CHAPTER V NEW FRIENDS They stayed on the shores of the lake for several days and next to the recuperation tent of the wounded Cougar they pitched a second one. Jeremy, as he was named, had the good fortune of remaining in the world of the living despite his hideous injuries, but his recovery took time. To nurse him back to health was one of the reasons to postpone their journey. In addition, Trajan after extensive scanning and surveying, was reassured of the momentary safety of the area. Some unforeseeable event or a change of strategy had caused the hostile elements that had been lurking amongst the slopes of the mountain range to withdraw to regions the new arrivals still had to explore.. To map out the route of the river which flowed southeastwards from the lake was the other important reason to delay their departure. Amongst his own people Leoynar was the one Trajan could mostly trust but in all fairness he could not just treat Deyron and Nagus as a pair of unwanted baggage. Fate had thrown them together on a voyage that would prove to be long, hard and treacherous, and just as they required his leadership he needed their trust and skills. He taught Deyron the complex language codes of the multilyzers, hitherto only reserved for the eyes of commanders of the Interplanetary Spacio Command and gave him a spare rephar which the Superpre admired and fondled for long hours. He reconfigured and strengthened the frequency range of the commanders' Insignias and Leoynar's and his were working perfectly afterwards. He also fine- tuned and reconfigured the regional modulations on Deyron's optic strip to global. During the days that followed they undertook short exploratory trips in the forest and along the banks of the river. The multilyzer failed to indicate signs of highly developed life forms, although occasionally the seekerpulses were able to register unseen animal movement of sub-intelligence. Only two of those species had the courage to leave the protective undergrowth and blink their inquisitive eyes at the intruders but immediately they leapt away. One resembled a hornsteed colt but smaller and timid looking, with only a pitiful scut and without the mantle of colourful manes of the aggressive breed of their world. The cranium outgrowths of this species appeared more like the stark branches of a tree than a pair of glinting swords and their coming immediately put it to flight. Another looked like an undersized chattervole with its quick little eyes and bushy tail save that it appeared more shy than chatty and it too fearfully scurried deeper up the branches of a tree. Those were rare encounters; most of the animal inhabitants of the cedar woods that lined the river banks stayed hidden and out of sight. Amongst the burgeoning plant life they detected bushes loaded with tantalizing knobs of berries, some of them red, others blackblue. Samples were taken and stored away in flexi-phials. Leoynar also took samples of tree barks remembering from his long self-imposed exile in Calitre that the bark of the blisterleaf tree of the Equatorial Steppes could be converted into nourishment and a potent restorative drug. Sampling material and corroborating data was one way of learning and understanding this Sphere Beyond, the other was to learn it from the mouths of the two boys with whom they now shared their campsite on the shores of the lake. As soon as Jeremy had passed the critical stage of his condition, Leoynar allowed Ralph to step in and tend to the various needs and grumblings of the patient. The tent, whose coverings Ralph found amazingly smooth and silky but hard as metal, was sufficiently capacious to hold four people at great comfort, and he took his bedding in with Jeremy. It became their private lodgings as his benefactors inflated and crowded into another tent nearby. Ralph who knew Jeremy only by scarce encounters at the waterhole was nevertheless schooled in his irascible behaviour and he chose to bear the brunt of the young Cougar's temper alone without troubling the travellers further. The travellers, for in his eyes they were no longer intruders, out of worldish though they seemed with their two-hued eyes and strange instruments had with their sympathy and matter-of-fact kindness given something to him he thought existed no more, trust and friendship. His fear for them had long since faded away, though he knew he was being closely watched, not because they were his enemies but because they feared he could be theirs. He longed to be their friend, to join the muscled one in his banter and raucous laughter, to be the pupil of the gentle Leoynar, Lord Leoynar as he was sometimes addressed jokingly and, most of all, to serve their leader, Captain, and Lord too, My Lord Ermiz, as they called to him in jest when they argued and debated. But they cheerfully left him in the cold. The only member in their group who could be said as to be somewhat more approachable was Nagus, plain Nagus, who stayed out of the group's daily excursions into the forest and preferred roaming in the vicinity, and as such was appointed the task of manager of provisions. Nagus speedily appointed Ralph as his assistant manager. Ralph taught Nagus how to catch fish with the simple way of a line, hook and bait. Fishing presently became Nagus' favourite pastime, sitting for hours on the shore of the lake, dreaming away, idling and sometimes catching fish. At other times he would plunge into the water, clothes and all, for a long swim and each time it seemed when he emerged dripping wet on the beach that the lake had quenched a little more of his scorching expression. Ralph collected dry wood, boiled water for soup, cooked meals with meat for the retinue, broth for sick Jeremy and meandered in the woods setting traps to catch small animals. As Jeremy regained his strength by the day he also demanded more attention and Ralph gratefully took care of him for it kept his mind from thinking about his father. Late one afternoon after Jeremy had spooned up his soup and devoured his first plentiful plate of spiced meat rolls and crusted wheat cakes, Trajan entered the tent. "May I join you?" Jeremy nodded, uncertainly and warily. Ralph supposing that Trajan wished to have a private talk with Jeremy picked up the plates and moved towards the flap. Trajan held his arm. "Stay, please." He set up three cups in a row on the tent floor and filled them with golden liquid from a flask. He smiled at them as he said, "Where I come from, people establish bonds and friendships over a glass of crystalcrest wine. I have brought along a small supply to mark special occasions and I think this occasion deserves the wine." They sipped at their cups while he drank up in one draught and the two boys gazed at one another, breathing deeply, pleasure rising on their cheeks and a bright light coming into their eyes. Ralph took a second, eager swallow while Jeremy tossed down the remainder of his cup. "I have no words for it," Jeremy said confused. "It is remarkable wine indeed! I feel as if I want to sing and laugh, I feel so cheerful, and better, much better! Thank you!" He added softly after a while: "Thank you for saving my life." "You don't have to thank me," Trajan said. He was holding his palmtop micro ready in his hand. "We have only carried out a universal duty, helping those who are in need. It also acts like a universal language bringing people closer together. We are ready to regard you as friends if you are prepared to trust us." "Yes, we are!" Ralph burst out. "We trust you, don't we, Jeremy? For three weeks you have cared for us, given us food and medicine and allowed us our freedom of movement. If there is anything we can do in return, we will." Trajan rubbed his chin ponderingly. "Your efforts around the camp have not gone unnoticed, Ralph. If you don't have any family to return to, you are welcome to join our small group. But how does your friend Jeremy think about it? Can he give us his trust and can we accept him as one of us? You know the state he was in when we found him. If he has enemies around wishing him such grievous harm then, for our own preservation, we want to know more about them." Jeremy leant back against the cushions, wrapping the blanket tightly around his knees, his fingers plucking at the bandages around his wrists. Ralph, who knew that Jeremy had avoided talking about past events when he was still feverish and weak, asked cautiously: "Can you remember what has happened to you, Jeremy?" Jeremy bowed his head: "There was a fight, at your cave where we took temporary lodgings. The Xandians attacked in the night and it was so dark that it was difficult to see let alone defend ourselves. The Elder ordered us to disperse and retreat which was the most sensible thing he could do but one of the attackers felled me with a blow to the head. "The next thing I remembered was that I was taken prisoner by alpiners. The whole troop interrogated, whipped and tortured me for the rest of the night and the following day. Finally they bound me to the stem of a dead tree and threw me over a cliff into the river. I cannot recall much afterwards, only that I woke up under this tent." "The river's current brought you to the shores of this lake," Trajan said, "Tell me frankly, who are those Xandians?" "They are invaders from the Great Dominion in the North," Jeremy answered with a shaking voice.. "Two nights before my capture they attacked the Hollow of my clan with glider troopers and slaughtered my people. Not many have managed to escape, and the Perceptor decided that some of us should try to shake off the invaders and journey across the Hungry Plains to the East." Ralph said, swallowing hard: "They have taken my father too. I don't know whether he is dead or alive." "Your cave," Trajan enquired of Ralph, "where you used to live. Is it very far from here?" "There is a path between steep slopes at the far edge of this beach, near the place where you found me. It leads to a strip of woodland bordering the Plains. From there the cave is not very far away. But I don't dare to return, the alpiners must still be roaming in the neighbourhood." "No, they have long since left, because there are no indications of heavy weaponry nearby. Presumably, they think they have removed the threat that existed in the mountains; your clan, Jeremy. They are turning their attention to somewhere else." "They are heading towards the East Coast," Ralph told him. "When I was holed up at Yellowdust the thrust of the attacking armies indicated that they are heading towards that direction." The unit in Trajan's hand, Ralph perceived in due time, was recording their conversation and Trajan intermittently fingered the luminous panels and studied the symbols flashing across the mini-screen. Ralph wondered whether by this instrument he was trying to distinguish lie from truth, and Trajan looked up at him with a half smile as if he had read his thoughts. "I am matching the coordinates of the regions you have just mentioned with earlier recorded data to see if I can map out a fix." He frowned and did some more finger-keying. "No, it doesn't seem right. I have here Paramountcy of Vespar and to the south, Geosphere D'Or. Yes, I should ask you first of all, where is Geosphere D'Or?" Ralph and Jeremy glanced at each other and shook their heads. "I know nothing about Geosphere D'Or," Ralph said, "but I have heard my father talking about Vespar where they have restored the old monarchy. It is now called the Sovereignty of Vespar in the Continent of Aseur, east of the Atlantic Main." "I am getting somewhere! This, your continent lies to the west of the sea?" "Yes," said Ralph, feeling perturbed and curious at the same time why this Captain knew so little about the world. "This is the Setting Continent, and where we are now is west of the Belt of Scattered States, the Stone Mountains of the Great Divide." Trajan studied the screen, chewing his under lip, one hand pensively cupping his chin, the other keying the strange device on his lap. Sometimes he fiercely tugged at his hair as he concentrated, and the two boys stared at him without speaking, suddenly realizing that for all his forceful leadership he could not be much older than they were. "I have sorted it out finally!" Trajan exclaimed. "I thought I've nothing more to do with geography lessons! Here we have Dominion of Xandia." "I think now," Ralph said hesitantly, "it is Dominion of Magnificent Xandia." Trajan sighed: "Right then, Magnificent Xandia bordering on the Southern Belt of Scattered States which mostly consists of the Hungry Plains, the Great Divide to the west and to the east the Coast along the Atlantic Main." He looked sharply at Jeremy. "Why would your Elder decide to go East, the direction the invaders are taking?" * * * The sun had set and night was settling on the white beach. As darkness spread along the river banks, cloaking the cedars and sagebrushes in the forest, silencing the sounds of nature, a campfire started to blaze and the chatter and laughter of people at peace with themselves gently filled the air. After having done his briefing with Ralph and Jeremy, Trajan held a conference with his group. "Here is what we will do," he told them. "The young Cougar is now fit to travel. We will first of all try to find out whether any members of his tribe are alive and wandering nearby. Further, we will follow the way that his Elder has taken, to the East, to a neighbouring continent they call Aseur. The route the Elder has chosen is the shortest because from the East Coast Aseur is only two days sailing away across the Atlantic Main but indications are that it is also the most perilous because this land is at war with another one up north. "There is an alternative route, going further south, to the southeast coast from where we can cross to Aseur even quicker." "And for what reason have you decided that Aseur will be our next destination?" "Because, Superpre, there they don't have a war and here it is just beginning." Leoynar observed quietly, "You have another reason, haven't you, Trajan? Deciding on Aseur is not just going haphazardly anywhere because we have to venture out of these tranquil woods sooner or later. Only this morning you were still undecided on what course to take." "You are right, Leoynar. During my lengthy talk with our new friends, I have come to understand that the new Dominion in the East is attracting migrants. The Perceptor of the Mountain Clan is going there for a very private reason, which even Jeremy cannot explain. If a supreme leader decides to leave his tribe behind and go on a long and hard journey, then it must be for a very important reason indeed! In addition, they met up with an old woman and her young charge along their route of escape and she was going East as well. And so intended Ralph's father and a friend, who joined them from the Plains, before they fell to enemy troops. "Their goal is to seek sanctuary, as for me it is mainly necessity, and curiosity. As you've said, Leoynar, we have to venture out sooner or later. Why not turn our eyes to the East as everyone else. Besides we may bump into Jeremy's Perceptor on the road." Deyron stood up, stretching his arms. "Good, Captain! I am all for it, it is getting pretty boring around here anyway. When do we hit the road?" "After two days at the latest. We will build a raft and take the river downstream." "Splendid! I am really looking forward to it. What about a cup or two of crystalcrest wine, eh Lar Leoynar?" The two of them headed away merrily towards the shore with a flask and Trajan gazed at them wistfully. Leoynar sporting the eminent name of the Trevarthen Protectorate and Deyron, Superpre of the Castelmoer Surety; in another time and another place sharing the intimate bonding of a glass of crystalcrest wine would have been unthinkable but here in the wilderness such bonding was a necessity of survival. Nagus suppressed a yawn and stirred to leave the campfire. He had not said one word through the whole proceeding and such behaviour was remarkable to say the least. "What is the matter, Nagus?" Trajan demanded. Nagus glanced at him and looked quickly away. If Trajan had ever doubted that such a creature as Nagus could experience emotions, then that one look would compel him to change his mind. He consulted the sentiments of Starglory and it too had reversed its earlier stance; there was no longer any enmity or hate towards the being it had extracted, only a placid indifference. "You wished to come with me, you are now here. What has overcome you, why do you feel sad?" "You are wrong, Trajan." Nagus stared ahead, "I am not sad, far from it. For the first time I feel calmness, a kind of peace. I don't begrudge your powers anymore. You know what I craved, thinking that the force with which you used to open the gateway would elevate me to the same height." Nagus turned and faced him squarely. In his eyes, his whole demeanor, there was no longer the glare of madness, only the beginning contours of a noble Praecel. "Yes, the transit has changed me, and I am changing still. My instinct was right in that respect, bringing the transformation that I crave in order for me to walk normally in the open air. Coming on this journey was the right decision, because even though I have not become superior like you, as I had hoped, I have found myself, I am beginning to become ME." "Who are you?" Trajan asked intently. "Are you truly Eugene Trevarthen?" Nagus smiled, a truly sweet smile. "Eugene is me too, we are parts of each other, parts which have to be joined together. You and I now share a common goal, but no longer for a different purpose. I felt confusion at first, I couldn't understand what I was going through. I still don't understand it fully but I am now reassured beyond all doubt. I don't hate or fear you anymore. We have come from one patriarch, we share the same blood, you are my brother, Trajan!" Trajan grabbed his knees, hardly able to control the tension in his voice: "What do you remember of your life before the accident of Professor Moritz? Do you remember your father, Lar Irwain?" Nagus rose and laid his hand on Trajan's shoulder. "It was all so long ago. I was a young boy of only thirteen cycles and I have never been given the chance to mature properly, but I am growing up. I am here, maturing. Here will I find my destiny. As for my father, as soon as I plopped out of my mother's womb, he left. What I know of him is from the mouth of others. No more. He was and is an enigma to us all. Sleep well, Trajan." When he was left alone, Trajan covered his face in weariness. It was true, that gentle touch on his shoulder had dispersed his misgivings like dust in the wind. Fate was indeed fickle. Though he was grateful that by this surprising transmutation at least the risk of treachery was removed from their little fraternity, he was wondering how the crossing had affected Eugene, for the better or for the worst. And Eirini, is she safe? As he thought of her he felt again that gash across his heart which he was unable to mend and nobody knew he had. Trajan threw dry twigs into fire and stared moodily into the centre of its glow where the flames danced in mockery to his many failings. * * * When they woke up and left the warmth of their tents they discovered that the air had cooled and the weather changed for the worse. In the early hours of the morning banners of greyish clouds began to weave and pack across the sky and by midday the sun had disappeared. Trajan had one spare Insignia reserved in his supply kit and he took the step of fixing one beneath Nagus's collarbone. He did not have the surgical means to implant it and the optic strip could only function as a voice communicator. Ralph was to take Nagus up to his cave and Leoynar thrust his brand-new stingthruster in the hands of one whom he once despised as a spoiled brat. "You may need it," he said earnestly to Nagus. He followed the pair leaving the beach with his eyes and remarked, "He is beginning to look remarkably more and more like the Eugene we used to know and respect. What is happening here?" "We will know it when we find the other Eugene," Trajan said and turned to see whether Jeremy was ready to go. The two of them would try to return to Grove Hollow while Leoynar and Deyron were to remain on the campsite and commenced constructing a raft. Again, in this regard they profited from Leoynar's skills and experience that he acquired from living amongst the steppetrekkers. Jeremy wore a set of Deyron's brown shirt and trousers, and for his defence his new companions equipped him with a steppe-trekker's hunting knife and a flashwilter. They cautioned him that the latter gadget, although gleaming like some mighty weapon would only affect plants. People would at most experience a slight irritation like the sting of a bee but the flashwilter would give them easier access through the impregnability of the forest. Jeremy's first objective was to find the mouth of the cave through which his people had made their flight from Grove Hollow. Initially marching along the banks of the river to orientate himself he was able to recall the bearings of the escape trail and trace spoors that were left in the soil of the wood. "Look." Trajan pointed to a dark heap of tattered wings clinging to a sandbar in the river. Jeremy whipped out his knife but Trajan grabbed his shoulder and drew his rephar. "Careful now." His multilyzer was winking but not with much enthusiasm. "No life signs. Let's inspect whether he has something we can use." Jeremy jumped into the river and waded to the sandbar with a swiftness Trajan found somewhat rash but otherwise admirably expedient. "It's all right," Jeremy shouted and waved to Trajan. "There is nothing here except a rotting carcass. He must have lost his weapons in the current." He returned ashore with the dead glider's headgear. "A marvelous piece of trophy." "I took the headgear because I, and you, may need it," Jeremy said. "When we leave the mountains, disguising as renegade hirelings is one of our protections." Trajan examined the headgear while Jeremy once more walked in front. It did not look comfortable: a quadrangular box wrought out of corrugated metal sheets, serving only to completely mask the wearer's identity. A mesh of pliable wiring covered the part of mouth and chin. Curiously he tried the headgear on and found that the eyes-part, a pair of dark-shaded goggle-lenses, formed the most intriguing component of the whole design since it appeared to provide the wearer with better than normal vision with the aid of dials set at the sides of the gear, like his range-scanner but with very limited Juxta manoeuverability. The inside of the gear stank of sweat and vomit, and spitting in disgust Trajan handed it back to Jeremy as they laboured up a steep slope onto a narrow jutting rock ledge. A ragged arch in the walls of the bluff at the back of the ledge marked the entrance of the secret pass. Nearly three weeks after the assault on his people Jeremy re-entered the grounds of Grove Hollow. Rising from the gully they sent a couple of half-naked children scurrying off in flight. Jeremy howled, chasing after them. He halted near the fringe of a wide glade strewn with the skeletons of burnt-out huts and scorched bushes. A score of ten wild and desperate men and women confronted him with a piteous array of shovels and mattocks. Jeremy spread his arms wide: "I am Jeremy. Don't you recognize me?" "It is Jeremy!" someone in the crowd shrieked out. "It is our Cougar Head, Jeremy!" The joyful shouts drew out the more timid of the Clan from their hiding-places and in no time the clearing swarmed with exuberant people as they crowded around Jeremy, who, they thought, had long since abandoned them for the promises of the glowing East. Jeremy beckoned Trajan to come forward and enthusiastically recounted to his people how he was saved and cared for by his new friends as if he was one of their own. The Clan greeted and welcomed Trajan with awe and with somewhat fearful respect as they gazed upon him, and he looked at them with pity. Trajan quickly concluded that not many of them remained to be justly called a clan, only a miserable, ragged band of men, women and children of varying ages. Some of them were suffering from disease and injuries, and many of them from near starvation, and he was not pleased when Jeremy uttered his request. "How many provisions do you think we have?" Trajan asked appalled. "We can't possibly feed the whole lot of them." "We will think of ways to find food, but I cannot leave them behind like this, wandering leaderless and aimless. I want to come with you but my people have to come with me too." Trajan frowned darkly, kicking pebbles with the tip of his boot, "All the way south, with a score of sick elderly and young children. Jeremy, think of the dangers on the road. We are going through a warzone. I am not able to vouch for their safety!" Jeremy touched Trajan lightly on the arm. He saw the troubled confusion on his friend's face, the conflicting emotions struggling in those bewildering eyes. He rendered his oratory of persuasion with a voice warm and passionate, quivering with devotion for this stranger who by simple words and deeds had taken the place of the Elder. "Captain, you rescued me and nursed me back to health. There is nothing I can do to repay you, because I do not know how. Not only did you give me my life back, you also gave me something else. I can find no words to describe it, something greater than life, as if you have given me a new soul, an awareness of another world, so utterly alien and yet indescribably wonderful. I want to be with you always, but I cannot abandon my people, leaving them to the winds of fate without Cougars, without Underheads, because the last Underhead our Perceptor put in charge was killed by a glider from the sky. "Hear my plea, let them come with you, they will listen to my command and not commit treason against you. They will protect you, like I will, with their lives. There is nothing more for them to live for, in the wilderness of the Great Divide. Our huts burnt, our crops destroyed, our brothers and sisters killed, this is our home no longer Please, do not turn your back on them, like our Perceptor has done!" Trajan heaved a sigh. "All right, Jeremy, all right! I suppose if I don't say yes, you will be forever appearing in my nightmares. Tell your people the good news." Moments later after Jeremy had darted off in joy he barked into his communicator: "Leoynar, is that you?" "Deyron, at your service, my Lar Captain." "Deyron, sharpen the sensors of your ugly ears and listen good." Trajan spelled out to the Superpre some facts and figures and Deyron was aghast. "You are vried with the scruts of a tolobo!" "Do you have any better solutions, Superpre?" Trajan enquired amiably. "My Lar," retorted Deyron acidly, "we can always discard our cloaks of benefactors. We hardly have the means of providing enough nutriments for ourselves, let alone a whole army of elderly and children. We came here by design or by folly to accomplish a mission not to label ourselves as Lar Protectors!" "Is that what you are implying, leave them to their fate? Can we afford to do that?" Trajan went on in a gloomy and contemplative voice as if speaking to himself: "We are strangers in hostile lands, a region torn by conflict and war. We need the trust of the inhabitants to survive, and their support and knowledge most of all. They will drain our resources, be a great burden. Yes, that cannot be denied but they will be our protection also, our shield in our journey further southwards." Deyron's voice sounded strangely subdued when he spoke again: "If you say so, Captain. When do you expect to be back in our camp?" "Before darkness settles in, hopefully. It will give you ample time to set up the welcoming committee. Until then." As poor as they were, Jeremy's people were dead set to collect and bring with them all their meagre belongings which they considered could not be left behind to the whims of nature. Children, their battered toys; women, their rusting cooking pans; men, their bent picks and hoes, all lovingly and caringly gathered from hidden corners, bundled up and swung onto backs. Meanwhile the wind grew colder and daylight was steadily dwindling. Trajan explored the Hollow while the ramshackle camping ground was in the course of breaking up, looking for something which could be of use but finding little of great significance other than what had already been recorded in past reconnaissance's. Wildlife was extremely shy, lacking the blatant, sometimes intrusive, curiosity of Iucari-Tres species. No dialogue existed, not even the mutual respect binding the wild wisurs and their hunters, the steppetrekkers. Suspicion and distrust, which he and his companions must learn. Trajan breathed in relief when Jeremy finally announced that the party was ready to leave, a sorry-looking band, poorly clad in tattered animal skins, huddling closely together for warm and comfort in the sharpening wind. "Let's hurry!" Trajan urged Jeremy. "It will be dark soon." The passage through the underground gully and the descent from the ledge into the forest was stalled and slowed down on several occasions by the young children and the very old in their group. Sporadic enquiries were sent through the optic strip by a worried party awaiting their arrival at the lake. Night fell upon them as they were still picking their way slowly through the forest. Trajan was leading but several times he stopped in his tracks, turning round to check whether the whole party had come through and they had not lost someone in the darkness. A deep frown of anxiety and impatience clouded his brow. He did not shout at them but nor did he permit them to rest. A woman bearing a child stumbled against him and she whispered hoarsely, "Mysterious are the ways of mountain spirits for having led you to us, young stranger with such face and eyes as though you have come straight out of the pages of long forgotten legends, and brought us your guidance but I am ready to drop and cannot take another step." Trajan bent over and took the child in his arms. "Bear a little longer," he said, looking the woman in the eyes, "Feel my strength. The camp is not very far away." They smiled at each other and the woman took his arm as the group continued to march on. At last the blackness of the night was shattered by a magnificent shine on the far shores of the lake, the blazing campfires of their destination. Trajan walked swiftly ahead, still carrying the small child who clung to him tightly and had stopped shivering while Jeremy stood back at the rear, counting the heads of his people filing past, ensuring none was left behind to the mercy of the forest. The blaze of three campfires on the beach greeted the party with the warmth of a newfound summer. Leoynar and the others had pitched up a third tent, prepared food and drink, laid out additional sheets and bedding on the sand. The Mountain Clan hunted and persecuted throughout the years, felt overwhelmed by all this care and attention, the spontaneity with which it was offered to them, the complete absence of distrust. Nagus had nothing to report on his trip to Ralph's former hiding-place, except that the place had been stripped bare by the alpiners of every morsel of food. Ralph had managed to salvage only a few pieces of clothing and some blocks of firewood. Casting his eyes to the motley group surrounding the campfires, becoming more animated as their bellies filled, Leoynar said: "Are you aware, Trajan, that there are about thirty of them and at this instant they are devouring our two-day stock of sustenance?" "I know," Trajan replied gravely, "the problem of food will become critical. It is the reason why we have to leave tomorrow, immediately."