to the Chief, whom he saw sitting on
the judgment stone, and threw down spear and club at his feet in sign
of fealty. But A-ya, following, was keen to note the hostile attitude
of the tribe. Her defiant eyes darted everywhere, and everywhere noted
black looks. She could not understand it, but she divined that there
was some plot afoot against Grom. Her heart swelled with rage, and her
dark-maned head went up arrogantly, for she felt as if the strongest
and wisest of the tribe were now but children in comparison with her
lord. But, though children, they were many, and she closed up behind
him for a guard, grasping more firmly the shaft of her short,
serviceable spear. She saw the broad, black, scowling visage of young
Mawg, towering over a little group of his kinsfolk, and eyeing her
with mingled greed and rage, and she divined at once that he was at
the back of whatever mischief might be brewing. She answered his look
with one of mocking scorn, and then turned her attention to the Chief,
who was sitting in grim silence, the customary hand of welcome
ominously withheld.

A haughty look came over Grom's face, his broad shoulders squared
themselves, and he met the Chief's eyes sternly.

"I have done the bidding of Bawr the Chief," he said, in a clear
voice, so that all the tribe might hear. "I have found a place where
the tribe may hold themselves secure against all enemies. And I have
come back, as was agreed, to lead the tribe thither before our enemies
destroy us. I have done great deeds. I have not spared myself. I have
come quickly. I have deserved well of the people. Why has Bawr the
Chief no welcome for me?"

A murmur arose from the corner where Mawg and his friends were
grouped, but a glance from the Chief silenced it. With his piercing
gaze making relentless inquisition of the eyes that answered his so
steadily, he seemed to ponder Grom's words. Slowly the anger faded
from his scarred and massy face, for he knew men; and this man, though
his most formidable rival in strength and prestige, he instinctively
trusted.

"You have been accused," said he at length, slowly, "of deserting the
tribe in our weakness--"

A puzzled look had come over Grom's face at the word "accused"; then
his deep eyes blazed, and he broke in upon the Chief's speech without
ceremony.

"Show me my accusers!" he demanded harshly. The Chief waved his hand
for silence.

"In our weakness!" he repeated. "But you have returned to us. So I