here tonight.’
‘You have put me to indignity, saiye tt,’ replied the Baron. ‘Why was the fear of Quiso unloosed upon us? Why must we have lain bemused in darkness upon the shore? Why -‘
‘Was there not a stranger with you?’ she answered, in a tone which checked him instan tl y, though his eyes remained fixed upon hers. ‘Why do you suppose you could not reach the landing-place? And were you not armed?’
‘I came in haste. The matter escaped me. But in any case, how could you have known these things, saiye tt?’
‘No matter how. Well, the indignity, as you call it, is ended now. We will not quarrel. The girls who carried my message to Ortelga - they have been looked after?’
‘It is hard to reach Ortelga against the current. They were tir ed. I said they should remain there to sleep.’ She nodded.
‘My message, as I -suppose, was unexpected, and you have made me an unexpected reply, bringing me a wounded man whom I find sitting a lone and exhausted on the Tereth stone.’
‘Saiyett, this man is a hunter - a simple fellow whom they call -‘
He stopped, frowning.
‘I know of him,’ she said. ‘On Orte lga they call him Kelderek Play-with-the -Children. Here he has no name, until I choose.’ Bel-ka- Trazet resumed.
‘He was brought to me tonight on his return from a hunting expedition, having refused to tell one of the shendrons whatever it was that he had seen. At first I treated him with forbeara nce, but still he would say noth ing. I questioned him and he answered me like a child. He said, “I have found a star. Who will believe that I have found a star?” Then he said, “I will speak only to the Tuginda.” At this I threatened him with a heated knife, but he answered only, “It must be as God wills.” And then, in this very moment, saiyett, arrived your message. “So,” thought I, “this man, who has said that he will speak only to you - who ever heard a man say this before? - let us take him at his word, if only to make him speak. He had better come to Quiso too - to his death, as I suppose, which he has brought upon himself.” And then he sits down upon the Tereth stone, God help us! And we find him face to face and alone with yourself. How can he return to Ortelga? He must die.’
“That is for me to say, while he remains on Quiso. You sec much, Baron, and you guard the people as an eagle her brood. You have seen this hunter and you are angry and suspicious because he has defied you. Have you seen noth ing else from your eyrie on Orte lga this two days past?’
It was plain that Bel-ka-Trazet resented being questioned: but he answered civilly enough,
‘The burning, saiyett. There has been a great burning.’
‘For leagues beyond the Telthearna the jungle has burned. All yesterday it rained ashes on Quiso. During the night animals came ashore from the river - some of kinds never seen here before. A makati comes tame as a ca t to Me lathys, begging for food. She feeds it and then, following it to the water, finds a green snake coiled about the Tereth. Of whom are th ese the forerunners? At dawn, the brook in the high ravine left its course and streamed down over the Ledges: but at the foot it gathered itself, flowed back into its channel and did no harm. Why? Why were the Ledges washed, Baron? For the coming of your feet, or my feet? Or was it for the coming of some other feet? What messages, what signs were these?’
The Baron slid his tongue along the jagged edge of one lip and plucked the fur of his cape between his fingers, but answered nothing. The Tuginda turned to face the firelight and remained silent for some time. She sat perfe ctly still, her hands at rest in her lap, her composure like that of a tree when the wind has dropped. At length she said,
‘So I ponder and pray and call upon such little wisdom as I may have acquired over the years, for I know, no more than Melathys, or Rantzay or the girls, what these things may mean. At last I send for you.
‘You have put me to indignity, saiye tt,’ replied the Baron. ‘Why was the fear of Quiso unloosed upon us? Why must we have lain bemused in darkness upon the shore? Why -‘
‘Was there not a stranger with you?’ she answered, in a tone which checked him instan tl y, though his eyes remained fixed upon hers. ‘Why do you suppose you could not reach the landing-place? And were you not armed?’
‘I came in haste. The matter escaped me. But in any case, how could you have known these things, saiye tt?’
‘No matter how. Well, the indignity, as you call it, is ended now. We will not quarrel. The girls who carried my message to Ortelga - they have been looked after?’
‘It is hard to reach Ortelga against the current. They were tir ed. I said they should remain there to sleep.’ She nodded.
‘My message, as I -suppose, was unexpected, and you have made me an unexpected reply, bringing me a wounded man whom I find sitting a lone and exhausted on the Tereth stone.’
‘Saiyett, this man is a hunter - a simple fellow whom they call -‘
He stopped, frowning.
‘I know of him,’ she said. ‘On Orte lga they call him Kelderek Play-with-the -Children. Here he has no name, until I choose.’ Bel-ka- Trazet resumed.
‘He was brought to me tonight on his return from a hunting expedition, having refused to tell one of the shendrons whatever it was that he had seen. At first I treated him with forbeara nce, but still he would say noth ing. I questioned him and he answered me like a child. He said, “I have found a star. Who will believe that I have found a star?” Then he said, “I will speak only to the Tuginda.” At this I threatened him with a heated knife, but he answered only, “It must be as God wills.” And then, in this very moment, saiyett, arrived your message. “So,” thought I, “this man, who has said that he will speak only to you - who ever heard a man say this before? - let us take him at his word, if only to make him speak. He had better come to Quiso too - to his death, as I suppose, which he has brought upon himself.” And then he sits down upon the Tereth stone, God help us! And we find him face to face and alone with yourself. How can he return to Ortelga? He must die.’
“That is for me to say, while he remains on Quiso. You sec much, Baron, and you guard the people as an eagle her brood. You have seen this hunter and you are angry and suspicious because he has defied you. Have you seen noth ing else from your eyrie on Orte lga this two days past?’
It was plain that Bel-ka-Trazet resented being questioned: but he answered civilly enough,
‘The burning, saiyett. There has been a great burning.’
‘For leagues beyond the Telthearna the jungle has burned. All yesterday it rained ashes on Quiso. During the night animals came ashore from the river - some of kinds never seen here before. A makati comes tame as a ca t to Me lathys, begging for food. She feeds it and then, following it to the water, finds a green snake coiled about the Tereth. Of whom are th ese the forerunners? At dawn, the brook in the high ravine left its course and streamed down over the Ledges: but at the foot it gathered itself, flowed back into its channel and did no harm. Why? Why were the Ledges washed, Baron? For the coming of your feet, or my feet? Or was it for the coming of some other feet? What messages, what signs were these?’
The Baron slid his tongue along the jagged edge of one lip and plucked the fur of his cape between his fingers, but answered nothing. The Tuginda turned to face the firelight and remained silent for some time. She sat perfe ctly still, her hands at rest in her lap, her composure like that of a tree when the wind has dropped. At length she said,
‘So I ponder and pray and call upon such little wisdom as I may have acquired over the years, for I know, no more than Melathys, or Rantzay or the girls, what these things may mean. At last I send for you.
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