Even as his face contorted in pain Allerdyce whipped around to one side and delivered a blow with the side of his palm to the side of Sobar"s neck. The crack of the breaking neck was like that of a branch breaking. Sobar pitched to his face and lay still.
Instantly Ugg leaped to Allerdyce"s side.
"Your chieftain was bested in fair play!" he shouted to the warriors of Sobar"s tribe. "By our laws you have now become our prisoners."
"But not by mine!" a strange voice yelled.
And before Allerdyce could do more than turn, Finster was on him. What made Ed Finster do what he did was never explained. Perhaps the realization of what had happened came to the man. Perhaps his mind, twisted by jealousy and hate snapped at that moment. Whatever the reason, he turned on Allerdyce. It was the signal for a general battle. For of all the cavemen who were present, only one was quick-witted enough to take advantage of the situation. This one was one of the two who had come forward with Sobar.
He yelled:
"Gomar is now chief. One of the Spirits is on our side.... Kill Ugg and his...."
Had it been one of the cavemen attacking, Allerdyce would have managed to get away for the moment he needed to recover. But it wasn"t. It was a trained wrestler, one who knew all the tricks, who had leaped at him. So Finster worked his surprise vantage for all it was worth.
But even then Allerdyce might have won out had it not been for Gomar"s call to arms. His men forgot the booty they had taken, the women and children and leaped forward with savage shouts, spears and clubs used indiscriminately. Allerdyce had broken Finster"s first hold, and was turning to get a grip on the other, when a club thrown by one of the cavemen caught him a blow on the temple and stretched him senseless to the ground.
Allerdyce"s awakening this time was not as pleasant as before. Someone was kicking him in the face. He opened his eyes, one of them anyway.
The other was closed shut. He was in a cave. It was a smelly cave, the walls blackened from the smoke of many fires. Nor was he alone. He tried to move his arms and discovered he had been securely bound.
Suddenly from behind, a foot came swinging out and pain shot up the side of his jaw as the bare toes connected with it.
"Enough," a voice called.
"Aah! I"ve been wanting to do this for a long time," Ed Finster said.
There was disgust in Gomar"s voice as he replied:
"The Great Spirit has small men for messengers.... Remove the other"s bonds."
"Hey!" Finster yelped in protest.
But no one paid attention. Hands tore the fibre ropes loose from about Allerdyce"s figure and helped him to his feet where he stood swaying like a tree in a high wind.
"The Great Spirit sent two messengers," Gomar said. "But He had a reason. One was sent to conquer Sobar so that I could become chief.
The other was to conquer you. The light is clear.... Take him to the women...."
Only Finster laughed at the edict. He had reason for the laughter. In all the years of their a.s.sociation Allerdyce had never been known to go for the fillies. And now he was to be thrown to a pack of them.
With that puss, Finster thought, they"d throw him right back.
Spear points pressed against his back, a rope around his wrists, and while the rest walked behind, one man led Allerdyce from the cave into the open, across a level stretch of ground and into a very large cave.
Here his wrists were unbound and to the jibes and laughter of the warriors who had accompanied him, Allerdyce was shoved into the cave proper itself.
The cave was immense, and seemed to be filled entirely with women and children. For a second there was silence. Then as their eyes saw this almost naked stranger, a wild shriek of laughter went up. Hands went out, pointing to his shorts which seemed to be all the clothing he had, to his face, puffed into a gargoylish mask, and to his hairy chest, which looked like the stuffing of a mattress.
Allerdyce stared in horror at the women, turned and started for the cave entrance. But the cavemen had antic.i.p.ated his move. They stood guard, spears thrust point forward, and after a few hesitant seconds, Allerdyce turned back.
But now they were no longer scattered about the cave. They came over in a rush, forcing him to the wall, his hands pawing in futile attempts to prevent them from touching him. For some reason this made them angry. Their hands clenched and spiteful words came from their lips, and several turned aside and called something to the children, who after a moment returned, with stones and sticks.
"Hey!" Allerdyce called in alarm. "Take it easy...."
The alarm in his voice was the signal for them to attack. In a moment he was the center of a mob of women all bent, it seemed, on his destruction. He fought at first as gently as he could. But as some of the stones. .h.i.t and some of the clubs struck vulnerable parts of his anatomy, he fought with less gentleness. Finally, he was forced to club one of the women with his fist. She went flying backward and landed flat on her back.
Instantly the attack ceased.
He watched them move away from him and wondered why. His question was answered as the woman he had struck crawled to him and embraced his legs. He tried to withdraw her hands but she held only tighter and said:
"We are mated. You made the choice. I am Sala...."
"You"re nuts!" Allerdyce said sharply. He turned to call the guards to help him with the woman when he discovered that they were gone.
"Are customs different in your tribe?" Sala asked. "Do you not mate with a woman in this manner?"
The beginning of a hope came to him in a rush as he realized the consequences of what had happened. He was free now. He tried to put the proper authority in his voice, when he said:
"Go woman! Find me a corner and bring me food...."
Without the slightest hesitation Sala rose and trotted to a far corner of the cave. Allerdyce followed and squatted beside her. He had always been a shy man and had never known many women, especially women with as little clothes as Sala wore. She was beautiful by any standard he thought. But only for a moment. His thoughts for the first time centered on his predicament.
His mind allowed for but a single conclusion. That the plane had run into a time-fault and that he and Ed Finster had been drawn into it.
The others must have died in the plane crash. Since the giant ship was over the Atlantic at the time of the crash it was reasonable to a.s.sume that time only was involved and not s.p.a.ce. Therefore, by the same line of reasoning, he and Ed were to be here for the rest of their lives.
That is unless somehow they found the same fault again. But that was not probable, he realized.
For a moment fear lay heavy on him. Then the scientist came uppermost.
What an opportunity he had. A man of science among these children. The chance to build a civilization. It could be done with his knowledge.
But first he had to get the power over these people.
Sala came back just then with what looked like the leg of a rabbit. It was very underdone but Allerdyce didn"t quibble. If he were going to live as they did then he might as well start right there.
Three days went by and nothing changed. He learned all about his mate.
She had been one of Ugg"s tribe. Now she was part of the tribe of Gomar. It was that simple. She was a tigress when she thought another woman was even looking at her mate and fought with the savagery of a beast for him. And he had been granted his freedom with his acquisition of a mate. He learned to hunt as the others did, with spear and club. But already he had fashioned his first bow and arrow, and knew it would be a matter of time before he was taught the rest.
There was but one fly in the ointment, Ed Finster. As yet he had no mate. And he looked with avaricious eyes on Sala.
It was on the fourth day.
Allerdyce had returned from the hunt. He had killed an animal with his arrow and the tribe looked on him with respect. As he neared his cave he heard shrieks of pain and anger. And as he watched with amazement, Ed Finster appeared, dragging Sala by her hair. His action was instinctive. Rushing forward, he threw his bow to one side and knocked Ed to the ground.
Immediately a circle of warriors were drawn about the two men and Gomar stepped forward.
"It is time," he said. "I have wondered about this. A combat of arms will settle it. Whoever wins will have the woman ... and his freedom."
As they stood facing each other, Finster turned aside as though to say something to Gomar. Allerdyce relaxed naturally. But Finster had done it with that view in mind. Like a flash he whirled on Allerdyce and grabbed a headlock. It would have ended right then had not both men been barefoot. For Allerdyce had not stiffened his neck muscles. But Finster stepped on a thorn and the shock made him loosen his grip for an instant. It was enough for Allerdyce to break free.