entail, -he wished he had remained silent. Further questioning, however, was -forestalled by a cry from the man at the fire. - -He ran to Ueln, holding up a gleaming object. - -"What's this?" asked the Raydower leader. - -Yorgh grimaced, and let his head drop. - -"Keep it," he said. "I make you a gift of it." - -Ueln hesitated. He moved his wolly forward a pace to call to Vaneen. - -"It's his good luck charm," said the girl sourly. - -"So?" Ueln hefted the metal cylinder in his hand thoughtfully. "What -kind of luck has he been having?" - -When no one answered him, Ueln leaned back, tossed a leg over the -wolly's front shoulders, and slid gracefully to the ground as if to -search the fire more thoroughly. Unfortunately, his foot landed upon a -thick piece of dust-covered fat discarded from the roast of the night -before. - -Yorgh looked up to see the Raydower sitting on the ground with much the -same expression as when the hunter had lunged at him. This time, he -held the metal stick instead of Yorgh's spear. - -After a moment, he climbed to his feet and looked around at his men. -None of them laughed. - -The dark man stepped over to Yorgh, and the latter felt the metal -object thrust into the pouch on his belt before Ueln cut him loose so -he could sit astride the saddle. - -"I'll let you keep your precious charm," said the Raydower. "I like my -questions answered by people, or things, I can see." - -Although the mountains thrust far out into the grasslands at that -point, it took the better part of the day to pass through the -foothills. Yorgh soon found out why the band was in a hurry when Ueln -admitted to him that the long strings of wollies led at the rear had -been "found" on the plain. - -"But what could we do?" asked the Raydower. "Jayn sent us out to see -what you had worth trading or stealing." - -"Jayn?" - -"She is our chief, since her father died and she will not marry lest -she lose the title to her husband." - -"Couldn't you persuade her? You look like a man." - -"I am her cousin," said Ueln stiffly. - -"Oh," said Yorgh, and rode on in silence. - -They rode out of a narrow pass to see cultivated fields in a long -valley. Yorgh's eyes was caught by the village nearby. It was built of -rock and had the most permanent look he had ever seen. - -He dismounted stiffly when ordered, before one of the houses. Bruises -unnoticed after the kromp had tossed him had made themselves felt -during the ride. Two of Ueln's riders pushed Yorgh through the open -doorway on the heels of their leader. - -They entered a hall evidently used for meals and other gatherings. From -the smell of the flambeaux on the stone walls, Yorgh judged that the -Raydowers traded with the Sea People for fish oil. - - * * * * * - -Then he looked at the woman sitting in the big, carved chair on the -dais along one wall. She was attended by several men, armed, and a few -women who were very obviously chosen for being less beautiful. - -She was dark of hair and eye, and bore a certain resemblance to Ueln. -Yorgh thought she must be a year or two older than himself. Then, as he -was led closer, he saw that it was more likely five. - -Jayn swept Vaneen up and down with a cold glance, but let her frank -stare linger on Yorgh's broad shoulders and golden beard. Ueln fidgeted -impatiently. - -"Is this what you were sent to get?" Jayn asked him. - -Her voice was not as musical as Vaneen's, Yorgh reflected, but it had -a husky undertone that promised much. He saw that she took great care -with her person, as befitted her position. Her long robe was dark and -cleverly sewn to boast of every curve of her handsome body. It was -belted at the waist by a girdle of the polished, light-blue stones for -which the mountain people were famous. Yorgh wondered if her lips were -naturally as red as they appeared. - -Ueln had been explaining why he had not liked to leave behind two who -might talk, especially as one was a hunter who could have trailed him. -Jayn shrugged. - -"I will decide how well you have done, Ueln, when we have counted the -wollies. As for this pair, I am not entirely displeased." - -She rose and walked across the dais to look down on them. Following -her glance, Yorgh saw that the blue dress which had looked so well on -Vaneen two nights ago was much the worse for rough treatment. Jayn -stared contemptuously at the rents in it. - -"Well, girl," she asked, "what can you do to make yourself useful?" - -Vaneen gave her back stare for stare, saying nothing. Jayn tapped a -small foot impatiently. Then she said something to make the men behind -her grin. - -"Come, come!" she snapped. "Where would you earn your keep--in my -kitchen, or in one of the buildings housing our young men?" - -Right there, Yorgh decided, was where he would have reached up and -struck her, had she been a man and speaking to him. Women, it seemed, -were wiser, especially in judging each other. - -"Your kitchen," said Vaneen evenly, but Yorgh knew that the day might -come when Jayn would regret the affair. - -So did the Raydower woman, apparently, for there was a hard look in her -eye as she watched the girl led away. Then it softened as she turned to -Yorgh. - -"Untie him and clean him up, Ueln," she directed. "And get him -something to wear in place of that awful rag. You had no need to be so -rough with him." - -Ueln bit his lip, glaring at the remnants of Yorgh's crimson tunic. He -turned on his heel and stalked toward the stairs flanking the entrance. - -One of the riders touched Yorgh's elbow, and he followed, seething -undecidedly between the twin stings of being called ragged and of -having it implied that a man the size of Ueln could have been rough -with him. - -He was led up one of the two flights of stone stairs which to him were -a wonder, and to a small room with a straw-covered wooden bed. Ueln -drew his knife and cut the cord on Yorgh's wrist. - -"There's a pool along the trail a way," he said. "Tomorrow, you can -swim and clean up in the morning with the other riders. I'll see if I -can find a tunic big enough." - -"I have nothing to give you for it," said Yorgh, unable to avoid -feeling sorry for the man at being received so casually after his hard -ride. "Unless you want to keep the knife you took from me as payment." - -"Never mind," said Ueln. "You'll earn it before long, if I know Jayn." - -"What do you mean?" asked Yorgh warily. - -"She isn't a bad wench, in her way," Ueln muttered. "It's just that she -tries so hard to keep us all under her thumb because so many have been -at her to marry. She would rather continue to be chief." - -"I should think," suggested Yorgh, recalling the black hair and -flashing eyes, "that one might be found who would wink at letting her -keep the power." - -"Well, yes ... but she could never be sure," said Ueln. "Of course, if -she married a man of another tribe--like you, for instance--it would -make no difference. She would still rule, for he would be just a slave, -with less rights than even the kitchen flunkies." - -"So?" murmured Yorgh. "Still ... just let her give me to choose between -the kitchen and a house of her young women, and you will see a notable -choice made, my friend!" - -"Young women reside with their families," snapped Ueln. - -He stared Yorgh up and down, his eyes black pools in the light cast by -the flambeaux he carried. - -"I admire your attitude," he sneered with heavy sarcasm. "Enjoy it -while you can!" - -He strode away down the hall, leaving Yorgh in the dark. The big hunter -thought fleetingly of creeping quietly to the stairs, but a saner -instinct convinced him that Ueln would not have left them unguarded. - -He groped his way to the bed, found that a blanket had been left on -the straw, and wrapped himself in it against the night chill of the -mountains. - - * * * * * - -The next three days he spent "enjoying his attitude," as Ueln had -bidden him. The Raydower gave him a tunic of dark blue which was only a -trifle snug, having belonged to the old chief, and pants of gray Hunter -wool. The tunic had a narrow fur collar. Bathed and refreshed, Yorgh -regained some of his good nature with the new clothes. - -He did not see Vaneen anywhere when he was invited to sit at the great -table for meals and to entertain the black-haired Raydower ruler. With -unusual insight, he decided that Jayn would probably not be pleased to -hear him asking about the girl. - -Instead, he told some of his stories, and at supper made bold to yank a -bench from under one of Jayn's discouraged suitors. - - - IV - -The roar of laughter died as the fellow scrambled up from the stone -floor with a snarl, but Jayn's husky voice cut across the silence to -avert trouble. - -She keeps a tight guide rope, thought Yorgh, and tried to smooth things -over by telling one of his stories. - -He thought the company about the table seemed impressed at the tale -of his latest adventure in the desert, but it might have been the -flickering light of the torches. - -"I think you must have taken that from an old legend," said Ueln. "We, -too, have half-remembered stories of people who rode out from the -shrine in self-moving wagons, in the old days when there were more men -in The World." - -"What shrine?" asked Yorgh, for it was a tale he had not heard, -although he knew it was widely told of the Raydowers that they held -mysterious beliefs. - -"On the mountain top," said Ueln. "You might have seen it any morning -when you went with us to swim--" - -He stopped abruptly, and Yorgh was aware of a peculiar hush around the -table. Then Jayn quickly asked him to describe again how the Hunters -made their powerful horn bows famous for their loud twang and swift -arrows, and how they got such strength without making them as long as -the wooden ones of the mountain people. - -Yorgh answered sketchily, not failing to notice Ueln shrug defiantly -under the severe stares of several diners near him at the great table. - -After the dinner, Jayn called upon some of her girls to sing. Since the -procedure had been much the same on previous nights, Yorgh deliberately -showed little enthusiasm until he found an opportunity to beg Jayn -herself to sing for them. - -The Raydower with the neatly curled brown mustache who had paid her -this compliment on preceding evenings, as Yorgh had carefully noted, -glared and muttered something about "nomad upstarts." Jayn smiled at -Yorgh more warmly than he liked, but he had to admit to himself that -she sang well. - -The next morning, returning from the small lake in which the men swam, -he asked Ueln for permission to walk about the village. - -"Jayn didn't act as if she would mind my seeing something of it," he -jabbed the Raydower. - -The latter grunted. - -"I heard her whispering to you last night, after the singing, thank -you," he growled. "She can be nice when she likes. Oh, all right! But -don't let one of my riders catch you on the trail to the pass!" - -Yorgh grinned and parted from the group to stroll through the narrow -paths between the stone houses and their small gardens. After half an -hour, by which time the heat of The Star was beginning to lend the -alleys the least touch of fragrance, he had the outline of the village -well in mind. - -He strolled on casually, until he succeeded in coming up behind the -shrubbery bordering the space in back of Jayn's big house. There he -loitered for some time, until he saw a trio of kitchen maids carry out -wooden buckets of dirty water. One of them wore a soiled and bedraggled -blue dress. - -Yorgh rustled the bushes hiding him. Vaneen looked sharply about, and -he parted the branches an instant. - -The girl said something to the other wenches, and they went inside, -leaving her to empty the buckets. She carried one pair over toward -Yorgh as if to water the shrubbery. - -When these were empty, she brought the next pair closer, and stepped -around the bush behind which he stood. - -"How are you?" asked Yorgh, thinking that she looked like a -fish-cleaning woman among the Sea People. - -She stared hard at his fine new clothes, and scowled. - -"Some people know how to wheedle the best side of the tent for -themselves!" she said bitterly. "What did you do to get that pretty -tunic from her?" - -"Not what you would be jealous to think about," retorted Yorgh. -"_Yet_," he added to tease her. - -"You look funny in that fur collar," snapped Vaneen. "Does it have a -copper ring under the fur--with a place to fasten on the chain?" - -"Ueln gave it to me," said Yorgh, deciding that it was time to smooth -things over. "Listen--it may soon be time to get out of here. Do they -lock you in at night?" - -"No," said Vaneen. "They just told me what would happen to me if I went -out on the streets at night, so I don't." - -"Could you sneak out here tonight ... say about the time Kloto sets?" - -Vaneen peered hopefully at his expression, and nodded. - -"I have thought of a place to run to," said Yorgh. "It might work." - -The girl's brown eyes filled with sudden tears. - -"Yorgh, if this is one of your stories--" - -"Sssh!" he hushed her, slipping an arm about her shoulders. "You've -been out too long already. Meet me tonight, here!" - -He slipped back into the pathway and hurried off. Vaneen's tears made -him uncomfortable and he tried hard not to feel guilty. She had been -having a miserable time, no doubt, but had he any choice but to make -himself pleasant to Jayn? - - * * * * * - -That evening he was careful to let himself be seen with Jayn whispering -frequently in his ear during the story-telling. She was beginning to -hint that he might like to stay in the village for good, but Yorgh's -expressions suggested much more. - -Later, after dark, he crept cautiously into the hall with a short -length of bed slat tucked in his belt. He had not been allowed a knife -except at meals. As he padded to the foot of the stone stairs, a shadow -detached itself from the wall near the main door. Yorgh sensed rather -than saw the spear that reached out a moment later to prod him just -below the ribs. - -"Sssh! Quietly!" he whispered. "Jayn expects me." - -The guard grunted, but lowered his spear as if far from surprised. -Before he could think the matter over further, Yorgh made a show of -enlisting his aid. - -"She teased by not saying which is her room," he claimed, snickering -sheepishly. "She is having her joke with me because I said I would be -man enough to find it." - -"Such a joke is only the beginning, friend," the guard assured him. "Up -the opposite stairs and to the end of the hall. Come, I will point the -way." - -"Slowly," pleaded Yorgh. "I don't see as well in the dark as you -people." - -He saw clearly enough, however, to note that the man wore only a woolen -cap, with no leather to protect his head. Yorgh struck him a chopping -blow with the piece of slat. - -He caught the spear in one hand, though he almost fumbled it in the -dark, and dropped his weapon as quietly as possible to catch the -sagging body in his other arm. - -I'd better store him out of the way, he thought, heaving the man onto -his shoulder. - -He crept back up the stairs with his burden, having one nervous moment -when he opened the wrong door to the tune of several raucous snores. -The sweat itched on his forehead by the time he got the door quietly -closed and made sure the next was the one to his own room. - -He left the guard comfortably bound, and gagged with a strip of -blanket, and traversed the stairway for the third time, wearing a good -bronze knife in his belt. Near the door, he groped about until he found -the spear and his club. The latter he thrust again into his waistband. - -The door made little noise, though it sounded to Yorgh like the -bleating of a dozen wollies. Once in the dark street, he padded quickly -around the corner of the building, moving with assurance gained from -counting the steps in daylight. He left the spear in the grass there, -lest it embarrass him later by rattling against something. - -A hiss from the bushes halted him in his tracks, until Vaneen whispered -his name. - -"Good!" Yorgh whispered back, reaching out to touch her arm. "Are you -cold? Then, let's move. Be very quiet till we get out of the village!" - -He led the way through some of the narrower alleyways and they sneaked -out of the sleeping village by way of someone's garden. When they had a -little distance, Yorgh returned to the trail. - -"Where are we going?" asked Vaneen. - -"I saw the trail this morning, a little beyond the pond. It must lead -to the shrine they talk of, up the mountain. I could see marks on the -cliff like steps, when I looked through the trees." - -"Oh! They talked about that shrine in the kitchen when they thought I -wasn't listening," volunteered the girl. "They said Ueln was wrong to -mention it before you." - -"Did they say what it is?" - -"No, except that no one ever goes there, and the old stories say the -Raydowers were set here to guard it." - -"So no one goes there! Good! That's what I hoped for." - -Yorgh set off briskly along the path, intent upon not missing the -junction with the trail he wanted. Even so, in the dark, he would have -gone past, had not a voice spoken out sharply. - -"Who's there?" - -Yorgh froze, so promptly that Vaneen bumped into him. - -"Ueln," he answered with the first name that came to him. - -Then he saw a darker patch move among the bushes. - -Who'd have thought they'd be strict enough to keep a sentry on the -trail? he thought. - -"You lie!" charged the sentry, overcoming his hesitation. "You are -twice Ueln's size--ah, I know you now, Hunter! Ho--Kansi!" - -Yorgh drew his club and hurled it at where he thought the man's head -would be. There was a smack of wood as the other instinctively raised -the shaft of his spear before his face. - - * * * * * - -Then Yorgh was upon him, bearing him savagely to the ground. One big -hand seized the mountain man's throat. When he grabbed at it with both -of his own, Yorgh's other fist rose and fell like a hammer. - -The hunter stood up, listening. Then, stooping swiftly, he groped at -the sentry's belt and handed the man's knife to Vaneen. - -"We must move fast now," he warned her in an undertone. "I do not like -the idea of this 'Kansi' he called to knowing where we are." - -"I think someone shouted from the village also," whispered the girl. - -"Come, then!" said Yorgh, and plunged into the entrance of the trail to -the cliff. - -Within a short distance, it became a steep grade. Yorgh prudently -slowed to save their legs for the real climb ahead. A moment later, he -congratulated himself for doing this, for they came upon the other -sentry leaning on his spear where the bushes opened to form a clearing -at the foot of a stone stairway. - -"Stay here!" Yorgh breathed with his lips touching Vaneen's ear. "I'll -try to creep around behind him." - -"I can do better than that," whispered the girl, pushing against his -arm to force him behind a shrub. - -Yorgh swore luridly to himself when he discovered that the plant was -armed with sharp thorns the size of arrowheads, but it was too late to -protest. - -"Kansi ..." called Vaneen softly. - -The sentry straightened nervously and hissed, "Who is it?" - -"Come and see," invited the girl, keeping her voice so low that it -might have been any girl. - -Kansi strode over with quick, worried steps, the picture of a man torn -between opportunity and duty. - -Yorgh's big fist shot out of the darkness to take him behind the ear -with a solid thunk! He went down without a sound. - -Back in the village, there were symptoms of a growing hue and cry. -Torches began to move out along the trail. - -"Hurry!" said Yorgh. - -"What will you do when we reach the top?" asked Vaneen. - -"That I will tell you when I see what is there. Perhaps, if we are -in possession of their precious shrine, they will think twice before -egging us on to destroy it!" - -The steps led upward, then doubled back around a narrow turn to rise -further. They were on the fourth such flight and still almost directly -above the trail when the first Raydowers set up a howl of rage at -discovering the unconscious sentries. - -"Yorgh!" shouted a voice that sounded like Ueln's. "Come down! This is -no joking matter!" - -Yorgh reached back an arm to sweep Vaneen close to the rock out of -which the steps were cut, and kept climbing. He guessed that they were -more than a hundred feet up. - -Then, they turned onto a flight that stretched upward without a landing -as far as they had already come, and curled past a corner of the cliff -out of sight. - -Some bowman below, with the eyes of a night-roaming ponadu, caught -sight of the fleeing pair at a place where the stairway narrowed to -a mere two feet. It seemed to Yorgh that a section of rock must have -been broken away by a fall of stone from above, but he put aside his -speculation as an arrow hissed up from below and snapped against the -face of the cliff less than ten feet ahead. - -"They're coming up the steps too!" Vaneen reported breathlessly. - -"Hurry!" urged Yorgh, grabbing her hand. "They seem to think we're -breaking a greater taboo than killing!" - -He heard more twanging of bows below, but only two more arrows came -close. Then they were past the narrow spot and protected by the bulge -of rock around which the steps curved. - -Yorgh groaned when he looked ahead. - -"Have they been guarding steps that lead only to a place to jump from?" - -Then he saw the dark hole in the rock where the stone footway ended. - -"A cave!" gasped Vaneen. "Yorgh, must we go in?" - -Little liking the idea himself, he said nothing. His exploring fingers -found that the walls, near the entrance at least, were curiously -smooth. He edged into the blackness, groping ahead cautiously. Guiding -Vaneen's hand to a grip on his belt, he drew the bronze knife and held -it--blade upward and ready--in his right hand. - -About thirty feet straight into the mountain, he tripped. - -"May the Three Moons sink into the sea!" he growled as he felt about in -the dark. "More steps!" - -"They're coming," said Vaneen. - -"I know it," snapped Yorgh, wondering how patient a man had to be in -the face of eating a sheaf of arrows. - -Then it occurred to him that it would probably be worse for the girl if -they were caught, and he decided that she was being reasonably patient -too. - -There were three short flights of steps, leading to a short corridor -only a few feet wide. This ended in a blank wall, as Yorgh discovered -by bumping his head against it. - -As his exploring hands reached out on all sides and confirmed that -the passage was squared off to a dead end, he growled a particularly -obscene oath he had heard among the Sea People. Then he hesitated. - -"Vaneen," he whispered, "can you see anything?" - -"Where?" came her whisper over his shoulder. Then he heard her gasp. -"Oh, Yorgh, it doesn't look solid! I can see shadows!" - -"It must be some kind of door," Yorgh declared. "If I only had a light! -There's some kind of round bump but I can't find any handle." - -He threw his weight against the smooth surface but it did not even -quiver. - -"Well," said Yorgh, "I was tired of letting that rabble chase me -anyway." - -It bothered him, however, not to know what had trapped him, what sort -of barrier it was. - -I wonder if I could see by sparks from my fire stones? he thought. - -He sheathed his knife and thrust a hand into the pouch at his belt. His -fingers touched something long and metallic. - -Of course! he told himself. Although it probably won't work now that I -need it! - -He pulled out the metal cylinder and twisted at the ends. As he located -the right one, the blue-green light flared out, brilliant to eyes -adjusted to the blackness. - -"It is a door!" Vaneen breathed. "Look, Yorgh! You can see through--" - -She stopped as the door slowly swung open. - - - V - -Yorgh held the light in his left hand and dropped the other to the hilt -of his knife, straining to see who or what was opening the door. - -Then he decided to thrash that matter out on the inside and twisted the -light off to avoid making himself a target. - -He stepped forward ... and smashed into the closing door. - -At first, he thought someone had hit him. Then he heard the tiny click -as the door shut. - -"There are torches below the steps!" Vaneen warned. - -Yorgh twisted the light on again, and held it out so he could examine -the door closely. He saw the blue-green rays reflected from the small, -round bump on the portal, which immediately swung open again. - -This time, Yorgh charged ahead without waiting. Vaneen was on his -heels. As they passed the door, and their bodies shielded the light in -his hand, it swung back and clicked shut again. They were alone in a -large, shadowy chamber. - -"Look!" Vaneen said. - -He turned and found he could see the rest of the corridor plainly -through the door, lit by the reflection of torches. It grew brighter as -a young Raydower thrust a light and his head cautiously above the level -of the floor. - -Yorgh twisted the light off and drew Vaneen to one side. - -"You know," he whispered, "when one follows a loppa trail to a -waterhole, and finds only ponadu tracks going away, one asks no -questions as to exactly how it came about. If they do not have a little -light like mine, I think they will not get past that door." - -It turned out that he was right. - -The voices outside were almost inaudible, but the torch light shone in -the corridor. Someone finally laid the palm of a sweating hand against -the door. When he found that he could not push it open he quickly -retreated. - -After a while Yorgh peeped out in time to see the last of the pursuers -descending the steps. Then it was dark again. - -"I can see the stars," murmured Vaneen. - -Yorgh looked up. It was true. - -"And, Yorgh...?" - -"Yes?" he asked, feeling light of heart at having succeeded in escaping -the Raydowers for the time being. - -"I ... am beginning to believe your story about finding the metal stick -in the desert. I'm sorry I said what I did." - -Yorgh chuckled and reached out for her in the dark. He pulled her to -him and found her soft lips with his. After the first instant, she -slipped strong young arms about his waist and strained her body against -his. - -"That's ninety-nine you owe me," said Yorgh, taking a deep breath. - -Vaneen pretended to pull back from him, with a low laugh. - -Abruptly, following a quiet click, the place was flooded by a white -glare that was like a blow on his eyes. When he could see again, they -were still the only ones there ... except for a skeleton on a couch -across the wide, cluttered chamber ... and another on the floor beside -a long table with many drawers. - -"What is it?" gasped Yorgh. - -"I don't know. My shoulder touched something on the wall beside the -door, and--" - -The place was filled with strange furnishings. Some were wooden -and seemed to sag here and there; most were queer things of metal. -Overhead, a transparent roof offered a good view of the stars. - -Cautiously, with Vaneen crowding close, Yorgh walked around the -chamber. There were other doors, and he tried his light at one of -them. It obediently swung open to reveal what must have been sleeping -quarters. Yorgh saw more bones, and let the door close again. - -It was Vaneen who discovered the books. The writing and pictures on the -smooth, pliable pages put to shame the few parchment records they had -seen in the village of the Sea People. - -Yorgh never remembered how many awed hours they spent looking at the -strange instruments and colored maps and other curiosities. The sky, he -did recall later, was showing light when he made his little mistake. - -"This must be a place of the Old Ones of the legends," Vaneen was -murmuring as Yorgh fingered a series of little studs on one of the -machines. - -Suddenly, there was whirring motion under his hand. He leaped back, -startled. A humming grew from nowhere, followed by a scratching sound -that culminated in a loud snap. - -A tired voice spoke, sounding so near and natural that Yorgh dropped a -hand to his knife and looked about. - -"World Four of the Kithgol planetary system reporting on the hundred -and sixty-first day of the plague. Urgently request the dropping of -medical supplies detailed in last report, but advise against any -attempt to land here. The plague is still uncontrollable, even animals, -with few exceptions, being wiped out. - -"Little hope for survival of this colony. Personnel of this station -remain in strict quarantine, and will not venture out to mingle with -other colonists in hopes of maintaining communication to the last...." - -There was more, but Yorgh was satisfied. - -He backed away from the talking thing, and saw that Vaneen's face was -as white as his own felt. - -"Let's go down again," he whispered through dry lips. "It's getting -light." - -He would have accepted a look of scorn for such a weak excuse, but -the girl followed meekly. The door opened as soon as he got his light -within a yard of it, and they crept guiltily down the stairs cut out of -solid rock. - - * * * * * - -There were no Raydowers about until Yorgh and Vaneen came wearily down -the last flight of steps on the face of the cliff. Jayn was waiting -there in the little clearing, with Ueln and a crowd of villagers, -spearmen prominently to the fore. - -"The spirits let you return!" murmured Jayn, her face strained and pale. - -There was a general air of shrinking back among the crowd, although -Yorgh did not see anyone actually move his feet. - -"I swear," said Ueln, "that they must have been all the way inside the -shrine. I followed right to the Portal!" - -"That is true enough," said Yorgh, waiting a few steps up to see what -they would do. - -He wondered if he could impress them with his light. He held it in his -hands. - -"Then, the sooner you go, the better!" said Jayn bitterly. "If the -spirits let you go, we may not touch you. But I do not care to keep you -around until you bring certain disaster upon the village." - -An old woman whispered in her ear, and she looked sharply at Vaneen. - -"And you took the girl with you?" she demanded. - -"Of course," he replied. "And if you are really anxious to have us -gone, I think you should give us wollies to ride." - -"You can have all the animals my cousin took from the flatland!" she -snapped. "But first, another matter!" - -An old man was pushed to the forefront of the crowd. He smoothed his -white beard nervously and peered up at Yorgh and Vaneen with faded, -short-sighted eyes. - -Abruptly, he found his voice, and rattled off a brief, chanting patter. -Then he stepped back behind a spearman who looked to Yorgh as if he -would be poor protection. - -"What was that, a curse?" demanded the Hunter, having had difficulty -understanding the rapid words mumbled from the old man's toothless -mouth. - -To force an answer, he twisted the metal cylinder to flash the light at -them. - -"No," gulped Jayn, her eyes riveted upon the object in his hands. -"He married you. It's the only thing that might possibly lessen the -sacrilege. You were up there a long time." - -She looked up at him bitterly. - -"Oh, Yorgh! Why did you have to take that wench with you?" - -Vaneen, who had been so quiet behind his shoulder, spoke at last. - -"And I didn't even give him a tunic with a fur collar," she said. - -Jayn flushed, then paled as she bit her red lower lip; and Yorgh saw -that the comment must have struck a deeper wound than could days of -kitchen drudgery. - -He didn't know what to say; but his silence must have seemed -threatening, for Ueln spoke up. - -"I will ride after him, and make plain to his people how we brought him -and the girl to the mountains," he offered. - -"A good idea!" said Jayn, with an undertone in her voice that made -Yorgh think of a cornered ponadu. "Just to be safe, and to make sure -they take him back, we'll all go!" - -Yorgh and Vaneen glanced at each other, but soon found that the -Raydowers were in earnest. Before noon, they found themselves leading -the hastily assembled column from the village out onto the grassy plain -beyond the foothills. - -There, another surprise waited them. - -The Hunters, mostly on foot, save for a dozen on half-tamed wollies, -met them at the first clump of trees, where some of their dark tents -were pitched. - -"We were just about to follow your trail in," cried Kwint, riding up -to Yorgh with a grin splitting his features. "Do I see our run-away -wollies being herded along there?" - -"You do," said Yorgh, conscious that Ueln had pulled up beside him, -looking glum. "This is Ueln of the Raydowers. He ... caught them for -us." - -Kwint looked hard at both of them, but held his peace. Vaneen had -ridden straight to her father. - -"I gave the metal stick to Yorgh as you told me, Father," she said, -staring him levelly between the eyes. "I hope you have no more such -errands." - -She slipped down from her mount, and headed for their tent. - -"She's tired," said Yorgh to Puko, whom he found at his knee. - -Tefior looked about weakly, and finally thought to close his mouth. - -"The least you could do," Yorgh told him, "is to offer our friends here -meat, to show there are no grudges." - -Tefior licked his lips and began to give orders, but there was a -puzzled frown on his brow. - -Anyone but me, thought Yorgh, grinning, he would ask, but he is timid -of the answers I might give him. - -Things went very well after that. With the returned wollies, it was -easy to move back to the camp at the creek, where the Hunters had left -their carts and most of their baggage. The Raydowers willingly traveled -with them, and were loaned tents to set up a camp of their own. - -For eleven days, the tribes camped there, exchanging feasts, hunting -together, and finding things to trade. Yorgh was gratified at how his -advice was accepted by both sides, even though in fear by one of them. -The Raydowers looked uneasy whenever he casually talked of traveling -back with them. - -There was only one untoward incident, which was quickly hushed up. As -Yorgh was told the tale, Vaneen had taken Jayn to swim in the secluded -bend of the creek. Somehow or other it happened that only the Hunter -girl had dressed when she shrieked that she heard a ponadu in the woods. - -Yorgh remembered the way Jayn's dark robes had fitted over the hips, -and wished he had been there to see. Then he thought of her kitchen in -the mountain village, and said no more on the subject. - -When some of the Raydowers became friendly enough to talk, however, -the story of his escapade with Vaneen got around. - -Yorgh caught people glancing askance at him every time he turned -around. He went to old Tefior. - -"I suppose you have heard it all," he said. "If you do not think it -best, I won't come to your fire to see Vaneen." - -The chief looked over Yorgh's shoulder. - -"Perhaps ... for the time being...." - -Don't know why I took that for an answer, thought Yorgh, staring across -the flatland the next morning at dawn. Suppose I tell him the Raydowers -call us married? Would he just say their law doesn't count? Vaneen -looks kindly at me from a distance, but she hasn't spoken. - -He chewed moodily on a blade of grass, thinking that he heard a distant -herd of kromp moving. - -Then his head jerked up as a great flame ripped across the sky. - - - VI - -There were shouts behind him in the camp, and he saw motion about the -borrowed tents of the Raydowers. - -A huge, gleaming thing sank down to the plain on a cushion of smoke and -flame. The fires disappeared as it touched ground. A moment later, the -thunder died out. - -Yorgh became aware of someone yanking his arm. - -"Come on!" yelled little Puko. "I have a wolly for you. You can flee to -the mountains!" - -Yorgh looked around, and most of the talk and bustle ceased. People, -finding themselves still alive, stopped to stare at Yorgh. He saw a -group hurrying over from the Raydower camp. - -Why don't they look to Tefior or Jayn? he wondered peevishly. - -The first words Jayn spoke when she panted up with Ueln and others of -her people were, "You were wrong to go up there!" - -"I do not think well of it," Tefior agreed sadly. - -"This is what comes of violating the shrine!" shouted one of the -Raydowers. "The spirits of the Old Ones have come to avenge themselves -upon us all!" - -"No!" roared Yorgh. - -He stared around at them, then out across the plain where the great, -gleaming thing stood upright with wisps of smoke curling up from the -grass at its base. - -"I brought it upon us; I will go!" - -Jayn and Ueln stared at him with pale, sorrowful faces. Kwint fingered -his bow, and seemed about to step forward. Puko did, but Tefior grabbed -him by the hair. - -Yorgh turned and walked slowly away. - -"Yorgh! Wait!" - -Vaneen ran after him. - -"We'll go together! I was there with you!" - -"No!" he groaned. "Jayn, she went because I took her. Kwint! Ueln! Hold -her!" - -He broke away and ran toward the thing on the plain, not thinking, not -even hoping. The voices behind him died away. - -After he had covered a quarter of a mile, he noticed that the metal -thing was like the ships of the Sea People in some ways. It was -rounded, like a hull, and its upthrust bow-- - -To his amazement, there were four men standing under it when he -arrived. Yorgh gaped at their queer clothes. - -"Well, look at him!" said one of them with a strange accent. "Is that -what's been sending out a repetitive message that's well over two -hundred years old? I thought the plague wiped this planet clean." - -"Man!" exclaimed the one with the close-cropped red hair. "If we can -find out why not, maybe we can stop it wherever it still pops up in the -galaxy!" - -It was late afternoon when Yorgh ambled back into camp. - -A great sigh went up from the waiting groups when they saw that he was -smiling. - -"They are men!" he shouted. "Sons of the Old Ones--as are we! Tefior, -Jayn, when I have told you, this will be a night for a feast!" - -He told them of the strange men who said they came from the Terran -Colonial Patrol in answer to a message from The World, which had long -been shunned as a dead colony, dead of a plague still known among the -stars. - -He told how the Terrans had taken blood from his arm and looked at it -in a queer machine, whereupon they had grown talkative and excited. - -"They said they will send people to teach us the forgotten ways of the -Old Ones, because we are the first they have found who do not die of -the sickness," he concluded. "Just for bringing them kromps and other -animals to help cure the sickness, they will see that we have all we -need to stand beside them, as brothers." - -And he told how one of the Terrans had knocked a kromp unconscious with -a small machine in his hand, to get some of its blood. - -"I will show you," he grinned, thinking of a tremendous joke. "Where is -Moyt?" - -The others pushed the tall, blond Moyt forward. - -"Is there any reason why you would not like to marry Jayn, who is the -first of the Raydower women?" Yorgh asked. - -"I--" began Moyt suspiciously, and stiffened as Yorgh pressed the -trigger of the Terran stunner he held inside his tunic. - -Moyt got control of his knees and straightened up as Yorgh turned off -the power. - -He started to open his mouth angrily, and Yorgh stunned him again. Moyt -slumped to his knees beside Jayn. - -The Raydower woman's lips curved in a thoughtful smile, and she reached -out to run a finger through Moyt's hair. The man had changed his mind -about protesting by the time the second shock had worn off. - -Then Yorgh sat down to answer question after question while -preparations for the night's feast went on. The men gathered and voted -that messengers should be sent to the Sea People to tell of what had -happened. Someone shouted Yorgh's name to be chief of the three tribes, -and the cry was taken up over his protests. - -"Well, I'll take a walk and think about it," he said finally, and -strolled up the creek for a breather. - -In the quiet of the trees, he shook his head to see if he would wake -from the dream, but the only result was that he heard voices. - -He lengthened his stride and caught up with a group of the young women. - -"Where are you going?" he asked amiably. - -"We were going swimming before the feast," answered pert Ahnee, "but -if there is to be a ponadu named Yorgh in the woods--" - -"I won't bother you," he grinned, "if you will tell me where Vaneen is." - -"She went ahead alone when we stopped to hear what all the shouting was -for. She is anxious to try the new dress of white wool that Jayn gave -her." - -"Oh," said Yorgh, wrinkling his brow. "Well, in that case, I must ask -you girls to find another part of the creek." - -"What!" cried Ahnee. "Yorgh, you oughtn't!" - -"The Raydower elder said a marriage spell over us, didn't he? Now, will -you go, or must I show you what happened to Moyt?" - -"We'll go!" squealed Ahnee hastily, as the other girls faded back from -beside her. "But it was said that you did not mean to hold her to that -foreign ceremony." - -"I must obey everyone's laws," said Yorgh, "now that I am to be chief -of all the tribes." - -He thought he heard splashing a little way up the creek, and grinned to -himself at the vision in his mind. - -"But it is well known that you told Tefior--" - -"Argh!" said Yorgh. "It is well known that I seldom speak in earnest!" - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Calling World-4 of Kithgol, by H. B. 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