'We will keep them,' he said.
The girls shuddered with relief. They had been found acceptable.
'Tie them,' said the leader of the brigands, 'kneeling, left ankle to right ankle, right ankle to left ankle.'
In a moment this was done. They were knelt, back to back. Two cords are used. One cord fastens the first girl's left ankle to the other girl's right ankle, the same cord looped tight about both ankles, binding them closely together. The other cord, similarly, fastens her right ankle to the other's left ankle. It is a lovely, efficient tie, fastening both girls helplessly in a posture of submission. In this tie they will not leap to their feet and flee away. They will remain, waiting, where they have been placed.
'What moneys are there here?' demanded the chief of the brigands of Boots.
Boots was silent.
The chief of the brigands looked down, near the fire. There the other male members of Boots's company lay on their stomachs, bound, sly, agile Chino, simple Lecchio, Petrucchio, the tall, doleful 'captain,' and Publius Andronicus, supposedly the most famous actor in the company, saving perhaps the incredible Boots Tarsk-Bit himself. I had not yet, as a matter of fact, seen Publius Andronicus act. I supposed that he was capable of doing so. He was quite impressive, in a ponderous way, rather like a mountain range, in figure and visage. He also had a deep bass voice, which, when he wished, he could make boom like thunder. Boots was quite impressed with him. He was apparently holding himself in reserve for major leads, such as those of tragic statesmen, tormented poets, confused ubars, and such. I thought that perhaps he was in the wrong company. AT any rate it did not seem that the repertory of Boots's company, as I was familiar with it at least, was richly or unusually endowed with roles of such a nature. Too, bound, still hooded, the player, he called the 'monster,' lay with the others.
'Take what you want,' said Boots. 'Then be gone.'
'That one,' said the chief of the brigands, indicating Chino, 'kill him.'
'No!' cried Boots. 'Hold! You cannot be serious! Such an act would desecrate the theater! That is the finest Chino on all Gor!'
'I do not like the idea either,' said Chino, 'on independent grounds.'
'If only I had my sword!' cried Petrucchio. I really doubted that Petrucchio's huge, clumsy wooden sword, no more than a comic theatrical prop really, would be likely to turn the tide of battle. Still his courage I found admirable.
'Cut his throat,' said the leader of the brigands.
'No,' said Boots. 'In my wagon, in the right-hand corner of the tray in my trunk there is a knotted sock which contains coins and there are some coins, too, thrust in the toe of a slipper at the side of the trunk.'
'Fetch them,' said the leader of the brigands.
The fellow who had seized Chino thrust him back to the dirt. he then made his way to Boots's wagon.
'What else?' demanded the leader of the brigands.
'I know of little else that might be of value to you,' said Boots. 'You may look about and take what you like. I cannot speak for the others.'
'Where is Bort?' asked the leader of the brigands.
'He was keeping watch, at the road,' said one of the men.
'We have them now,' said the leader of the brigands. 'We have called the guards in. Where is he?'
'Doubtless he will be in in a moment,' said one of the men. He was mistaken.
'Bort! Bort!' called a fellow.
I had counted, all told, counting the leader, seven brigands. It is important, for obvious reasons, to be as clear as possible on such matters.
'Bort!' the man called out, again, more loudly.
I had mad the acquaintance of Bort, briefly, near the road. He had not had a great deal of time, however, to savor the relationship. His attention had been distracted by a tiny sound, the sound of a falling pebble, to one side. I had then approached him from the opposite direction.
'Bort!' called out the man.
The brigands were now six in number. They did not realize this, as yet.
'Where is he?' said one of the men.
'Sleeping at his post,' said a man.
'Lost,' said another.
'Let him go,' said a fellow. 'There will be more loot for us that way.'
'Go find him,' said the leader of the brigands.
Interestingly enough, only one man, he who had been calling Bort, came forth to locate him.
'Bort?' he inquired, warily, peering into the darkness. 'Is that you?' I killed him. 'No,' I said.
I then circled the camp, approaching from the other side of the wagons. The leader of the brigands, and one other fellow, were near the prisoners. The others were rummaging through the wagons and goods. They were intent on ly on their loot. I caught one from behind and dragged him back into the darkness. I left him there. I used the same quiva I had on the other two.
'Titus!' called one of the brigands, emerging from a wagon, pausing on the steps at the rear. 'See what I have found!' He brandished a large inlaid cup. I had seen such cups before. 'Titus!' he called. 'Titus?'
'Where is Crassius?' called the leader of the brigands to him. 'Is he with you?'
'No,' said the man. 'Has he not yet returned?'
'No,' said the leader.
The man lowered his arm with the cup.
'He should be back with Bort by now,' said the man on the wagon steps.
'Bort!' called the leader into the darkness. 'Crassius!' He then turned about. 'Titus!' he called. 'Titus!' He regarded the fellow with him. 'I do not like it,' he said.
'What is wrong?' asked another fellow, emerging form one of the wagons.
'Bort is missing,' said the leader. 'Crassius had not yet returned. We have called Titus. He does not respond.'
The men looked about themselves, apprehensively.
'Sleen,' said one of the men.
It is true that sleen sometimes make kills swiftly and silently.
'It could be a panther come from the woods, or a strayed larl,' said one of the men. This was less likely than a sleen attack. Though panthers and larls can be extremely dangerous to men they will usually attack men only if they are disturbed or other prey is not available. Sleen, which ten to be fine hunters and splendid trackers, which are swiftly moving, aggressive, serpentine, generally nocturnal animals, particularly in the wild state, are less fastidious about their eating habits.
'It could be urts,' said a man. 'It is near the time of the year for their movements.' Certain species of urts migrate twice a year. At such times, annually, it is usually necessary only to avoid them. People usually remain indoors when pack is in their vicinity. There is little danger from these migrations unless one finds oneself in their direct path. The urt, on the whole, most species of which are quite small, large enough to be lifted in one hand, does not pose much direct threat to human beings. Then can destroy Sa-Tarna fields and force their way into granaries. Similarly urts of the sort which live on garbage cast into the canals will often, unhesitantly, attack swimmers. Certain forms of large, domesticated urt, incidentally, should be excepted from these remarks.They are especially bred for attacking and killing. Such animals, however, are inferior to sleen for such purposes. They also lack the tracking capabilities of the sleen. Similarly they lack its intelligence. There was at least one good additional reason, incidentally, for supposing that whatever might be perplexing the brigands was not urts. The urts do not make their kills neatly and silently. They normally attack in a pack. It is usually a messy business. There is usually much blood and screaming.
'Gather in what you can,' said the leader of the brigands. 'Then we will be on our way.' He looked about himself. Then he threw some more wood on the fire. The fire, of course, would be useful in keeping sleen at bay. It also, from my point of view, was useful in illuminating the camp area.
The two men at the rear doors of the wagons, on the steps, looked across at one another.
'Get busy,' said the leader.
'You are near the fire,' said one of the men on the wagons.
'We have enough,' said the other.
