'Good-by,' said von Horst. They had reached the foot of the ladder. 'Good-by and good luck. I will speak to Lotai as soon as possible.'
Von Horst found Lotai and Mumal alone in front of the cave, and immediately explained the plan that he and Thorek had discussed. Both women were delighted, and they sat for a long time planning on the future. Presently Gorph came and demanded food. As usual he was surly and brutal. He glowered and growled at von Horst.
'I shall not have to feed you again,' he said. 'Mamth has spoken, and soon all will be in readiness in the little canyon. You will be taken there with the other prisoners, and you will not come back.'
'I shall miss you, Gorph,' said von Horst.
The Mammoth Man looked at him in stupid amazement. 'I shall not miss you,' he said.
'I shall miss your pleasant ways and your hospitality.'
'You are a fool,' said Gorph. He gobbled his food and arose. 'I am going into the cave to sleep,' he said. 'If word is passed that we are going to the little canyon, wake me.'
As he crossed to enter the cave he aimed a vicious kick at Lotai, which she dodged by rolling quickly out of the way. 'Why don't you get a man?' he demanded. 'I am sick of seeing you around; I am tired of feeding you;' then he passed on into the cave.
The three sat in silence. They dared not plan for fear they might be overheard. The thoughts of the women were filled with happiness—thoughts of escape, of Sari, of love, and of happiness. The man thought not of the future but of the past—of the world of his birth, of his friends, and his family, of a beautiful girl who had touched his life briefly and yet had filled it. There was no future for him—only a brief interval of uncertainty and then death. A young man climbed agilely up the ladders to the ledge before Gorph's cave. He halted and surveyed the three, his eyes resting on Lotai.
'You are to go to the cave of Mamth ,' he said. 'He has chosen you to be his mate.'
Lotai turned very white; her wide eyes were horror filled. She tried to speak; but she only gasped, her fingers clutching at her throat.
Von Horst looked at the messenger. 'Tell Mamth that Lotai has been ill,' he said, 'but that she will come presently.'
'She had better not be long,' warned the man, 'if she doesn't want a beating.'
After he had departed the three sat whispering together for some time; then Lotai arose and went into the cave. Von Horst and Mumal remained where they were for a short time; then they too, feeling the urge to sleep, went into the cave.
Von Horst was awakened by loud voices outside the cave; then Gorph entered, calling Lotai. There was no reply. Von Horst sat up.
'Lotai is not here,' he said. 'Don't make so much noise; I want to sleep.'
'Where is she?' demanded Gorph. 'She has got to be here.'
'Perhaps, but she is not. Mamth sent for her to come to his cave. Go and inquire of Mamth where she is.'
Two warriors entered the cave. 'She did not come to Mamth's cave,' said one of them. 'He sent us to fetch her.'
'Perhaps something happened to her,' suggested von Horst.
The two, with Gorph, searched the cave. They questioned Mumal, but she only replied as had von Horst that Mamth had sent for Lotai. At last they departed, and the others followed them to the ledge. Presently von Horst saw a number of warriors commence a search of the village. They searched every cave, but they did not find Lotai. Von Horst could see Mamth standing among the trees at the foot of the cliff, and he guessed from his gestures that he was very angry. Nor was he mistaken. Presently the chief came himself to the cave of Gorph and searched it; and he questioned Gorph, and Mumal, and von Horst. He wanted to blame one or all of them, but he had no evidence to support him. He stopped in front of von Horst, scowling.
'You are bad luck,' he said, 'but it will not be for long—we go now to the little canyon.'
To the little canyon! The end of his adventure in Pellucidar was approaching. Well, what of it? One must die. It is little easier one time than another. Even the very old and hopeless cling tenaciously to life. They may not wish to, but they cannot help it—it is just another of Nature's immutable laws.
He followed the warriors down the ladders to the foot of the cliff. Here the clan was gathering, men, women, and children. A herd of mammoths was being driven into the village; and the great beasts were lifting men, women, and children to their backs. Von Horst looked about in search of Thorek, but he could not find him; then he was ordered to the back of a mammoth, where he sat behind a warrior. He saw Frug on another beast, as well as other prisoners similarly mounted. There were men from Amdar, from Go-hal, from Lo-har. Von Horst had never met any of the other prisoners except Frug; but he had heard them spoken of by Mumal, Grum, and Lotai. He would have been glad to have talked with the man from Lo-har, because that was La-ja's country. Because of that he felt closer to him. His heart might have warmed even to the redoubtable Gaz.
Presently he caught sight of Thorek. He was standing at one side among the trees staring steadily at von Horst; and the instant that the man from the outer crust caught his eye, he raised his right arm aloft toward the sun.
Thorek nodded and turned away. Immediately thereafter Mamth moved off upon his great mount, and the others followed. The hairy warriors with their women and children, the monstrous beasts that bore them, presented a picture of primitive savagery that thrilled von Horst despite its sinister connotation. It was indeed an inspiring prelude to death. He looked about him. Riding beside and almost abreast of him, he discovered Gorph alone upon the back of his mammoth.
'Where is Mumal?' inquired von Horst.
Gorph looked at him and scowled. 'She is sick,' he said. 'I hope she dies; then I could get me a good mate. I will not hunt for two of them and their brats.'
Presently the trail wound up the side of the canyon to the summit of a ridge that paralleled a steep-sided canyon. Here the tribe dismounted, turning the mammoths over to the herders; after which the men, women, and children ranged themselves along the edge of the canyon which formed an amphitheater below them.
'This,' said the warrior with whom von Horst had ridden, 'is the little canyon.'
XVII – THE LITTLE CANYON
AT THE EDGE of the canyon was a ledge along which the members of the tribe pressed to obtain a view of the floor of the canyon some thirty feet below. At the upper end of the canyon a massive corral had been built in which were several mammoths, and in the wall opposite the spectators a cave entrance was barred with small timbers. As von Horst stood looking down into the little canyon, Horg came carrying a rope in one end of which was a noose.
'Stick your leg through this,' he said to von Horst, 'and hold on tight.'
Two other warriors approached and took hold of the rope with the first. 'Get over the edge,' directed Horg. 'Your troubles will soon be over. I would almost like to change places with you.'
Von Horst grinned. 'No thanks,' he said. 'I know when I'm well off.'
'When you reach the bottom, step out of the rope,' instructed Horg; then the three lowered him to the floor of the canyon.
As they pulled the rope up again they tossed down a stone knife and a stone-tipped spear; then they lowered another prisoner. It was Frug.
The chief of the Basti glowered at von Horst. 'You've got me into a nice mess,' he growled.
'You are rationalizing, my friend,' replied von Horst. 'You are also passing the buck, as my American friends so quaintly put it; all of which confirms an opinion I have long held—that styles in whiskers and bowler hats may change, but human nature never.'
'I don't know what you are talking about.'
'It is quite immaterial. If I am any sort of a judge, nothing that we may or think down here at the bottom of the little canyon will ever be material to any one, not even to ourselves.'
From above were dropped weapons for Frug; and then, one by one, the three remaining prisoners were
