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07 - Moon Maid by Edgar Rice Burroughs · Moon Maid

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Speaker 1: Chapter six, The moon maid Orthus, who was becoming the
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Speaker 1: almost constant companion of the chief, was standing beside the latter,
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Speaker 1: while I was twenty five or thirty yards away and
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Speaker 1: directly between Gabago and the warriors who were approaching with
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Speaker 1: the prisoner, who would of necessity have to pass close
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Speaker 1: beside me. I remained where I was therefore in order
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Speaker 1: to get a better look at it, which was rather
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Speaker 1: difficult because it was almost entirely surrounded by novans. However,
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Speaker 1: as they came opposite me, there was a little break
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Speaker 1: momentarily in the ranks, and I had my first opportunity
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Speaker 1: the brief for a closer examination of the captive. My
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Speaker 1: comprehension was almost staggered by what my eyes revealed to me,
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Speaker 1: for there before me was as perfectly formed a human
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Speaker 1: female as I had ever seen by earthly standards. She
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Speaker 1: appeared a girl of about eighteen, with hair of glossy
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Speaker 1: blackness that suggested more the raven's wing than aught else,
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Speaker 1: and a skin of almost marble whiteness slightly tinged with
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Speaker 1: a creamy shade. Only in the color of her skin
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Speaker 1: did she differ from earthly women and appearance, except that
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Speaker 1: she seemed far more beautiful than they. Such perfection of
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Speaker 1: features seemed almost unbelievable. Had I seen her first posed motionless,
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Speaker 1: I could have sworn that she was chiseled from marble.
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Speaker 1: Yet there was nothing cold about her appearance. She fairly
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Speaker 1: radiated life and feeling. If my first impression had been startling,
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Speaker 1: it was nothing to the effect that was produced when
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Speaker 1: she turned her eyes full upon me. Her black brows
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Speaker 1: were two thin penciled arches, beneath which were dark wells
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Speaker 1: of light vying in blackness. With her raven hair on
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Speaker 1: either cheek was just the faintest suggestion of a deeper cream.
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Speaker 1: And to think that these hideous creatures saw in that
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Speaker 1: form divine only flesh to eat. I shuddered at the thought.
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Speaker 1: And then my eyes met hers, and I saw an
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Speaker 1: expression of incredulity and surprise registered in those liquid oars.
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Speaker 1: She half turned her head as she was dragged past,
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Speaker 1: that she might have a further look at me. For
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Speaker 1: doubtless she was as surprised to see a creature like
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Speaker 1: me as I was to see her. Involuntarily, I started forward.
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Speaker 1: Whether there was an appeal for succor in those eyes,
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Speaker 1: I do not know. But at least they aroused within
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Speaker 1: me instantly that natural instinct of a you and male
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Speaker 1: to protect the weak. And so it was that I
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Speaker 1: was a little behind her and to her right. When
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Speaker 1: she was halted before Govago, the savage Vogas chieftain eyed
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Speaker 1: her coldly, while from all sides there arose cries of
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Speaker 1: give us flesh, give us flesh, we are hungry, to
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Speaker 1: which Gavago paid not the slightest attention. From whence come you, yoga,
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Speaker 1: he demanded. Her head was high, and she eyed him
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Speaker 1: with cold dignity. As she replied from lathe. The Navon
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Speaker 1: raised his brows. Ah, I breathed from lathe. The flesh
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Speaker 1: of the women from lathe is good, and he licked
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Speaker 1: his thin lips. The girl narrowed her eyes and tilted
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Speaker 1: her chin a bit higher. Rymph, she ejaculated, disgustedly. As
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Speaker 1: Rymph is the name of the four legged snake of
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Speaker 1: Vana the inner world, and considered the lowest and most
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Speaker 1: disgusting of created things. She could not well have applied
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Speaker 1: a more opprobrious epithet to the Navan chieftain. But if
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Speaker 1: it had been her intent to affront him, his expression
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Speaker 1: gave no indication that she had succeeded your name, he asked,
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Speaker 1: nah illah. She replied nah illah. He repeated, ah, are
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Speaker 1: you the daughter of Sagrath jemadar Lathe. She nodded in
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Speaker 1: indifferent affirmation, as though aught he might say was a
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Speaker 1: matter of perfect indifference to her. What do you expect
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Speaker 1: us to do with you? Asked Gavago, a question which
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Speaker 1: suggested a cat playing with a mouse before destroying it.
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Speaker 1: What can I expect of the Vagas other than that
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Speaker 1: they will kill me and eat me? She replied. A
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Speaker 1: roar of savage ascent arose from the creature surrounding her.
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Speaker 1: Gavago flashed a quick look of anger and displeasure in
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Speaker 1: his people. Do not be too sure of that, he snapped,
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Speaker 1: This be little more than a meal for Gavago alone.
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Speaker 1: It would but whet the appetite of the tribe. There
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Speaker 1: are two more, suggested a bold warrior close beside me,
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Speaker 1: pointing at me and orth this silence, roared Gavago. Since
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Speaker 1: when did you become chief of the Novans. We can
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Speaker 1: starve without a chief, muttered the warrior, who had spoken,
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Speaker 1: and from two or three about him arose grumblings of
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Speaker 1: ascent swift. At that, Gavago reared upon his hind feet,
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Speaker 1: and in the same motion drew and hurled his spear,
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Speaker 1: the sharp point penetrating the breast of the malcontent, piercing
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Speaker 1: his heart. As the creature fell, the warrior closest to
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Speaker 1: him slit his throat, while another withdrew Galvago's spear from
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Speaker 1: the corpse and returned it to the chief. Divide the
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Speaker 1: carcass among you, commanded the chief. And whose whoever thinks
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Speaker 1: that there is not enough, let him speak as that
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Speaker 1: one spoke, and there shall be more flesh to eat.
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Speaker 1: Thus did Gavago, chief of the Novans, hold the obedience
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Speaker 1: of his savage tribesmen. There was no more muttering then,
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Speaker 1: but I saw several cast hungry eyes at me, hungry,
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Speaker 1: angry eyes that boded me no good. In what seemed
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Speaker 1: an incredibly short space of time, the carcass of the
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Speaker 1: slain warrior had been divided and devoured, and once again
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Speaker 1: we set out upon the march in search of new
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Speaker 1: fields to conquer and fresh flesh to eat. Now Gavago
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Speaker 1: sent scouts far in advance of the point, for we
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Speaker 1: were entering territory which he had not invaded for a
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Speaker 1: long time, a truth which was evidenced by the fact
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Speaker 1: that there were only about twenty warriors in the tribe
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Speaker 1: besides Gavago, who were at all familiar with the territory.
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Speaker 1: Naturally quarrelsome and disagreeable, the Novans were far from pleasant
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Speaker 1: companions upon that memorable march, since they had not recovered
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Speaker 1: from the frightened discomforts of the storm, and in addition,
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Speaker 1: were ravenously hungry. I imagine that none other than Gabago
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Speaker 1: could have held them. What his purpose was in preserving
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Speaker 1: the three prisoners that would have made such excellent food
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Speaker 1: for the tribe, I did not know. However, we were
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Speaker 1: not slain, though I judged the fellow who carried me
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Speaker 1: would much sooner have eaten me, And to vent his
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Speaker 1: spite upon me, he trotted as much as he could,
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Speaker 1: and I can assure you that he had the most
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Speaker 1: devilishly execrable trot I ever sat. I felt that he
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Speaker 1: was rather running the thing into the ground, for he
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Speaker 1: had an easy track, which would have made it much
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Speaker 1: more comfortable for both of us. And inasmuch as I
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Speaker 1: knew that I was safe as long as I was
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Speaker 1: under Gavigo's protection. I made up my mind to teach
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Speaker 1: the fellow a lesson, which I finally did, although almost
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Speaker 1: as much to my discomfort as his, by making no
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Speaker 1: effort to ease myself upon his back, so that at
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Speaker 1: every step I rose high and came down hard upon him,
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Speaker 1: sitting as far back as possible, so as to found
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Speaker 1: his kidneys painfully. It made him very angry, and he
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Speaker 1: threatened me with all kinds of things if I didn't desist,
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Speaker 1: But I only answered by suggesting that he take an
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Speaker 1: easier gait, which at last he was forced to do.
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Speaker 1: Orthos was riding ahead with Gavago, who as usual led
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Speaker 1: the point, while the new prisoner, Astrid and Noovan warrior
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Speaker 1: was with the main body, as was I. Once the
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Speaker 1: warriors that we bestowed paced side by side, and I
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Speaker 1: saw the girl eyeing me questioningly. She seemed much interested
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Speaker 1: in the remnants of my uniform, which must have differed
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Speaker 1: greatly from any clothing she had seen in her own world.
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Speaker 1: It seemed that she spoke and understood the same language
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Speaker 1: that Gavago used, and so at last I may bow
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Speaker 1: to address her. It is unfortunate, I said that you
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Speaker 1: have fallen into the hands of these creatures. I wish
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Speaker 1: that I might be of service to you, but I
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Speaker 1: also am a prisoner. She acknowledged my speech with a
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Speaker 1: slight inclination of her head, and at first I thought
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Speaker 1: that she was not going to reply, But finally, looking
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Speaker 1: me full in the face, she asked, what are you.
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Speaker 1: I am one of the inhabitants of the planet Earth.
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Speaker 1: Where is that? And what is a planet? She asked
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Speaker 1: for I had had to use the Earth word, since
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Speaker 1: there is no word of similar meaning in the language
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Speaker 1: of the Vagas. You know, of course, I said that
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Speaker 1: space outside of Varna is filled with other worlds. The
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Speaker 1: closest to Vana is Earth, which is many many times
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Speaker 1: larger than your world. It is from Earth that I come.
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Speaker 1: She shook her head. I do not understand, she said.
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Speaker 1: She closed her eyes and waved her hands with a
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Speaker 1: gesture that might have included the universe. Oh all is roc,
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Speaker 1: she said, except here in the center of everything, in
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Speaker 1: this space we call Vana. All else is Roc. I
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Speaker 1: suppressed a smile at the vast egotism of Vana. But
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Speaker 1: yet how little different is it from many worldlings who
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Speaker 1: conceive that the entire cosmos exists solely for the inhabitants
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Speaker 1: of Earth. I even know men in our own enlightened
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Speaker 1: twenty first century who insist that Mars is not inhabited,
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Speaker 1: and that the messages that are purported to come from
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Speaker 1: our sister planet are either the evidences of a great
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Speaker 1: world hoax or the voice of the devil, luring people
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Speaker 1: from belief in the true God. Did you ever seem
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Speaker 1: alike Invana, I asked her. No, she replied, I never did,
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Speaker 1: but I have not been to every part of Bvana.
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Speaker 1: Vanna is a very great world, and there are many
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Speaker 1: corners of it of which I know nothing. I am
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Speaker 1: not a Vana, I told her again, I am from
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Speaker 1: another world, far far away. And then I tried to
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Speaker 1: explain something of the universe to her, of the Sun
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Speaker 1: and the planets and their satellites. But I saw that
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Speaker 1: it was as far beyond her as of the conceptions
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Speaker 1: of eternity and space, beyond the finite mind of earthmen.
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Speaker 1: She simply couldn't get it. That was all to her.
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Speaker 1: Everything was solid rock that we know is space. She
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Speaker 1: thought for a long time, though, and then she said, Ah, perhaps,
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Speaker 1: after all, there may be other worlds than Vana, the
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Speaker 1: great whos those vast holes that lead into the eternal
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Speaker 1: rock may open into other worlds like Vana. I have
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Speaker 1: heard that theory, disgusted, but no one in Vana believes it.
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Speaker 1: It is true, then, she exclaimed brightly, And you come
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Speaker 1: from another world like Vana. You came through one of
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Speaker 1: the whos, did you not? Yes, I came through one
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Speaker 1: of the whos, I replied. The word means hole in
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Speaker 1: the vagas tongue. But I did not come from a
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Speaker 1: world like Vana. Here you live on the inside of
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Speaker 1: a hollow sphere. We earthmen live upon the outside of
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Speaker 1: a similar, though much larger sphere. What holds it up?
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Speaker 1: She cried, laughing. It was the first time that she
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Speaker 1: had laughed, and it was a very contagious laugh, and
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Speaker 1: altogether delightful. Although I knew that it would probably be useless.
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Speaker 1: I tried to explain the whole thing to her, commencing
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Speaker 1: with the nebular hypothesis and winding up with the relations
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Speaker 1: that exist between the Moon and the Earth. If I
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Speaker 1: didn't accomplish anything else, I at least gave her something
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Speaker 1: to distract her mind from her great predicament and to
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Speaker 1: amuse her temporarily. For she laughed often at some of
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Speaker 1: my statements, I had never seen so gay and vivacious
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Speaker 1: a creature, nor when so entirely beautiful as she. The
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Speaker 1: single sleeveless tunic like garment that she wore fell scarcely
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Speaker 1: to her knees, and as she bestrode the Nolon Warrior,
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Speaker 1: it often flew back until her thighs even were exposed.
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Speaker 1: Her figure was divinely perfect, its graceful contours being rather
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Speaker 1: excited scentuated than hidden by the diaphanous material of her
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Speaker 1: dainty covering. But when she laughed, she exposed two rows
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Speaker 1: of even white teeth that would be the envy of
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Speaker 1: the most beautiful of earthmaids. Suppose she said that I
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Speaker 1: should take a handful of gravel and throw it up
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Speaker 1: in the air. According to your theory, the smaller would
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Speaker 1: all commence to revolve about the larger, and they would
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Speaker 1: go flying thus wildly around in the air forever. But
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Speaker 1: that is not what would happen. If I threw a
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Speaker 1: handful of gravel into the air, it would fall immediately
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Speaker 1: to the ground again. And if the worlds you tell
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Speaker 1: me of were cast thus into the air, they too
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Speaker 1: would fall just as the gravel falls. It was useless.
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Speaker 1: But I had known that from the beginning what would
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Speaker 1: be more interesting would be to question her, and that
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Speaker 1: I had wished to do for some time. But she
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Speaker 1: always put me off with a pretty gesture and a
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Speaker 1: shake of her head, insisting that I answer some of
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Speaker 1: her questions instead. But this time I insisted, tell me please.
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Speaker 1: I asked how you came to the spot where you
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Speaker 1: were captured, how you flew, and what became of your wings,
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Speaker 1: and why when they tore them from you it did
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Speaker 1: not injure you. She laughed at that quite merrily. The
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Speaker 1: wings do not grow upon us, she explained. We make
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Speaker 1: them and fasten them upon our arms. Then you can
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Speaker 1: support yourself in the air with wings fastened to your arms,
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Speaker 1: I demanded, incredulously. Oh no, she said. The wings we
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Speaker 1: use simply for propelling ourselves through the air. In a
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Speaker 1: bag upon our backs, we carry a gas that is
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Speaker 1: later than air. It is this gas which supports us,
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Speaker 1: and we carry it in such quantities as to maintain
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Speaker 1: a perfect equilibrium, so that we may float at any altitude,
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Speaker 1: or with our wings, rise or fall gently. But as
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Speaker 1: I hovered over laithe came the air that runs and
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Speaker 1: seizing me with its strong arms, bore me off across
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Speaker 1: the surface of Vana. Futilely. I fought against it until
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Speaker 1: I was spent and week, and then it dropped me
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Speaker 1: into the clutches of the Vagas, for the gas in
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Speaker 1: my bag had become depleted. It was not intended to
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Speaker 1: carry me aloft for any great length of time. She
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Speaker 1: had used a word, which, when I questioned her, she
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Speaker 1: explained so that I understood that it meant time. And
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Speaker 1: I asked her what she meant by it and how
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Speaker 1: she would measure it, Since I had seen no indication
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Speaker 1: of the Vagas having any conception of a measurable aspect
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Speaker 1: of duration. Na Illah explained to me that the Vagas,
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Speaker 1: who were a lower order, had no means of measuring time,
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Speaker 1: but the Yuga, the race to which she belonged, had
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Speaker 1: always been able to compute time through their observation of
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Speaker 1: the fact that during certain periods the bottoms of the
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Speaker 1: whos of craters were illuminated, and for another period they
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Speaker 1: were dark, And so they took as a unit of
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Speaker 1: measure the total period from the beginning of this light
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Speaker 1: in a certain crater to its beginning again, and this
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Speaker 1: they called a eulah, which corresponds with a sideial month.
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Speaker 1: By mechanical means, they divide this into a hundred parts
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Speaker 1: called olah, the duration of each of which is about
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Speaker 1: six hours and thirty two minutes Earth time. Ten ullahs
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Speaker 1: make a keld, which one might call the lunar year,
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Speaker 1: of about two hundred and seventy two days Earth time.
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Speaker 1: I asked her many questions and took great pleasure in
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Speaker 1: her answers, for she was a bright, intelligent girl, and
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Speaker 1: although I saw many evidences of regal dignity about her,
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Speaker 1: yet her manner toward me was most natural and unaffected,
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Speaker 1: and I could not help but feel that she occupied
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Speaker 1: a position of importance among her own people. Our conversation
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Speaker 1: was suddenly interrupted, however, by a messenger from the point,
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Speaker 1: who came racing back at tremendous speed, carrying word from
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Speaker 1: Gabago that the scouts were signaling that they had discovered
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Speaker 1: a large village, and that the warriors were to prepare
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Speaker 1: to fight immediately. We moved up rapidly to Gabago, and
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Speaker 1: then we all advanced toward the scout, who could be
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Speaker 1: seen upon a no far ahead. We were cautioned to
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Speaker 1: silence and as we moved at a brisk canter over
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Speaker 1: the soft, pale, lavender vegetation of the inner moon, the
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Speaker 1: feet of the Vagas giving forth no sound, the picture
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Speaker 1: presented to my earthly eyes was weird and mysterious in
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Speaker 1: the extreme. When we reached the scout, we learned that
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Speaker 1: the village was situated just beyond a low ridge, not
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Speaker 1: far distant. So Gabago gave orders that the women, the children,
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Speaker 1: and the three prisoners should remain under a small guard
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Speaker 1: where we were until they had tapped the ridge. When
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Speaker 1: we were to advance to a position where we might
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Speaker 1: overlook the village, and if the battle was against the Novan's,
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Speaker 1: we could retreat to a point which he indicated to
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Speaker 1: the warriors left to guard us. This was to be
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Speaker 1: the rendezvous for following defeat. The Vagas warriors gatter in
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Speaker 1: all directions, thus preventing any considerable body of them being
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Speaker 1: attacked and destroyed by a larger body of the pursuing enemy.
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Speaker 1: As we stood there upon the knoll, watching Gavago and
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Speaker 1: his savage warriors galloping swiftly toward the distant ridge, I
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Speaker 1: could not but wonder that the inhabitants of the village
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Speaker 1: which they were about to attack had not placed sentinels
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Speaker 1: along the ridge to prevent just such a surprise as this.
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Speaker 1: But when I questioned one of the warriors who had
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Speaker 1: been left to guard us, he said that not all
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Speaker 1: the Vagaz tribes were accustomed to posting sentinels when they
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Speaker 1: felt themselves reasonably safe from attack. It had always been
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Speaker 1: Gavago's custom, however, and to it they attributed his supremacy
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Speaker 1: among the other Vagas tribes over a lack large territory.
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Speaker 1: After a tribus made a few successful raids and return victorious,
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Speaker 1: they are filled with pride, the warrior explained to me,
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Speaker 1: And presently they begin to think that no one dares
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Speaker 1: to attack them, and then they grow careless, and little
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Speaker 1: by little the custom of posting sentinels drops into disuse.
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Speaker 1: The very fact that they have no sentinels indicates that
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Speaker 1: they are a large, powerful and successful tribe. We shall
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Speaker 1: feed well for a long time. The very idea of
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Speaker 1: the thought that was passing through his mind was repellent
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Speaker 1: in the extreme, and I fairly shuddered when I contemplated
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Speaker 1: the callousness with which this creature spoke of the coming
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Speaker 1: orgy in which he hoped to devour flesh of his
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Speaker 1: own kind. Presently we saw our force disappear beyond the ridge,
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Speaker 1: and then we too advanced, And as we moved forward,
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Speaker 1: there came suddenly to us from the distance, the fierce
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Speaker 1: and savage war cry of the Novans, and a moment
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Speaker 1: later it was answered by another, no less terrible, rising
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Speaker 1: from the village beyond the ridge. Our guards hastened us
20:07
Speaker 1: then to greater speed, until at a full run, we
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Speaker 1: mounted the steep slope of the ridge and halted upon
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Speaker 1: its crest. Below us lay a broad valley, and in
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Speaker 1: the center a long, beautiful lake, the opposite shore of
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Speaker 1: which was clothed in forest, while that nearest us was
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Speaker 1: open and park like, dotted here and there with beautiful trees.
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Speaker 1: And in this open space we descried a large village.
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Speaker 1: The ferocity of the scene below us was almost indescribable.
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Speaker 1: The Navan's warriors were circling the village at a rapid run,
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Speaker 1: attempting to keep the enemy in a compact mass within
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Speaker 1: where it would present a better target for their spears.
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Speaker 1: Already the ground was dotted with corpses. There were no wounded,
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Speaker 1: for whenever one fell the nearest to him, whether friend
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Speaker 1: or foe, cut his throat, since the victors would devour
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Speaker 1: them all without partiality. The females and the young had
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Speaker 1: taken refuge in the huts, from the doorways of which
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Speaker 1: they watched the progress of the battle. The defenders attempted
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Speaker 1: repeatedly to break through the circling Novans. The warrior with
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Speaker 1: whom I had been talking told me that if they
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Speaker 1: were successful, the females and the young would follow them
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Speaker 1: through the break, scattering in all directions while their warriors
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Speaker 1: attempted to encircle the Novans. It was almost immediately evident
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Speaker 1: that the advantage lay with the force that succeeded in
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Speaker 1: placing this swift moving circle about its enemy and keeping
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Speaker 1: the enemy within it until they had been dispatched. For
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Speaker 1: those in the racing circle presented a poor target, while
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Speaker 1: the compact mass of warriors milling in the center could
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Speaker 1: scarce be missed. Following several unsuccessful attempts to break through
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Speaker 1: the ring of savage foemen, the defenders suddenly formed another
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Speaker 1: smaller ring within, and moving in the opposite direction to
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Speaker 1: the Novans, raced in a rapid circle. No longer did
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Speaker 1: they cast spears at the enemy, but contented themselves with
22:10
Speaker 1: leaping and bounding at a rapid gait. At first it
22:13
Speaker 1: seemed to me that they had lost their heads with terror,
22:16
Speaker 1: but at last I realized that they were executing a
22:20
Speaker 1: strategic maneuver which demonstrated both cunning and high discipline. In
22:25
Speaker 1: the earlier stages of the battle, each side had depended
22:28
Speaker 1: for its weapons upon those hurled by the opposing force.
22:32
Speaker 1: But now the defenders hurled no weapons, and it became
22:36
Speaker 1: apparent that the Novans would soon no longer have spears
22:39
Speaker 1: to cast at them. The defenders were also lessening their
22:43
Speaker 1: casualties by moving in a rapid circle in a direction
22:47
Speaker 1: opposite to that taken by the attackers. But it must
22:50
Speaker 1: have required high courage and considerable discipline to achieve this result,
22:55
Speaker 1: since it is difficult in the extreme to compel men
22:58
Speaker 1: to present themselves continuously as living targets for a foe,
23:02
Speaker 1: while they themselves are permitted to inflict no injury upon
23:05
Speaker 1: the enemy. Gavago apparently was familiar with the ruse, for
23:10
Speaker 1: suddenly he gave a loud cry which was evidently a command. Instantaneously,
23:15
Speaker 1: his entire force wheeled in their tracks and raced in
23:18
Speaker 1: the opposite direction, paralleling the defenders of the village, and
23:22
Speaker 1: immediately thereafter cast their remaining spears at comparatively easy targets.
23:28
Speaker 1: The defenders, who were of the tribe called Luthans, wield
23:32
Speaker 1: instantly to reverse the direction of their flight. Those wounded
23:36
Speaker 1: in the sudden onslaught, stumbled and fell, tripping and impeding
23:40
Speaker 1: the others, with the result that for an instant they
23:43
Speaker 1: were a tangled mass without order or formation. Then it
23:47
Speaker 1: was that Gavago and his novans leaped in upon them
23:50
Speaker 1: with their short, wicked sword daggers. At once. The battle
23:55
Speaker 1: resolved itself into a ferocious and bloody hand to hand conflict,
23:59
Speaker 1: in which daggers and teeth and three toad paws each
24:03
Speaker 1: did their share to inflict injury upon an antagonist. In
24:07
Speaker 1: their efforts to escape a blow or to place themselves
24:10
Speaker 1: in an advantageous position, many of the competants leaped high
24:15
Speaker 1: into the air, sometimes between thirty and forty feet. Their
24:19
Speaker 1: shrieks and howls were continuous and piercing. Corpses lay piled
24:23
Speaker 1: so thick as to impede the movements of the warriors,
24:27
Speaker 1: and the ground was slippery with blood yet on and
24:30
Speaker 1: on they fought, until it seemed that not a single
24:33
Speaker 1: one would be left alive. It is almost over, remarked
24:38
Speaker 1: the warrior at my side. See there are two or
24:41
Speaker 1: three Naovans now attacking each Luthon. It was true, and
24:45
Speaker 1: I saw that the battle could last but a short time.
24:49
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, it ended almost immediately, the
24:52
Speaker 1: remaining Luthons suddenly attempting to break away and scatter in
24:55
Speaker 1: different directions. Some of them succeeded in escaping, possibly twenty,
25:01
Speaker 1: but I am sure that there were not more than that,
25:04
Speaker 1: and the rest fell. Gavagor and his warriors did not
25:09
Speaker 1: pursue the few it escaped, evidently considering that it was
25:12
Speaker 1: not worth the effort, since there were not enough of
25:15
Speaker 1: them to menace the village, and there was already plenty
25:18
Speaker 1: of meat lying fresh and warm upon the ground. We
25:22
Speaker 1: were summoned now, and as we filed down into the
25:25
Speaker 1: village drape was the rejoicing of our females and young.
25:29
Speaker 1: Guards were placed over the women and children of the
25:32
Speaker 1: defeated Luthons, and then, at a signal from Gavago, the
25:36
Speaker 1: Novans fell upon the spoils of war. It was a
25:40
Speaker 1: revolting spectacle, as mothers devoured their sons and wives their husbands.
25:46
Speaker 1: I do not care to dwell upon it. When the
25:49
Speaker 1: victors had eaten their fill, the prisoners were brought forth
25:53
Speaker 1: under heavy guard and divided by the Vargas between the
25:57
Speaker 1: surviving Novan's warriors. There no favoritism shown in the distribution
26:02
Speaker 1: of the prisoners, except that Gavago was given first choice
26:06
Speaker 1: and received also those that remained after as nearly equal
26:09
Speaker 1: a distribution as possible had been made. I had expected
26:13
Speaker 1: that the male children would be killed, but they were
26:16
Speaker 1: not being inducted into the tribe upon an equal footing
26:20
Speaker 1: with those that had been born into it. Being capable
26:24
Speaker 1: of no sentiments of either affection or loyalty, it is
26:27
Speaker 1: immaterial to these creatures to what tribe they belonged, but
26:31
Speaker 1: once inducted into a tribe, the instinct of self preservation
26:34
Speaker 1: holds them to it, since they would be immediately slain
26:38
Speaker 1: by the members of any other tribe. I learned shortly
26:41
Speaker 1: after this engagement that Gavago had lost fully half his warriors,
26:46
Speaker 1: and that this was one of the most important battles
26:49
Speaker 1: that the tribe had ever fought. The spoils however, had
26:53
Speaker 1: been rich, for they had taken over ten thousand women
26:57
Speaker 1: and fully fifty thousand young, and great quantities of weapons, harness,
27:02
Speaker 1: and apparel. The flesh that they could not eat was
27:05
Speaker 1: wrapped up and buried, and I was told that it
27:08
Speaker 1: would remain in excellent condition, almost indefinitely. End of Chapter
27:14
Speaker 1: six Recording by Thomas Copeland