She looked up and her eyes were dull and filled with pain. Something had
happened to her, too—I could see it. She was changed.
“I am an Or-tis,” she said and dropped her head again.
I could not speak. I just sat there staring at the slender little figure
of my blood enemy sitting, dejected, in the firelight. After a long time
she lay down beside the fire and slept, and I suppose that I must have
slept, too, for once, when I opened my eyes, the fire was out, I was
almost frozen, and the light of a new day was breaking over rugged hill
tops to the east.
I arose and rekindled the fire. After that I would get Red Lightning and
ride away before she awakened; but when I had found him, feeding a short
distance from the camp, I did not mount and ride away, but came back to
the camp again—why, I do not know. I did not want to see her again
ever, yet something drew me to her. She was awake and standing looking
all about, up and down the canyon, when I first saw her and I was sure
that there was an expression of relief in her eyes when she discovered
me. She smiled wistfully, and I could not be hard, as I should have been
to a blood enemy.
I was friendly with her brother, I thought—why should I not be friendly
with her? Of course, I shall go away and not see her again, but at least
I may be pleasant to her while I remain. Thus I argued and thus I acted.
“Good morning,” I said, as I approached; “how are you?”
“Splendid!” she replied. “And how are you?” Her tones were rich and
mellow and her eyes intoxicated me like old wine. Oh, why was she an
enemy?
The Nipons came from their little tents. The naked children scampered
around, playing with the dogs, in an attempt to get warm. The women
built the fires around which the men huddled while their mates prepared
the morning meal.
After we had eaten, I took Red Lightning and started off down the canyon
to hunt and although I was dubious as to what results I should achieve
with the heavy Kalkar bow, I did better than I had expected, for I got
two bucks, although the chase carried me much farther from camp than I
had intended going.
The morning must have been half spent as Red Lightning toiled up the
canyon trail beneath the weight of the two carcasses and myself to the
camp. I noticed that he seemed nervous as we approached, keeping his
ears pricked forward and occasionally snorting, but I had no idea of the
cause of his perturbation and was only the more on the alert myself, as
I always am when warned by Red Lightning’s actions that something may be
amiss.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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