Chapter 6

People Out of Time

by Edgar R. Burroughs

CHAPTER 6, PEOPLE OUT OF TIME by Edgar R. Burroughs
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After dinner I rolled a cigaret and stretched myself at ease
upon a pile of furs before the doorway, with Ajor's head
pillowed in my lap and a feeling of great content pervading me.
It was the first time since my plane had topped the barrier-
cliffs of Caspak that I had felt any sense of peace or security.
My hand wandered to the velvet cheek of the girl I had claimed
as mine, and to her luxuriant hair and the golden fillet which
bound it close to her shapely head. Her slender fingers
groping upward sought mine and drew them to her lips, and then
I gathered her in my arms and crushed her to me, smothering
her mouth with a long, long kiss. It was the first time that
passion had tinged my intercourse with Ajor. We were alone,
and the hut was ours until morning.

But now from beyond the palisade in the direction of the main
gate came the hallooing of men and the answering calls and
queries of the guard. We listened. Returning hunters, no doubt.
We heard them enter the village amidst the barking dogs. I have
forgotten to mention the dogs of Kro-lu. The village swarmed
with them, gaunt, wolflike creatures that guarded the herd by
day when it grazed without the palisade, ten dogs to a cow.
By night the cows were herded in an outer inclosure roofed
against the onslaughts of the carnivorous cats; and the dogs,
with the exception of a few, were brought into the village;
these few well-tested brutes remained with the herd. During the
day they fed plentifully upon the beasts of prey which they
killed in protection of the herd, so that their keep amounted
to nothing at all.

Shortly after the commotion at the gate had subsided, Ajor and
I arose to enter the hut, and at the same time a warrior
appeared from one of the twisted alleys which, lying between
the irregularly placed huts and groups of huts, form the
streets of the Kro-lu village. The fellow halted before us and
addressed me, saying that Al-tan desired my presence at his hut.
The wording of the invitation and the manner of the messenger
threw me entirely off my guard, so cordial was the one and
respectful the other, and the result was that I went willingly,
telling Ajor that I would return presently. I had laid my arms
and ammunition aside as soon as we had taken over the hut, and
I left them with Ajor now, as I had noticed that aside from
their hunting-knives the men of Kro-lu bore no weapons about
the village streets. There was an atmosphere of peace and
security within that village that I had not hoped to experience
within Caspak, and after what I had passed through, it must have
cast a numbing spell over my faculties of judgment and reason.
I had eaten of the lotus-flower of safety; dangers no longer
threatened for they had ceased to be.

The messenger led me through the labyrinthine alleys to an open
plaza near the center of the village. At one end of this plaza
was a long hut, much the largest that I had yet seen, before
the door of which were many warriors. I could see that the
interior was lighted and that a great number of men were
gathered within. The dogs about the plaza were as thick as
fleas, and those I approached closely evinced a strong desire
to devour me, their noses evidently apprising them of the fact
that I was of an alien race, since they paid no attention
whatever to my companion. Once inside the council-hut, for
such it appeared to be, I found a large concourse of warriors
seated, or rather squatted, around the floor. At one end of
the oval space which the warriors left down the center of the
room stood Al-tan and another warrior whom I immediately
recognized as a Galu, and then I saw that there were many
Galus present. About the walls were a number of flaming
torches stuck in holes in a clay plaster which evidently
served the purpose of preventing the inflammable wood and
grasses of which the hut was composed from being ignited by
the flames. Lying about among the warriors or wandering
restlessly to and fro were a number of savage dogs.

The warriors eyed me curiously as I entered, especially the
Galus, and then I was conducted into the center of the group
and led forward toward Al-tan. As I advanced I felt one of the
dogs sniffing at my heels, and of a sudden a great brute leaped
upon my back. As I turned to thrust it aside before its fangs
found a hold upon me, I beheld a huge Airedale leaping
frantically about me. The grinning jaws, the half-closed eyes,
the back-laid ears spoke to me louder than might the words of
man that here was no savage enemy but a joyous friend, and then
I recognized him, and fell to one knee and put my arms about
his neck while he whined and cried with joy. It was Nobs, dear
old Nobs. Bowen Tyler's Nobs, who had loved me next to his master.

"Where is the master of this dog?" I asked, turning toward Al-tan.

The chieftain inclined his head toward the Galu standing at
his side. "He belongs to Du-seen the Galu," he replied.

"He belongs to Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., of Santa Monica," I
retorted, "and I want to know where his master is."

The Galu shrugged. "The dog is mine," he said. "He came to me
cor-sva-jo, and he is unlike any dog in Caspak, being kind
and docile and yet a killer when aroused. I would not part
with him. I do not know the man of whom you speak."

So this was Du-seen! This was the man from whom Ajor had fled.
I wondered if he knew that she was here. I wondered if they
had sent for me because of her; but after they had commenced to
question me, my mind was relieved; they did not mention Ajor.
Their interest seemed centered upon the strange world from
which I had come, my journey to Caspak and my intentions now
that I had arrived. I answered them frankly as I had nothing
to conceal and assured them that my only wish was to find my
friends and return to my own country. In the Galu Du-seen and
his warriors I saw something of the explanation of the term
"golden race" which is applied to them, for their ornaments and
weapons were either wholly of beaten gold or heavily decorated
with the precious metal. They were a very imposing set of
men--tall and straight and handsome. About their heads were
bands of gold like that which Ajor wore, and from their left
shoulders depended the leopard-tails of the Galus. In addition
to the deer-skin tunic which constituted the major portion of
their apparel, each carried a light blanket of barbaric yet
beautiful design--the first evidence of weaving I had seen
in Caspak. Ajor had had no blanket, having lost it during her
flight from the attentions of Du-seen; nor was she so heavily
incrusted with gold as these male members of her tribe.

The audience must have lasted fully an hour when Al-tan
signified that I might return to my hut. All the time Nobs had
lain quietly at my feet; but the instant that I turned to
leave, he was up and after me. Duseen called to him; but
the terrier never even so much as looked in his direction.
I had almost reached the doorway leading from the council-hall
when Al-tan rose and called after me. "Stop!" he shouted.
"Stop, stranger! The beast of Du-seen the Galu follows you."

"The dog is not Du-seen's," I replied. "He belongs to my
friend, as I told you, and he prefers to stay with me until his
master is found." And I turned again to resume my way. I had
taken but a few steps when I heard a commotion behind me, and
at the same moment a man leaned close and whispered "Kazar!"
close to my ear--kazar, the Caspakian equivalent of beware.
It was To-mar. As he spoke, he turned quickly away as though
loath to have others see that he knew me, and at the same
instant I wheeled to discover Du-seen striding rapidly after me.
Al-tan followed him, and it was evident that both were angry.

Du-seen, a weapon half drawn, approached truculently.
"The beast is mine," he reiterated. "Would you steal him?"

"He is not yours nor mine," I replied, "and I am not stealing him.
If he wishes to follow you, he may; I will not interfere; but if
he wishes to follow me, he shall; nor shall you prevent."
I turned to Al-tan. "Is not that fair?" I demanded. "Let the dog
choose his master."

Du-seen, without waiting for Al-tan's reply, reached for Nobs
and grasped him by the scruff of the neck. I did not interfere,
for I guessed what would happen; and it did. With a savage growl
Nobs turned like lightning upon the Galu, wrenched loose from
his hold and leaped for his throat. The man stepped back and
warded off the first attack with a heavy blow of his fist,
immediately drawing his knife with which to meet the
Airedale's return. And Nobs would have returned, all right,
had not I spoken to him. In a low voice I called him to heel.
For just an instant he hesitated, standing there trembling and
with bared fangs, glaring at his foe; but he was well trained
and had been out with me quite as much as he had with Bowen--in
fact, I had had most to do with his early training; then he
walked slowly and very stiff-legged to his place behind me.

Du-seen, red with rage, would have had it out with the two of
us had not Al-tan drawn him to one side and whispered in his
ear--upon which, with a grunt, the Galu walked straight back to
the opposite end of the hall, while Nobs and I continued upon
our way toward the hut and Ajor. As we passed out into the
village plaza, I saw Chal-az--we were so close to one another
that I could have reached out and touched him--and our eyes
met; but though I greeted him pleasantly and paused to speak to
him, he brushed past me without a sign of recognition. I was
puzzled at his behavior, and then I recalled that To-mar,
though he had warned me, had appeared not to wish to seem
friendly with me. I could not understand their attitude,
and was trying to puzzle out some sort of explanation, when
the matter was suddenly driven from my mind by the report of
a firearm. Instantly I broke into a run, my brain in a whirl of
forebodings, for the only firearms in the Kro-lu country were
those I had left in the hut with Ajor.

That she was in danger I could not but fear, as she was now
something of an adept in the handling of both the pistol and
rifle, a fact which largely eliminated the chance that the shot
had come from an accidentally discharged firearm. When I left
the hut, I had felt that she and I were safe among friends; no
thought of danger was in my mind; but since my audience with
Al-tan, the presence and bearing of Duseen and the strange
attitude of both To-mar and Chal-az had each contributed toward
arousing my suspicions, and now I ran along the narrow, winding
alleys of the Kro-lu village with my heart fairly in my mouth.

I am endowed with an excellent sense of direction, which has
been greatly perfected by the years I have spent in the
mountains and upon the plains and deserts of my native state,
so that it was with little or no difficulty that I found my way
back to the hut in which I had left Ajor. As I entered the
doorway, I called her name aloud. There was no response.
I drew a box of matches from my pocket and struck a light and
as the flame flared up, a half-dozen brawny warriors leaped upon
me from as many directions; but even in the brief instant that
the flare lasted, I saw that Ajor was not within the hut, and
that my arms and ammunition had been removed.

As the six men leaped upon me, an angry growl burst from
behind them. I had forgotten Nobs. Like a demon of hate he
sprang among those Kro-lu fighting-men, tearing, rending, ripping
with his long tusks and his mighty jaws. They had me down in an
instant, and it goes without saying that the six of them could
have kept me there had it not been for Nobs; but while I was
struggling to throw them off, Nobs was springing first upon one
and then upon another of them until they were so put to it to
preserve their hides and their lives from him that they could
give me only a small part of their attention. One of them was
assiduously attempting to strike me on the head with his stone
hatchet; but I caught his arm and at the same time turned over
upon my belly, after which it took but an instant to get my
feet under me and rise suddenly.

As I did so, I kept a grip upon the man's arm, carrying it over
one shoulder. Then I leaned suddenly forward and hurled my
antagonist over my head to a hasty fall at the opposite side of
the hut. In the dim light of the interior I saw that Nobs had
already accounted for one of the others--one who lay very quiet
upon the floor--while the four remaining upon their feet were
striking at him with knives and hatchets.

Running to one side of the man I had just put out of the
fighting, I seized his hatchet and knife, and in another moment
was in the thick of the argument. I was no match for these
savage warriors with their own weapons and would soon have gone
down to ignominious defeat and death had it not been for Nobs,
who alone was a match for the four of them. I never saw any
creature so quick upon its feet as was that great Airedale, nor
such frightful ferocity as he manifested in his attacks. It was
as much the latter as the former which contributed to the
undoing of our enemies, who, accustomed though they were to
the ferocity of terrible creatures, seemed awed by the sight of
this strange beast from another world battling at the side of
his equally strange master. Yet they were no cowards, and only
by teamwork did Nobs and I overcome them at last. We would
rush for a man, simultaneously, and as Nobs leaped for him upon
one side, I would strike at his head with the stone hatchet
from the other.

As the last man went down, I heard the running of many feet
approaching us from the direction of the plaza. To be captured
now would mean death; yet I could not attempt to leave the
village without first ascertaining the whereabouts of Ajor and
releasing her if she were held a captive. That I could escape
the village I was not at all sure; but of one thing I was
positive; that it would do neither Ajor nor myself any service
to remain where I was and be captured; so with Nobs, bloody but
happy, following at heel, I turned down the first alley and
slunk away in the direction of the northern end of the village.

Friendless and alone, hunted through the dark labyrinths of
this savage community, I seldom have felt more helpless than
at that moment; yet far transcending any fear which I may
have felt for my own safety was my concern for that of Ajor.
What fate had befallen her? Where was she, and in whose power?
That I should live to learn the answers to these queries I doubted;
but that I should face death gladly in the attempt--of that I
was certain. And why? With all my concern for the welfare of
my friends who had accompanied me to Caprona, and of my best
friend of all, Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., I never yet had experienced
the almost paralyzing fear for the safety of any other creature
which now threw me alternately into a fever of despair and into
a cold sweat of apprehension as my mind dwelt upon the fate on
one bit of half-savage femininity of whose very existence even
I had not dreamed a few short weeks before.

What was this hold she had upon me? Was I bewitched, that my
mind refused to function sanely, and that judgment and reason
were dethroned by some mad sentiment which I steadfastly
refused to believe was love? I had never been in love. I was
not in love now--the very thought was preposterous. How could
I, Thomas Billings, the right-hand man of the late Bowen J.
Tyler, Sr., one of America's foremost captains of industry and
the greatest man in California, be in love with a--a--the word
stuck in my throat; yet by my own American standards Ajor could
be nothing else; at home, for all her beauty, for all her
delicately tinted skin, little Ajor by her apparel, by the
habits and customs and manners of her people, by her life,
would have been classed a squaw. Tom Billings in love with
a squaw! I shuddered at the thought.

And then there came to my mind, in a sudden, brilliant flash
upon the screen of recollection the picture of Ajor as I had
last seen her, and I lived again the delicious moment in which
we had clung to one another, lips smothering lips, as I left
her to go to the council hall of Al-tan; and I could have
kicked myself for the snob and the cad that my thoughts had
proven me--me, who had always prided myself that I was neither
the one nor the other!

These things ran through my mind as Nobs and I made our way
through the dark village, the voices and footsteps of those who
sought us still in our ears. These and many other things, nor
could I escape the incontrovertible fact that the little figure
round which my recollections and my hopes entwined themselves
was that of Ajor--beloved barbarian! My reveries were broken in
upon by a hoarse whisper from the black interior of a hut past
which we were making our way. My name was called in a low
voice, and a man stepped out beside me as I halted with
raised knife. It was Chal-az.

"Quick!" he warned. "In here! It is my hut, and they will not
search it."

I hesitated, recalled his attitude of a few minutes before; and
as though he had read my thoughts, he said quickly: "I could
not speak to you in the plaza without danger of arousing
suspicions which would prevent me aiding you later, for word
had gone out that Al-tan had turned against you and would
destroy you--this was after Du-seen the Galu arrived."

I followed him into the hut, and with Nobs at our heels we
passed through several chambers into a remote and windowless
apartment where a small lamp sputtered in its unequal battle
with the inky darkness. A hole in the roof permitted the smoke
from burning oil egress; yet the atmosphere was far from lucid.
Here Chal-az motioned me to a seat upon a furry hide spread
upon the earthen floor.

"I am your friend," he said. "You saved my life; and I am no
ingrate as is the batu Al-tan. I will serve you, and there
are others here who will serve you against Al-tan and this
renegade Galu, Du-seen."

"But where is Ajor?" I asked, for I cared little for my own
safety while she was in danger.

"Ajor is safe, too," he answered. "We learned the designs of
Al-tan and Du-seen. The latter, learning that Ajor was here,
demanded her; and Al-tan promised that he should have her;
but when the warriors went to get her To-mar went with them.
Ajor tried to defend herself. She killed one of the warriors,
and then To-mar picked her up in his arms when the others had
taken her weapons from her. He told the others to look after the
wounded man, who was really already dead, and to seize you upon
your return, and that he, To-mar, would bear Ajor to Al-tan;
but instead of bearing her to Al-tan, he took her to his own
hut, where she now is with So-al, To-mar's she. It all
happened very quickly. To-mar and I were in the council-hut
when Du-seen attempted to take the dog from you. I was seeking
To-mar for this work. He ran out immediately and accompanied
the warriors to your hut while I remained to watch what went
on within the council-hut and to aid you if you needed aid.
What has happened since you know."

I thanked him for his loyalty and then asked him to take me to
Ajor; but he said that it could not be done, as the village
streets were filled with searchers. In fact, we could hear
them passing to and fro among the huts, making inquiries, and
at last Chal-az thought it best to go to the doorway of his
dwelling, which consisted of many huts joined together, lest
they enter and search.

Chal-az was absent for a long time--several hours which seemed
an eternity to me. All sounds of pursuit had long since
ceased, and I was becoming uneasy because of his protracted
absence when I heard him returning through the other apartments
of his dwelling. He was perturbed when he entered that in which
I awaited him, and I saw a worried expression upon his face.

"What is wrong?" I asked. "Have they found Ajor?"

"No," he replied; "but Ajor has gone. She learned that you
had escaped them and was told that you had left the village,
believing that she had escaped too. So-al could not detain her.
She made her way out over the top of the palisade, armed with
only her knife."

"Then I must go," I said, rising. Nobs rose and shook himself.
He had been dead asleep when I spoke.

"Yes," agreed Chal-az, "you must go at once. It is almost dawn.
Du-seen leaves at daylight to search for her." He leaned
close to my ear and whispered: "There are many to follow and
help you. Al-tan has agreed to aid Du-seen against the Galus
of Jor; but there are many of us who have combined to rise
against Al-tan and prevent this ruthless desecration of the
laws and customs of the Kro-lu and of Caspak. We will rise as
Luata has ordained that we shall rise, and only thus. No batu
may win to the estate of a Galu by treachery and force of arms
while Chal-az lives and may wield a heavy blow and a sharp spear
with true Kro-lus at his back!"

"I hope that I may live to aid you," I replied. "If I had my
weapons and my ammunition, I could do much. Do you know where
they are?"

"No," he said, "they have disappeared." And then: "Wait!
You cannot go forth half armed, and garbed as you are. You are
going into the Galu country, and you must go as a Galu. Come!"
And without waiting for a reply, he led me into another
apartment, or to be more explicit, another of the several huts
which formed his cellular dwelling.

Here was a pile of skins, weapons, and ornaments. "Remove your
strange apparel," said Chal-az, "and I will fit you out as a
true Galu. I have slain several of them in the raids of my
early days as a Kro-lu, and here are their trappings."

I saw the wisdom of his suggestion, and as my clothes were by
now so ragged as to but half conceal my nakedness, I had no
regrets in laying them aside. Stripped to the skin, I donned
the red-deerskin tunic, the leopard-tail, the golden fillet,
armlets and leg-ornaments of a Galu, with the belt, scabbard
and knife, the shield, spear, bow and arrow and the long rope
which I learned now for the first time is the distinctive
weapon of the Galu warrior. It is a rawhide rope, not
dissimilar to those of the Western plains and cow-camps of
my youth. The honda is a golden oval and accurate weight for
the throwing of the noose. This heavy honda, Chal-az
explained, is used as a weapon, being thrown with great force
and accuracy at an enemy and then coiled in for another cast.
In hunting and in battle, they use both the noose and the honda.
If several warriors surround a single foeman or quarry, they rope
it with the noose from several sides; but a single warrior
against a lone antagonist will attempt to brain his foe with
the metal oval.

I could not have been more pleased with any weapon, short of a
rifle, which he could have found for me, since I have been
adept with the rope from early childhood; but I must confess
that I was less favorably inclined toward my apparel. In so
far as the sensation was concerned, I might as well have been
entirely naked, so short and light was the tunic. When I asked
Chal-az for the Caspakian name for rope, he told me ga, and
for the first time I understood the derivation of the word
Galu, which means ropeman.

Entirely outfitted I would not have known myself, so strange
was my garb and my armament. Upon my back were slung my bow,
arrows, shield, and short spear; from the center of my girdle
depended my knife; at my right hip was my stone hatchet; and at
my left hung the coils of my long rope. By reaching my right
hand over my left shoulder, I could seize the spear or arrows;
my left hand could find my bow over my right shoulder, while a
veritable contortionist-act was necessary to place my shield in
front of me and upon my left arm. The shield, long and oval,
is utilized more as back-armor than as a defense against
frontal attack, for the close-set armlets of gold upon the left
forearm are principally depended upon to ward off knife, spear,
hatchet, or arrow from in front; but against the greater
carnivora and the attacks of several human antagonists, the
shield is utilized to its best advantage and carried by loops
upon the left arm.

Fully equipped, except for a blanket, I followed Chal-az from
his domicile into the dark and deserted alleys of Kro-lu.
Silently we crept along, Nobs silent at heel, toward the
nearest portion of the palisade. Here Chal-az bade me
farewell, telling me that he hoped to see me soon among the
Galus, as he felt that "the call soon would come" to him.
I thanked him for his loyal assistance and promised that whether
I reached the Galu country or not, I should always stand ready
to repay his kindness to me, and that he could count on me in
the revolution against Al-tan.