12
The Giant Stranger
And while the warriors and the priests of A-lur searched the temple
and the palace and the city for the vanished ape-man there entered
the head of Kor-ul-ja down the precipitous trail from the mountains, a
naked stranger bearing an Enfield upon his back. Silently he moved
downward toward the bottom of the gorge and there where the ancient
trail unfolded more levelly before him he swung along with easy
strides, though always with the utmost alertness against possible
dangers. A gentle breeze came down from the mountains behind
him so that only his ears and his eyes were of value in detecting
the presence of danger ahead. Generally the trail followed along
the banks of the winding brooklet at the bottom of the gorge, but
in some places where the waters tumbled over a precipitous ledge
the trail made a detour along the side of the gorge, and again it
wound in and out among rocky outcroppings, and presently where it
rounded sharply the projecting shoulder of a cliff the stranger
came suddenly face to face with one who was ascending the gorge.
Separated by a hundred paces the two halted simultaneously. Before
him the stranger saw a tall white warrior, naked but for a loin
cloth, cross belts, and a girdle. The man was armed with a heavy,
knotted club and a short knife, the latter hanging in its sheath at
his left hip from the end of one of his cross belts, the opposite
belt supporting a leathern pouch at his right side.
Pages:
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197