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attempt to detain us and were almost certain to set upon Ajor. So we hastened
down the narrow path, reaching the foot of the cliffs but a short distance ahead of
the women. They called after us to stop; but we kept on at a rapid walk, not
wishing to have any trouble with them, which could only result in the death of
some of them.
We had proceeded about a mile when we heard some one behind us calling To-
mar by name, and when we stopped and looked around, we saw a woman
running rapidly toward us. As she approached nearer I could see that she was a
very comely creature, and like all her sex that I had seen in Caspak, apparently
young.
"
It is So-al!" exclaimed To-mar. "Is she mad that she follows me thus?"
In another moment the young woman stopped, panting, before us. She paid not
the slightest attention to Ajor or me; but devouring To-mar with her sparkling
eyes, she cried: "I have risen! I have risen!"
"So-al!" was all that the man could say.
"Yes," she went on, "the call came to me just before I quit the pool; but I did not
know that it had come to you. I can see it in your eyes, To-mar, my To-mar! We
shall go on together!" And she threw herself into his arms.
It was a very affecting sight, for it was evident that these two had been mates for
a long time and that they had each thought that they were about to be separated
by that strange law of evolution which holds good in Caspak and which was
slowly unfolding before my incredulous mind. I did not then comprehend even a
tithe of the wondrous process, which goes on eternally within the confines of
Caprona's barrier cliffs nor am I any too sure that I do even now.
To-mar explained to So-al that it was I who had killed the cave-lion and saved her
life, and that Ajor was my woman and thus entitled to the same loyalty which was
my due.
At first Ajor and So-al were like a couple of stranger cats on a back fence but
soon they began to accept each other under something of an armed truce, and
later became fast friends. So-al was a mighty fine-looking girl, built like a tigress
as to strength and sinuosity, but withal sweet and womanly. Ajor and I came to
be very fond of her, and she was, I think, equally fond of us. To-mar was very
much of a man--a savage, if you will, but none the less a man.
Finding that traveling in company with To-mar made our journey both easier and
safer, Ajor and I did not continue on our way alone while the novitiates delayed
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