Tales of Space and Time


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aside, pointing, and looking up through the tree-stems. Ugh-lomi saw  
the feet and legs of men running towards him. Eudena was already running  
off at a tangent. And as he too turned to follow her they heard the  
voice of Uya coming through the trees, and roaring out his rage at them.  
Then terror came in their hearts, not the terror that numbs, but the  
terror that makes one silent and swift. They were cut off now on two  
sides. They were in a sort of corner of pursuit. On the right hand, and  
near by them, came the men swift and heavy, with bearded Uya, antler in  
hand, leading them; and on the left, scattered as one scatters corn,  
yellow dashes among the fern and grass, ran Wau and the women; and even  
the little children from the shallow had joined the chase. The two  
parties converged upon them. Off they went, with Eudena ahead.  
They knew there was no mercy for them. There was no hunting so sweet to  
these ancient men as the hunting of men. Once the fierce passion of the  
chase was lit, the feeble beginnings of humanity in them were thrown to  
the winds. And Uya in the night had marked Ugh-lomi with the death word.  
Ugh-lomi was the day's quarry, the appointed feast.  
They ran straight--it was their only chance--taking whatever ground came  
in the way--a spread of stinging nettles, an open glade, a clump of  
grass out of which a hyæna fled snarling. Then woods again, long  
stretches of shady leaf-mould and moss under the green trunks. Then a  
stiff slope, tree-clad, and long vistas of trees, a glade, a succulent  
green area of black mud, a wide open space again, and then a clump of  
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54 55 56 57 58

Quick Jump
1 74 149 223 297