He would
not even spare a boatload of his warriors from his own protection
to return in quest of the fugitive but hastened onward with as
little delay as possible across the portage and out upon the waters
of Jad-in-lul.
The morning sun was just touching the white domes of Tu-lur when
Mo-sar's paddlers brought their canoes against the shore at the
city's edge. Safe once more behind his own walls and protected
by many warriors, the courage of the chief returned sufficiently
at least to permit him to dispatch three canoes in search of Jane
Clayton, and also to go as far as A-lur if possible to learn what
had delayed Bu-lot, whose failure to reach the canoes with the
balance of the party at the time of the flight from the northern
city had in no way delayed Mo-sar's departure, his own safety being
of far greater moment than that of his son.
As the three canoes reached the portage on their return journey
the warriors who were dragging them from the water were suddenly
startled by the appearance of two priests, carrying a light canoe
in the direction of Jad-in-lul. At first they thought them the
advance guard of a larger force of Lu-don's followers, although
the correctness of such a theory was belied by their knowledge that
priests never accepted the risks or perils of a warrior's vocation,
nor even fought until driven into a corner and forced to do so.
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