Argosy, Vol. 117, No. 2 — page 37: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE SON OF THE RED GOD. Meng stopped before Snorr and _ laid down his pack, then, stooping, drew with his finger in the dust the three interiocking propitiatory circles, without which none might speak to the Great Chief. Snorr looked at the mark in the dust and at Meng, then grunted and waved his hand, and the Bison sat down. After a few moments’ respectful silence the Bison spoke, and En-ro heard him say: “Oh, Snorr, Great Chief, I come to ask your daughter, Va-m’rai in marriage.”’ “No!” exclaimed Snorr. “ You cannot have her.” “T bring gifts.” ce No! > “Rich gifts.” ee No! ») “ Look, Great Chief!’ And Meng, open- ing his pack, spread out his gifts: darts and lance-heads, shells brought by the traders, the Little Hairy Men from the Land of the Dying Son, skins of wild beasts, and even— strong magic, won only by great daring— the dried form of one of the furry, leather- winged Devils of the Air. Snorr barely glanced at these gifts, rich enough to buy a dozen ordinary women, but shook his head, repeating ‘“‘ No!”’ and Meng, bowing, gathered his offering together, and, his face twisted with rage, took his way down the slope, passing close to the rock where En-ro, his teeth showing in an angry erin, lay gripping tight the haft of his flint ax. The Bison was no sooner out of sight in the forest than En-ro, unseen by Snorr, slipped back from rock to rock till he in turn reached the woods, and then, his former errand, forgotten, ran to his cave, where he seized something from a ledge of stone, and took his way once more, this time openly, to the Great Chief’s home. In turn the Carver of Tusks bowed before Snorr and drew in the dust, and in turn seated himself before the chieftain as Snorr waved his hand. “Oh, Snorr, Great Chief,” he said, ‘“ long have I loved your daughter, Va-m’rai, the Swift Runner, fairest of all the maidens of the Ta-an, and I come to ask her in mar- riage. I do not come empty-handed, but bring a gifti—”’ 187 “One gift?” Snorr asked. “One gift, but a gift that any of the tribesmen might envy you. Look, Great Chief!” And En-ro lifted the little roll of skin he had taken from his cave, and laid it reverently at Snorr’s feet. Snorr said noth- ing, but gazed thoughtfully past the suitor’s head to where, across the wide valley, the distant hills met the sky, and it seemed to En-ro that he could read sorrow and regret on the face of the Great Chieftain. At length Snorr raised the gift and care- fully unwrapped the skin, and his eyes shone, for he held a little statuette two palms’ breadth in height, carved with long and patient labor from a piece of ivory, the figure of a woman, young and slim, the star on her forehead marking her for the wife of O-Ma-Ken, Great Father of the tribe of Ta-an. “The Star-Marked One!” he whispered, gazing with reverence at the little figure. “True, Great Chief, the Star-Marked One. Seven months have [ labored to carve this form, having traded with the Little Hairy Men for the fairest piece of the tooth of Do-m’rai, the Hill That Walks: seven long months, using my best skill, and adding thereto my prayers, that the bride of the Greatest One might bring me my bride. Is the price good?” Snorr looked long at the figure, turning it from side to side, his eyes gleaming and his breath coming fast, but at last he wrapped it again in the skin and laid it down, ‘“‘ Oh, Carver of Tusks,” said Snorr, “ this is indeed a gift worth far more than the flints, the shells, and skins the Bison offered, a gift that might purchase many women; never before have you wrought so skilfully, nor has any of the Ta-an carved so well. Take then the figure, and buy yourself an- other maiden, for never can the Swift Run- ner be your bride. And fortunate, indeed, shall be the one in whose cave the Star- Marked One shall rest. Good fortune shall be his in battle and in the hunt, in love and in war; rich food and a soft bed, through many years. If you had come sooner!”’ ‘“Va-m’rai is then promised to another?”’ ‘Not to you, nor to Meng, nor to any Scomicdoo S (C@)