XIII
THE SLY ONE
The Sagoths were gaining on us rapidly, for once they had sighted usthey had greatly increased their speed. On and on we stumbled up thenarrow canyon that Ghak had chosen to approach the heights of Sari. Oneither side rose precipitous cliffs of gorgeous, parti-colored rock,while beneath our feet a thick mountain grass formed a soft andnoiseless carpet. Since we had entered the canyon we had had noglimpse of our pursuers, and I was commencing to hope that they hadlost our trail and that we would reach the now rapidly nearing cliffsin time to scale them before we should be overtaken.
Ahead we neither saw nor heard any sign which might betoken the successof Hooja's mission. By now he should have reached the outposts of theSarians, and we should at least hear the savage cries of the tribesmenas they swarmed to arms in answer to their king's appeal for succor.In another moment the frowning cliffs ahead should be black withprimeval warriors. But nothing of the kind happened--as a matter offact the Sly One had betrayed us. At the moment that we expected tosee Sarian spearmen charging to our relief at Hooja's back, the craventraitor was sneaking around the outskirts of the nearest Sarianvillage, that he might come up from the other side when it was too lateto save us, claiming that he had become lost among the mountains.
Hooja still harbored ill will against me because of the blow I hadstruck in Dian's protection, and his malevolent spirit was equal tosacrificing us all that he might be revenged upon me.
As we drew nearer the barrier cliffs and no sign of rescuing Sariansappeared Ghak became both angry and alarmed, and presently as the soundof rapidly approaching pursuit fell upon our ears, he called to me overhis shoulder that we were lost.
A backward glance gave me a glimpse of the first of the Sagoths at thefar end of a considerable stretch of canyon through which we had justpassed, and then a sudden turning shut the ugly creature from my view;but the loud howl of triumphant rage which rose behind us was evidencethat the gorilla-man had sighted us.
Again the canyon veered sharply to the left, but to the right anotherbranch ran on at a lesser deviation from the general direction, so thatappeared more like the main canyon than the left-hand branch. TheSagoths were now not over two hundred and fifty yards behind us, and Isaw that it was hopeless for us to expect to escape other than by aruse. There was a bare chance of saving Ghak and Perry, and as Ireached the branching of the canyon I took the chance.
Pausing there I waited until the foremost Sagoth hove into sight. Ghakand Perry had disappeared around a bend in the left-hand canyon, and asthe Sagoth's savage yell announced that he had seen me I turned andfled up the right-hand branch. My ruse was successful, and the entireparty of man-hunters raced headlong after me up one canyon while Ghakbore Perry to safety up the other.
Running has never been my particular athletic forte, and now when myvery life depended upon fleetness of foot I cannot say that I ran anybetter than on the occasions when my pitiful base running had calleddown upon my head the rooter's raucous and reproachful cries of "IceWagon," and "Call a cab."
The Sagoths were gaining on me rapidly. There was one in particular,fleeter than his fellows, who was perilously close. The canyon hadbecome a rocky slit, rising roughly at a steep angle toward what seemeda pass between two abutting peaks. What lay beyond I could not evenguess--possibly a sheer drop of hundreds of feet into the correspondingvalley upon the other side. Could it be that I had plunged into acul-de-sac?
Realizing that I could not hope to outdistance the Sagoths to the topof the canyon I had determined to risk all in an attempt to check themtemporarily, and to this end had unslung my rudely made bow and pluckedan arrow from the skin quiver which hung behind my shoulder. As Ifitted the shaft with my right hand I stopped and wheeled toward thegorilla-man.
In the world of my birth I never had drawn a shaft, but since ourescape from Phutra I had kept the party supplied with small game bymeans of my arrows, and so, through necessity, had developed a fairdegree of accuracy. During our flight from Phutra I had restrung mybow with a piece of heavy gut taken from a huge tiger which Ghak and Ihad worried and finally dispatched with arrows, spear, and sword. Thehard wood of the bow was extremely tough and this, with the strengthand elasticity of my new string, gave me unwonted confidence in myweapon.
Never had I greater need of steady nerves than then--never were mynerves and muscles under better control. I sighted as carefully anddeliberately as though at a straw target. The Sagoth had never beforeseen a bow and arrow, but of a sudden it must have swept over his dullintellect that the thing I held toward him was some sort of engine ofdestruction, for he too came to a halt, simultaneously swinging hishatchet for a throw. It is one of the many methods in which theyemploy this weapon, and the accuracy of aim which they achieve, evenunder the most unfavorable circumstances, is little short of miraculous.
My shaft was drawn back its full length--my eye had centered its sharppoint upon the left breast of my adversary; and then he launched hishatchet and I released my arrow. At the instant that our missiles flewI leaped to one side, but the Sagoth sprang forward to follow up hisattack with a spear thrust. I felt the swish of the hatchet at itgrazed my head, and at the same instant my shaft pierced the Sagoth'ssavage heart, and with a single groan he lunged almost at myfeet--stone dead. Close behind him were two more--fifty yardsperhaps--but the distance gave me time to snatch up the deadguardsman's shield, for the close call his hatchet had just given mehad borne in upon me the urgent need I had for one. Those which I hadpurloined at Phutra we had not been able to bring along because theirsize precluded our concealing them within the skins of the Mahars whichhad brought us safely from the city.
With the shield slipped well up on my left arm I let fly with anotherarrow, which brought down a second Sagoth, and then as his fellow'shatchet sped toward me I caught it upon the shield, and fitted anothershaft for him; but he did not wait to receive it. Instead, he turnedand retreated toward the main body of gorilla-men. Evidently he hadseen enough of me for the moment.
Once more I took up my flight, nor were the Sagoths apparentlyoveranxious to press their pursuit so closely as before. Unmolested Ireached the top of the canyon where I found a sheer drop of two orthree hundred feet to the bottom of a rocky chasm; but on the left anarrow ledge rounded the shoulder of the overhanging cliff. Along thisI advanced, and at a sudden turning, a few yards beyond the canyon'send, the path widened, and at my left I saw the opening to a largecave. Before, the ledge continued until it passed from sight aboutanother projecting buttress of the mountain.
Here, I felt, I could defy an army, for but a single foeman couldadvance upon me at a time, nor could he know that I was awaiting himuntil he came full upon me around the corner of the turn. About me layscattered stones crumbled from the cliff above. They were of varioussizes and shapes, but enough were of handy dimensions for use asammunition in lieu of my precious arrows. Gathering a number of stonesinto a little pile beside the mouth of the cave I waited the advance ofthe Sagoths.
As I stood there, tense and silent, listening for the first faint soundthat should announce the approach of my enemies, a slight noise fromwithin the cave's black depths attracted my attention. It might havebeen produced by the moving of the great body of some huge beast risingfrom the rock floor of its lair. At almost the same instant I thoughtthat I caught the scraping of hide sandals upon the ledge beyond theturn. For the next few seconds my attention was considerably divided.
And then from the inky blackness at my right I saw two flaming eyesglaring into mine. They were on a level that was over two feet abovemy head. It is true that the beast who owned them might be standingupon a ledge within the cave, or that it might be rearing up upon itshind legs; but I had seen enough of the monsters of Pellucidar to knowthat I might be facing some new and frightful Titan whose dimensionsand ferocity eclipsed those of any I had seen before.
Whatever it was, it was coming slowly toward the entrance of the cave,and now, deep and forb
idding, it uttered a low and ominous growl. Iwaited no longer to dispute possession of the ledge with the thingwhich owned that voice. The noise had not been loud--I doubt if theSagoths heard it at all--but the suggestion of latent possibilitiesbehind it was such that I knew it would only emanate from a giganticand ferocious beast.
As I backed along the ledge I soon was past the mouth of the cave,where I no longer could see those fearful flaming eyes, but an instantlater I caught sight of the fiendish face of a Sagoth as it warilyadvanced beyond the cliff's turn on the far side of the cave's mouth.As the fellow saw me he leaped along the ledge in pursuit, and afterhim came as many of his companions as could crowd upon each other'sheels. At the same time the beast emerged from the cave, so that heand the Sagoths came face to face upon that narrow ledge.
The thing was an enormous cave bear, rearing its colossal bulk fullyeight feet at the shoulder, while from the tip of its nose to the endof its stubby tail it was fully twelve feet in length. As it sightedthe Sagoths it emitted a most frightful roar, and with open mouthcharged full upon them. With a cry of terror the foremost gorilla-manturned to escape, but behind him he ran full upon his on-rushingcompanions.
The horror of the following seconds is indescribable. The Sagothnearest the cave bear, finding his escape blocked, turned and leapeddeliberately to an awful death upon the jagged rocks three hundred feetbelow. Then those giant jaws reached out and gathered in thenext--there was a sickening sound of crushing bones, and the mangledcorpse was dropped over the cliff's edge. Nor did the mighty beasteven pause in his steady advance along the ledge.
Shrieking Sagoths were now leaping madly over the precipice to escapehim, and the last I saw he rounded the turn still pursuing thedemoralized remnant of the man hunters. For a long time I could hearthe horrid roaring of the brute intermingled with the screams andshrieks of his victims, until finally the awful sounds dwindled anddisappeared in the distance.
Later I learned from Ghak, who had finally come to his tribesmen andreturned with a party to rescue me, that the ryth, as it is called,pursued the Sagoths until it had exterminated the entire band. Ghakwas, of course, positive that I had fallen prey to the terriblecreature, which, within Pellucidar, is truly the king of beasts.
Not caring to venture back into the canyon, where I might fall preyeither to the cave bear or the Sagoths I continued on along the ledge,believing that by following around the mountain I could reach the landof Sari from another direction. But I evidently became confused by thetwisting and turning of the canyons and gullies, for I did not come tothe land of Sari then, nor for a long time thereafter.