etween the Band-lu and the
Kro-lu, and there I fashion my bow and my arrows and my shield; there I
hunt the red deer for the leathern jerkin which is the badge of my new
estate. When these things are done, I can go to the chief of the
Kro-lu, and he dare not refuse me. That is why you may kill those low
Band-lu if you wish to live, for I am in a hurry.

"But why do you wish to kill me?" I asked.

He looked puzzled and finally gave it up. "I do not know," he
admitted. "It is the way in Caspak. If we do not kill, we shall be
killed, therefore it is wise to kill first whomever does not belong to
one's own people. This morning I hid in my cave till the others were
gone upon the hunt, for I knew that they would know at once that I had
become a Kro-lu and would kill me. They will kill me if they find me
in the coslupak; so will the Kro-lu if they come upon me before I have
won my Kro-lu weapons and jerkin. You would kill me if you could, and
that is the reason I know that you speak lies when you say that your
weapons will kill at a great distance. Would they, you would long
since have killed me. Come! I have no more time to waste in words. I
will spare the woman and take her with me to the Kro-lu, for she is
comely." And with that he advanced upon me with raised spear.

My rifle was at my hip at the ready. He was so close that I did not
need to raise it to my shoulder, having but to pull the trigger to send
him into Kingdom Come whenever I chose; but yet I hesitated. It was
difficult to bring myself to take a human life. I could feel no enmity
toward this savage barbarian who acted almost as wholly upon instinct
as might a wild beast, and to the last moment I was determined to seek
some way to avoid what now seemed inevitable. Ajor stood at my
shoulder, her knife ready in her hand and a sneer on her lips at his
suggestion that he would take her with him.

Just as I thought I should have to fire, a chorus of screams broke from
the women beneath us. I saw the man halt and glance downward, and
following his example my eyes took in the panic and its cause. The
women had, evidently, been quitting the pool and slowly returning
toward the caves, when they were confronted by a monstrous cave-lion
which stood directly between them and their cliffs in the center of the
narrow path that led down to the pool among the tumbled rocks.
Screaming, the women were rushing madly back to the pool.

"It will do them no goo