Argosy, Vol. 117, No. 2 — page 49: 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. his satisfaction was short, for he and the girl were jerked roughly to their feet, turned in the direction from. which they had come, and jabbed in the back with spears as a signal to march. CHAPTER III. EN-RO MEETS THE RED GOD. IS ankles hobbled with thongs of hide so that he could move only with short, tottering steps or in standing jumps, En-ro squatted on his haunches under a spreading pine and chipped flints into lanceheads and daggers, while his guard, a tall, muscular negro, watched from a few yards off, lean- ing against a tree and eying the captive white man as the Fear That Walks the Night eyes a fat buck on which he is about to spring. Half-consciously, the Carver of Tusks felt contempt for the rude, poorly chipped ax the negro carried, so different from his own beautifully finished tools, but this was no more than a passing thought—his mind was too full of other matters. Indeed, he was doing his forced labor with no more than half his ordinary atten- tion—almost automatically—for his’ body ached and his brain whirled with rage and grief. Hot fits of anger, when all grew red be- fore him, alternated with cold fits of fear— not for himself; no warrior of the Ta-an feared to die! His skin was covered with half-healed wounds from the lances of the negroes who had prodded him along, and his muscles ached from the blows he had received in battle and in captivity, but worse than this, far worse than any mere bodily pain, was the thought of Va-m’rai, captive like himself, and destined to the arms of Meng, the Bison, while he, En-ro, her lover and betrothed, sat chipping flints, a slave to the negro chieftain. About him the great forest closed in, its giant trees shutting off the view in all di- rections, while between the near-by trunks he could now and again catch sight of dark forms wandering idly about, and could hear the voices of the negroes as they chatted carelessly together. 199 From time fo time one or another would come and stand watching him, exchanging a few words with his guard, who clearly felt his own importance; was he not there to see that the white warrior-artist kept at his work? And then the guard, to prove his power and consequence, would -kick the white man, strike him with a stick, or spit upon him, while the others laughed. So En-ro squatted, as he had done for the past five days, knowing that unless he could free Va-m’rai before Meng’s wounds were healed they might give up all hope. Plan after plan, scheme after scheme he had turned over in his mind, watching always for the chance that did not come. ‘Among the flints that lay, unshaped, in a pile.beside him, En-ro saw one that was almost a perfect dagger, that would need but little chipping—indeed, it might be used just as it was, and En-ro meant to take that one next, when he had finished the one he was working on. By now it was growing- dusk, and soon the woman would be coming with his food. En-ro looked up as a step sounded faintly near at hand, and his guard turned his head to see who was coming. Quick as a striking snake, the artist’s hand shot out, caught the unshaped flint and flung it be- hind him, and as the guard turned back he saw the captive hard at work once more. It was growing too dark to work, though, and as the woman came with the food En-ro gave over his labors, ate the raw flesh, and. held out his hands for the bonds that were placed on him at night. The guard then tied him to the pine tree, and the two lay down to rest. Almost at once the negro was asleep, but the Carver of Tusks lay staring upward into the darkness till long after all sounds had died out in the camp save only the. grunts and snores of his guard. He heard the soft pad-pad of small beasts, the dis- tant roar of Snorr-m’rai-no, and once the frightened squawk of agony as some bird of the night fastened beak and talon in his prey. Through an opening in the tree-tops En-ro could see a bright star, and he said to himself that when the star reached the center of the open space he would act. So CoORnniclooolxs Eo