[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
observed them, myself unobserved.
Moving cautiously but swiftly, I soon overtook the hindmost man and
saw that the five were moving toward an open doorway beyond which,
in a richly furnished apartment, I saw the girl who had aroused my
curiosity and whose beautiful face had led me into this mad
adventure. Almost simultaneously, the girl glanced up and saw the
leading man at the doorway. She screamed, and then I knew that I had
not come in vain.
Instantly I leaped upon the man in front of me, and as I did so I gave a
great shout, hoping by that means to distract the attention of the
other four from the girl to me, and in that I was wholly successful. The
other four turned instantly. I had taken my man so completely by
surprise that I was able to snatch his sword from its scabbard before
he could recover his wits; and as he drew his dagger and struck at me,
I ran his own blade through his heart; then the others were upon me.
Their faces were contorted by rage, and I could see that they would
give me no quarter.
The narrow spaces between the shrubbery reduced the advantage
which four men would ordinarily have had over a single antagonist,
for they could attack me only singly; but I knew what the outcome
must eventually be if help did not reach me, and as my only goal was
to keep the men from the girl, I backed slowly toward the fence and
my own veranda as I saw that all four of the men were following me.
My shout and the girl's scream had attracted attention; and presently
I heard men running in the apartment in which I had seen the girl,
and her voice directing them toward the garden. I hoped they would
come before the fellows had backed me against the wall, where I was
confident that I must go down in defeat beneath four swords wielded
by men more accustomed to them than I. I thanked the good fortune,
however, that had led me to take up fencing seriously in Germany, for
it was helping me now, though I could not long hold out against these
men with the Venusan sword which was a new weapon to me.
I had reached the fence at last and was fighting with my back toward
it. The fellow facing me was cutting viciously at me. I could hear the
men coming from the apartment. Could I hold out? Then my
opponent swung a terrific cut at my head, and, instead of parrying it, I
leaped to one side and simultaneously stepped in and cut at him. His
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
own swing had carried him off balance, and, of course, his guard was
down. My blade cut deep into his neck, severing his jugular. From
behind him another man was rushing upon me.
Relief was coming. The girl was safe. I could accomplish no more by
remaining there and being cut to pieces, a fate I had only narrowly
averted in the past few seconds. I hurled my sword, point first, at the
oncoming Venusan; and as it tore into his breast I turned and vaulted
the fence into my own veranda.
Then, as I looked back, I saw a dozen Vepajan warriors overwhelm
the two remaining intruders, butchering them like cattle. There was
no shouting and no sound other than the brief clash of swords as the
two sought desperately but futilely to defend themselves. The
Vepajans spoke no word. They seemed shocked and terrified, though
their terror had most certainly not been the result of any fear of their
late antagonists. There was something else which I did not
understand, something mysterious in their manner, their silence, and
their actions immediately following the encounter.
Quickly they seized the bodies of the five strange warriors that had
been killed and, carrying them to the outer garden wall, hurled them
over into that bottomless abyss of the forest the terrific depths of
which my eyes had never been able to plumb. Then, in equal silence,
they departed from the garden by the same path by which they had
entered it.
I realized that they had not seen me, and I knew that the girl had not. I
wondered a little how they accounted for the deaths of the three men I
had disposed of, but I never learned. The whole affair was a mystery
to me and was only explained long after in the light of ensuing events.
I thought that Danus might mention it and thus give me an
opportunity to question him; but he never did, and something kept
me from broaching the subject to him, modesty perhaps. In other
respects, however, my curiosity concerning these people was
insatiable; and I fear that I bored Danus to the verge of distraction
with my incessant questioning, but I excused myself on the plea that I
could only learn the language by speaking it and hearing it spoken;
and Danus, that most delightful of men, insisted that it was not only a
pleasure to inform me but his duty as well, the jong having requested
him to inform me fully concerning the life, customs, and history of the
Vepajans.
One of the many things that puzzled me was why such an intelligent
and cultured people should be living in trees, apparently without
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
servants or slaves and with no intercourse, as far as I had been able to
discover, with other peoples; so one evening I asked him.
"It is a long story," replied Danus; "much of it you will find in the
histories here upon my shelves, but I can give you a brief outline that
will at least answer your question.
"Hundreds of years ago the kings of Vepaja ruled a great country. It
was not this forest island where you now find us, but a broad empire
that embraced a thousand islands and extended from Strabol to
Karbol; it included broad land masses and great oceans; it was graced
by mighty cities and boasted a wealth and commerce unsurpassed
through all the centuries before or since.
"The people of Vepaja in those days were numbered in the millions;
there were millions of merchants and millions of wage earners and
millions of slaves, and there was a smaller class of brain workers.
This class included the learned professions of science, medicine, and
law, of letters and the creative arts. The military leaders were selected
from all classes. Over all was the hereditary jong.
"The lines between the classes were neither definitely nor strictly
drawn; a slave might become a free man, a free man might become
anything he chose within the limits of his ability, short of jong. In
social intercourse the four principal classes did not intermingle with
each other, due to the fact that members of one class had little in
common with members of the other classes and not through any
feeling of superiority or inferiority. When a member of a lower class
had won by virtue of culture, learning, or genius to a position in a
higher class, he was received upon an equal footing, and no thought
was given to his antecedents.
"Vepaja was prosperous and happy, yet there were malcontents.
These were the lazy and incompetent. Many of them were of the
criminal class. They were envious of those who had won to positions
which they were not mentally equipped to attain. Over a long period
of time they were responsible for minor discord and dissension, but
the people either paid no attention to them or laughed them down.
Then they found a leader. He was a laborer named Thor, a man with a
criminal record.
"This man founded a secret order known as Thorists and preached a
gospel of class hatred called Thorism. By means of Iying propaganda
he gained a large following, and as all his energies were directed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
observed them, myself unobserved.
Moving cautiously but swiftly, I soon overtook the hindmost man and
saw that the five were moving toward an open doorway beyond which,
in a richly furnished apartment, I saw the girl who had aroused my
curiosity and whose beautiful face had led me into this mad
adventure. Almost simultaneously, the girl glanced up and saw the
leading man at the doorway. She screamed, and then I knew that I had
not come in vain.
Instantly I leaped upon the man in front of me, and as I did so I gave a
great shout, hoping by that means to distract the attention of the
other four from the girl to me, and in that I was wholly successful. The
other four turned instantly. I had taken my man so completely by
surprise that I was able to snatch his sword from its scabbard before
he could recover his wits; and as he drew his dagger and struck at me,
I ran his own blade through his heart; then the others were upon me.
Their faces were contorted by rage, and I could see that they would
give me no quarter.
The narrow spaces between the shrubbery reduced the advantage
which four men would ordinarily have had over a single antagonist,
for they could attack me only singly; but I knew what the outcome
must eventually be if help did not reach me, and as my only goal was
to keep the men from the girl, I backed slowly toward the fence and
my own veranda as I saw that all four of the men were following me.
My shout and the girl's scream had attracted attention; and presently
I heard men running in the apartment in which I had seen the girl,
and her voice directing them toward the garden. I hoped they would
come before the fellows had backed me against the wall, where I was
confident that I must go down in defeat beneath four swords wielded
by men more accustomed to them than I. I thanked the good fortune,
however, that had led me to take up fencing seriously in Germany, for
it was helping me now, though I could not long hold out against these
men with the Venusan sword which was a new weapon to me.
I had reached the fence at last and was fighting with my back toward
it. The fellow facing me was cutting viciously at me. I could hear the
men coming from the apartment. Could I hold out? Then my
opponent swung a terrific cut at my head, and, instead of parrying it, I
leaped to one side and simultaneously stepped in and cut at him. His
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
own swing had carried him off balance, and, of course, his guard was
down. My blade cut deep into his neck, severing his jugular. From
behind him another man was rushing upon me.
Relief was coming. The girl was safe. I could accomplish no more by
remaining there and being cut to pieces, a fate I had only narrowly
averted in the past few seconds. I hurled my sword, point first, at the
oncoming Venusan; and as it tore into his breast I turned and vaulted
the fence into my own veranda.
Then, as I looked back, I saw a dozen Vepajan warriors overwhelm
the two remaining intruders, butchering them like cattle. There was
no shouting and no sound other than the brief clash of swords as the
two sought desperately but futilely to defend themselves. The
Vepajans spoke no word. They seemed shocked and terrified, though
their terror had most certainly not been the result of any fear of their
late antagonists. There was something else which I did not
understand, something mysterious in their manner, their silence, and
their actions immediately following the encounter.
Quickly they seized the bodies of the five strange warriors that had
been killed and, carrying them to the outer garden wall, hurled them
over into that bottomless abyss of the forest the terrific depths of
which my eyes had never been able to plumb. Then, in equal silence,
they departed from the garden by the same path by which they had
entered it.
I realized that they had not seen me, and I knew that the girl had not. I
wondered a little how they accounted for the deaths of the three men I
had disposed of, but I never learned. The whole affair was a mystery
to me and was only explained long after in the light of ensuing events.
I thought that Danus might mention it and thus give me an
opportunity to question him; but he never did, and something kept
me from broaching the subject to him, modesty perhaps. In other
respects, however, my curiosity concerning these people was
insatiable; and I fear that I bored Danus to the verge of distraction
with my incessant questioning, but I excused myself on the plea that I
could only learn the language by speaking it and hearing it spoken;
and Danus, that most delightful of men, insisted that it was not only a
pleasure to inform me but his duty as well, the jong having requested
him to inform me fully concerning the life, customs, and history of the
Vepajans.
One of the many things that puzzled me was why such an intelligent
and cultured people should be living in trees, apparently without
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
servants or slaves and with no intercourse, as far as I had been able to
discover, with other peoples; so one evening I asked him.
"It is a long story," replied Danus; "much of it you will find in the
histories here upon my shelves, but I can give you a brief outline that
will at least answer your question.
"Hundreds of years ago the kings of Vepaja ruled a great country. It
was not this forest island where you now find us, but a broad empire
that embraced a thousand islands and extended from Strabol to
Karbol; it included broad land masses and great oceans; it was graced
by mighty cities and boasted a wealth and commerce unsurpassed
through all the centuries before or since.
"The people of Vepaja in those days were numbered in the millions;
there were millions of merchants and millions of wage earners and
millions of slaves, and there was a smaller class of brain workers.
This class included the learned professions of science, medicine, and
law, of letters and the creative arts. The military leaders were selected
from all classes. Over all was the hereditary jong.
"The lines between the classes were neither definitely nor strictly
drawn; a slave might become a free man, a free man might become
anything he chose within the limits of his ability, short of jong. In
social intercourse the four principal classes did not intermingle with
each other, due to the fact that members of one class had little in
common with members of the other classes and not through any
feeling of superiority or inferiority. When a member of a lower class
had won by virtue of culture, learning, or genius to a position in a
higher class, he was received upon an equal footing, and no thought
was given to his antecedents.
"Vepaja was prosperous and happy, yet there were malcontents.
These were the lazy and incompetent. Many of them were of the
criminal class. They were envious of those who had won to positions
which they were not mentally equipped to attain. Over a long period
of time they were responsible for minor discord and dissension, but
the people either paid no attention to them or laughed them down.
Then they found a leader. He was a laborer named Thor, a man with a
criminal record.
"This man founded a secret order known as Thorists and preached a
gospel of class hatred called Thorism. By means of Iying propaganda
he gained a large following, and as all his energies were directed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]