'How do you know what it was?' demanded one of the men.
'Why—er—can't you take a joke?' demanded Lula in a weak voice.
I smiled as I realized how nearly Lula's vanity had caused him to betray himself. It was evident that while he may have trusted his friends, he did not therefore trust them implicitly. And I smiled also from relief, for I knew now that I had come to the right village and that Duare was here—but where? I wanted to question these men, but if Lula could not trust them, how might I? I wanted to stand up and shout Duare's name. I wanted her to know that I was here, eager to serve her. She must think me dead; and, knowing Duare as I did, I knew that she might take her own life because of hopelessness and despair. I must get word to her somehow. I edged toward Lula, and when I was close to him whispered in his ear.
'Come away. I want to talk to you,' I said.
'Go away. I don't know you,' whispered Lula.
'You bet you know me; and if you don't come with me, I'll tell 'em all where you've been all afternoon and that you brought me here.'
'Oh, you wouldn't do that!' Lula was trembling.
'Then come with me.'
'All right,' said Lula, and rising walked off into the shadows beyond the fire.
I pointed toward the women. 'Is Bund there?' I asked.
'Yes, the big brute with her back toward us,' replied Lula.
'Would her new slave be in Bund's cave?'
'Probably.'
'Alone?' I asked.
'No, another slave whom Bund could trust would be watching her, so that she couldn't escape.'
'Where is Bund's cave?'
'High up, on the third terrace.'
'Take me to it,' I directed.
'Are you crazy, or do you think I am?' demanded Lula.
'You are allowed on the cliff, aren't you?'
'Yes, but I wouldn't go to Bund's cave unless she sent for me.'
'You don't have to go there; just come with me far enough to point it out to me.'
He hesitated, scratching his head. 'Well,' he said, finally, 'that's as good a way as any to get rid of you; but don't forget that you promised not to tell them that it was I who brought you to the village.'
I followed him up a rickety ladder to the first and then to the second level, but as we were about to ascend to the third two women started down from above. Lula became panicky.
'Come!' he whispered nervously and took me by the arm.
He led me along a precarious footwalk that ran in front of the caves and to the far end of it. Trembling, he halted here.
'That was a narrow escape,' he whispered. 'Even with your black hair you don't look much like a Samaryan man—you're as big and strong as a woman; and that thing hanging at your side—that would give you away. No one else has one. You'd better throw it away.'
He referred to my pistol, the only weapon I had brought, with the exception of a good hunting knife. The suggestion was as bizarre as Lula was naive. He was right in saying that its possession might reveal my imposture, but on the other hand its absence might ensure my early demise. I did manage to arrange it, however, so that it was pretty well covered by my loincloth.
As we were standing on the runway waiting for the two women to get safely out of the way, I looked down upon the scene below, my interest centering principally upon the group of women surrounding the larger fire. They were strapping specimens, broad shouldered, deep chested, with the sturdy limbs of gladiators. Their hoarse voices rose in laughter, profanity, and coarse jokes. The firelight played upon their almost naked bodies and their rugged, masculine faces, revealing them distinctly to me. They were not unhandsome, with their short hair and bronzed skins; but even though their figures were, in a modified way, those of women, there seemed not even a trace of femininity among them. One just could not think of them as women, and that was all there was to it. As I watched them, two of them got into an altercation. They started by calling each other vile names; then they went at it hammer and tongs, and they didn't fight like women. There was no hair pulling or scratching there. They fought like a couple of icemen.
How different the other group around the smaller fire. With mouse-like timidity they furtively watched the fight—from a distance. Compared with their women, their bodies were small and frail, their voices soft, their manner apologetic.
Lula and I didn't wait to ascertain the outcome of the fight. The two women who had interrupted our ascent passed down to a lower level leaving us free to climb to the next runway where Bund's cave was located. When we stood upon the catwalk of the third level, Lula told me that Bund's cave was the third to my left. That done, he was ready to leave me.
'Where are the men's caves?' I asked him before he could get away.
'On the highest level.'
'And yours?'
'The last cave to the left of the ladder,' he said. 'I'm going there now. I hope I never see you again.' His voice was shaking and he was trembling like a leaf. It didn't seem possible that a man could be reduced to such a pitiable state of abject terror, and by a woman. Yet he had faced the tharban with a real show of courage. With a shake of my head I turned toward the cave of Bund , the warrior woman of Houtomai.
Chapter 3—Caves of Houtomai
The catwalks before the caves of the cliff dwellers of Houtomai seemed most inadequate; but they served their purpose, and I suppose the dwellers there, being accustomed to nothing different, were content with them. Their construction was simple but practical. Into holes bored in the face of the sandstone cliff, straight tree limbs had been driven projecting about two feet from the cliff. These were braced by other pieces, the lower ends of which rested in notches cut about two feet below the holes. Along the tops of these brackets, poles had been laid and lashed down with raw-hide. The runways seemed rather narrow when one glanced down the face of the precipitous cliff, and there were no handrails. I couldn't help but think how embarrassing it might be to get into a fight on one of these catwalks. As these thoughts passed through my mind, I made my way to the mouth of the third cave to my left. All as quiet and the interior as dark as a pocket.
'Hey! in there,' I called.
Presently a sleepy feminine voice answered. 'Who's that? What do you want?'
'Bund wants her new slave sent down,' I said.
I heard someone moving inside the cave, and almost immediately a woman with dishevelled hair crawled to the entrance. I knew that it was too dark for her to recognize features. All that I could hope for was that she would be too sleepy to have her suspicions aroused by my voice, which I didn't think sounded like the voices of the men I had heard talking. I hoped not, anyway. However, I tried to change it as much as I could, aping Lula's soft tones.
'What does Bund want of her?' she asked.
'How should I know?' I demanded.
'It's very funny,' she said. 'Bund told me distinctly that I was not to let her out of the cave under any circumstances. Oh, here comes Bund now.'
I glanced down. The fight was over, and the women were ascending to their caves. To me that catwalk in front of Bund's cave looked like a most unhealthy place to loiter, and I knew that it would be impossible at this time to do anything for Duare; so I made my exit as gracefully and as quickly as I could.
'I guess Bund changed her mind,' I told the woman, as I turned back toward the ladder that led to the upper catwalk. Fortunately for me the slave woman was still half asleep, and doubtless her principal concern at the moment was to get back to her slumbers. She mumbled something about its being very odd, but before she could
