that she had
come through unharmed, because the great brute had dared not pause
along the danger-infested way. She said that they had but just reached
the cliffs when I arrived, for on several occasions her captor had been
forced to take to the trees with her to escape the clutches of some
hungry cave-lion or saber-toothed tiger, and that twice they had been
obliged to remain for considerable periods before the beasts had
retired.

Nobs, by dint of much scrambling and one or two narrow escapes from
death, had managed to follow us up the cliff and was now curled between
me and the doorway, having devoured a piece of the dried meat, which he
seemed to relish immensely. He was the first to fall asleep; but I
imagine we must have followed suit soon, for we were both tired. I had
laid aside my ammunition-belt and rifle, though both were close beside
me; but my pistol I kept in my lap beneath my hand. However, we were
not disturbed during the night, and when I awoke, the sun was shining
on the tree-tops in the distance. Lys' head had drooped to my breast,
and my arm was still about her.

Shortly afterward Lys awoke, and for a moment she could not seem to
comprehend her situation. She looked at me and then turned and glanced
at my arm about her, and then she seemed quite suddenly to realize the
scantiness of her apparel and drew away, covering her face with her
palms and blushing furiously. I drew her back toward me and kissed
her, and then she threw her arms about my neck and wept softly in mute
surrender to the inevitable.

It was an hour later before the tribe began to stir about. We watched
them from our "apartment," as Lys called it. Neither men nor women wore
any sort of clothing or ornaments, and they all seemed to be about of
an age; nor were there any babies or children among them. This was, to
us, the strangest and most inexplicable of facts, but it recalled to us
that though we had seen many of the lesser developed wild people of
Caspak, we had never yet seen a child or an old man or woman.

After a while they became less suspicious of us and then quite friendly
in their brutish way. They picked at the fabric of our clothing, which
seemed to interest them, and examined my rifle and pistol and the
ammunition in the belt around my waist. I showed them the
thermos-bottle, and when I poured a little water from it, they were
delighted, thinking that it was a spring which I carried about with
me--a never-fai