I asked her if she was afraid, and she replied
that here the Wieroo could not get her, and that if she died of
hunger, she would at least die with me and she was quite content
that such should be her end. At the time I attributed her attitude
to something akin to a doglike devotion to a new master who had been
kind to her. I can take oath to the fact that I did not think it
was anything more.
Whether we had been imprisoned in the cliff for a day or a week I
could not say; nor even now do I know. We became very tired and
hungry; the hours dragged; we slept at least twice, and then we
rose and stumbled on, always weaker and weaker. There were ages
during which the trend of the corridors was always upward. It was
heartbreaking work for people in the state of exhaustion in which
we then were, but we clung tenaciously to it. We stumbled and
fell; we sank through pure physical inability to retain our feet;
but always we managed to rise at last and go on. At first, wherever
it had been possible, we had walked hand in hand lest we become
separated, and later, when I saw that Ajor was weakening rapidly,
we went side by side, I supporting her with an arm about her waist.
I still retained the heavy burden of my armament; but with the
rifle slung to my back, my hands were free. When I too showed
indisputable evidences of exhaustion, Ajor suggested that I lay
aside my arms and ammunition; but I told her that as it would mean
certain death for me to traverse Caspak without them, I might as
well take the chance of dying here in the cave with them, for there
was the other chance that we might find our wayto liberty.
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