My bullet
must have struck to a hair the point at which I had aimed, for it
smashed the brute's spine back of his shoulders and tore on through
his heart, dropping him dead in his tracks. For a moment the women
were as terrified by the report of the rifle as they had been by
the menace of the lion; but when they saw that the loud noise had
evidently destroyed their enemy, they came creeping cautiously back
to examine the carcass.
The man, toward whom I had immediately turned after firing, lest
he should pursue his threatened attack, stood staring at me in
amazement and admiration.
"Why," he asked, "if you could do that, did you not kill me long
before?"
"I told you," I replied, "that I had no quarrel with you. I do
not care to kill men with whom I have no quarrel."
But he could not seem to get the idea through his head. "I
can believe now that you are not of Caspak," he admitted, "for no
Caspakian would have permitted such an opportunity to escape him."
This, however, I found later to be an exaggeration, as the tribes
of the west coast and even the Kro-lu of the east coast are far
less bloodthirsty than he would have had me believe. "And your
weapon!" he continued. "You spoke true words when I thought you
spoke lies." And then, suddenly: "Let us be friends!"
I turned to Ajor. "Can I trust him?" I asked.
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