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disappeared between the wagons.
             Kamchak and I regarded one another.
             "Did you note the collar she wore?" I asked.
             He had not seemed to show much interest in the high,
             thick leather collar that the girl had had sewn about her
             neck.
             "Of course," he said.
             "I myself," I said, "have never seen such a collar."
             "It is a message collar," said Kamchak. "Inside the leather,
             sewn within, will be a message."
             My look of amazement must have amused him, for he
             laughed. "Come," he said, "let us go to the wagon of Kutai-
             tuchik."
      The wagon of Kutaituchik, called Ubar of the Tuchuks,
      was drawn up on a large, flat-topped grassy hill, the highest
      land in the camp.
      Beside the wagon, on a great pole fixed in the earth, stood
      the Tuchuk standard of the four bask horns.
      The hundred, rather than eight, bask- that drew his wagon
      had been unyoked; they were huge, red bask; their horns had
      been polished and their coats glistened from the comb and
      oils; their golden nose rings were set with jewels; necklaces of
      precious stones hung from the polished horns.
      The wagon itself was the largest in the camp, and the
      largest wagon I had conceived possible; actually it was a vast
      platform, set on numerous wheeled frames; though at the
      edges of the platform, on each side, there were a dozen of
      the large wheels such as are found on the much smaller
      wagons; these latter wheels turned as the wagon moved and
      supported weight, but could not of themselves have supported
      the entire weight of that fantastic, wheeled palace of hide.
      The hides that formed the dome were of a thousand
      colors, and the smoke hole at the top must have stood more
      than a hundred feet from the flooring of that vast platform. I
      could well conjecture the riches, the loot and the furnishing
      that would dazzle the interior of such a magnificent dwelling.
      But I did not enter the wagon, for Kutaituchik held his
      court outside the wagon, in the open air, on the flat-topped
      grassy hill. A large dais had been built, vast and spreading,
      but standing no more than a foot from the earth. This dais
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                               NOMADS OF
             was covered with dozens of thick rugs, sometimes four
             and five deep.
             There were many Tuchuks, and some others, crowded
             about the dais, and, standing upon it, about Kutaituchik,
             there were several men who, from their position on the dais
             and their trappings, I judged to be of great importance.
             Among these men, sitting cross-legged, was Kutaituchik,
             called Ubar of the Tuchuks.
             About Kutaituchik there were piled various goods, mostly
             vessels of precious metal and strings and piles of jewels; there
             was sills there from Tyros; silver from Thentis and Tharna;
             tapestries from the mills of Ar; wines from Cos; dates from
             the city of Tor. There were also, among the other goods, two
             girls, blonde and blue-eyed, unclothed, chained; they had
             perhaps been a gift to Kutaituchik; or had been the' daugh-
             ters of enemies; they might have been from any city; both
             were beautiful; one was sitting with her knees tucked under
             her chin, her hands clasping her ankles, absently staring at
             the jewels about her feet; the other lay indolently on her
             side, incuriously regarding us, her weight on one elbow;