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It was now within an hour of darkness, and as I was nearly famished, I led the
way back about a quarter of a mile to a low meadow where we had seen antelope
and small horses a short time before. Here I brought down a young buck, the
report of my rifle sending the balance of the herd scampering for the woods,
where they were met by a chorus of hideous roars as the carnivora took
advantage of their panic and leaped among them.
With my hunting-knife I removed a hind-quarter, and then we returned to camp.
Here I gathered a great quantity of wood from fallen trees, Ajor helping me; but
before I built a fire, I also gathered sufficient loose rock to build my barricade
against the frightful terrors of the night to come.
I shall never forget the expression upon Ajor's face as she saw me strike a match
and light the kindling beneath our camp-fire. It was such an expression as might
transform a mortal face with awe as its owner beheld the mysterious workings of
divinity. It was evident that Ajor was quite unfamiliar with modern methods of
fire-making. She had thought my rifle and pistol wonderful; but these tiny slivers
of wood which from a magic rub brought flame to the camp hearth were indeed
miracles to her.
As the meat roasted above the fire, Ajor and I tried once again to talk; but though
copiously filled with incentive, gestures and sounds, the conversation did not
flourish notably. And then Ajor took up in earnest the task of teaching me her
language. She commenced, as I later learned, with the simplest form of speech
known to Caspak or for that matter to the world--that employed by the Bo-lu. I
found it far from difficult, and even though it was a great handicap upon my
instructor that she could not speak my language, she did remarkably well and
demonstrated that she possessed ingenuity and intelligence of a high order.
After we had eaten, I added to the pile of firewood so that I could replenish the
fire before the entrance to our barricade, believing this as good a protection
against the carnivora as we could have; and then Ajor and I sat down before it,
and the lesson proceeded, while from all about us came the weird and awesome
noises of the Caspakian night--the moaning and the coughing and roaring of the
tigers, the panthers and the lions, the barking and the dismal howling of a wolf,
jackal and hyaenadon, the shrill shrieks of stricken prey and the hissing of the
great reptiles; the voice of man alone was silent.
But though the voice of this choir-terrible rose and fell from far and near in all
directions, reaching at time such a tremendous volume of sound that the earth
shook to it, yet so engrossed was I in my lesson and in my teacher that often I
was deaf to what at another time would have filled me with awe. The face and
voice of the beautiful girl who leaned so eagerly toward me as she tried to explain
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