Stern nodded.
"Yes," he answered. "He was so old and weak, the touch of the fire in the sky--he could not bear it. But his death was happy, for at least he felt its warmth upon his brow!"
The Merucaans kept silence for a moment, then Stern heard them murmuring together, and a vague uneasiness crept over him.
He strove, however, to put it away; though in his heart the shame of the lie he had been forced to tell would not be quieted.
The colonists, however, made no further speech, but presently rolled the rock in front of the cave entrance, then wrapped themselves in their long cloaks and lay down by the fire.
Soon, like the healthy savages they were, they were fast asleep, with vigorous snorings.
Thus the night pa.s.sed, while Stern kept watch over the girl; and another day crept slowly up the sky, and in the cave now rested four human beings--the vanguard of the coming nation.
CHAPTER XVII
THE DISTANT MENACE
Stern never knew when he, too, drifted off to sleep; but he awoke to find Zangamon sitting beside him, with his cloak drawn over his head, while Beatrice and Bremilu still slept.
"The light, master--it is like knives to me! Like spears to my eyes, master! I cannot bear it!" whispered the Merucaan, pointing to where, around the interstices of the doorway, bright white gleams were streaming in.
Allan considered with perplexity.
"It hurts, you say?"
"Yes, Kromno! Once or twice I have tried to watch that strange fire, but I cannot. The pain is very great!"
"Humph!" thought Allan. "This may be a more serious factor than I"ve reckoned on. These people are albinos. White hair and pink eyes--not a particle of protecting pigmentation. For thirty or so generations they"ve been subjected to nothing but torchlight. The actinic rays of the sun are infinitely more penetrating than anything they"ve ever known. It may take months, years even, to accustom them to sunlight!"
And disquieting situations presented themselves to his mind. True, if it were necessary, the Folk could work and take the air only at night.
They could fish, hunt and till the soil by star and moonlight, and sleep by day; but this was by no means the veritable reestablishment of a real, human civilization.
Then an idea struck him.
"The very thing!" cried he. "Once I can put it into effect, it will solve the question. And the second generation, at the outside, will be normal. They"ll "throw back" to remote ancestry under changed conditions. In time, even if only a long time, all will yet be well!"
But now immediate labors and difficult problems were pressing. The future would have to look out for itself.
Stern felt positive that to let the Merucaans out of the cave would not only blind them, but might also kill them outright as well.
Their unprotected skins would inevitably burn to a blister under the rays of the sun, and they would in all probability die. So said he:
"Listen, Zangamon! You must stay here till the dark comes again, which will not be very long. The woman and I will prepare another cave for your dwelling. When it is dark you can fish in the flowing water beneath. In the mean time we will bring you your accustomed food and your nets from the flying boat.
"You must be patient. In a short time all things shall be as you wish, and you shall see the wonderful and beautiful world up into which I have brought you!"
The man nodded, yet Stern clearly saw his face betrayed uneasiness, distrust and pain. In all fairness, the Merucaans" first experience of the upper world had been enough to shake the faith even of a philosopher--how much more so that of simple and untaught barbarians!
Terror, violence, slaughter and insecurity--these all had greeted the colonists; and now, in addition, they found the patriarch was dead.
Above all, they were virtually prisoners in this gloomy cavern of the rock.
But Stern was very wise. He by no means thought of commiserating or excusing. His only course was to make light of trials and hardships, and, if need were, to command.
He arose, carefully stopped up the c.h.i.n.ks around the rock at the doorway, and bade Zangamon replenish the fire with dry sticks. Then, Bremilu awakening, they prepared food.
Now Beatrice, too, awoke. Allan took her in his arms, unmindful of the newcomers, and there were words of love and joy, and self-reproaches, and a new faith plighted between them once again.
She was unharmed, except for a few bruises and scratches. Her nerves had already recovered something of their usual strength. But at sight of Allan"s bandaged arni she turned pale, and not even his a.s.surances could comfort her.
They talked of the terrible adventure.
"It was all my fault, Allan--every bit my fault!" she exclaimed remorsefully. "It all came from my not obeying orders. You see, I was expecting you last night. Instead of staying in the cave, with the door barricaded, I lingered on the terrace, after having piled the signal-fire high with wood.
"I sat down and watched the sky, and listened to the river down below, and thought of you. I must have dozed a little, for all of a sudden I came wide-awake, shuddering with a terror I couldn"t understand. Then I heard something moving down the path--something that grunted and snuffled savagely.
"I started up, ran for the cave, and just got inside when the brute reached it. I rolled the stone in place, Allan, but before I could brace it with the pole it was hurled back, and in crawled the gorilla, roaring and snapping like a demon!"
She hid her face in both hands, shuddering at the terrible memory.
But, forcing herself to be calm, she went on again:
"I s.n.a.t.c.hed up the pistol and fired. Then--"
"You hit him?"
"I must have, for he screeched most horribly and pawed at his breast--"
"So, then, that explains the blood-marks on the floor and the great hand-print on the wall?"
"Hand-print? Was there one?"
"Yes; but no matter now. Go on!"
"After that--oh, it was too ghastly! He seized me and I fought--I struggled against that huge, hairy chest; he gripped me like iron. My blows were no more than so many pats to him.
"I tried to fire again, but he wrenched the pistol away, and bent it in his huge teeth and flung it down. But, though he was raging, he didn"t wound me--didn"t try to kill me, or anything. He seemed to want to capture me alive--"
Allan shuddered. Only too well he understood. Gorilla nature had not changed in fifteen hundred years.
"After that?" he questioned eagerly.
"Oh, after that I don"t remember much. I must have fainted. Next thing I knew, everything was dark and the forest was all about. I screamed and then again I knew nothing. Once more I seemed to sense things, and once more all grew black. And after that--"
"Well?"