"I saw it with my own eyes!" she exclaimed. "I saw him flying
through the air in battle with a Jo-oo. The Alus were chasing me,
and they saw and ran away."
"Whose is this she?" demanded Al-tan suddenly, his eyes fixed
fiercely upon Ajor.
For a moment there was silence. Ajor looked up at me, a hurt and
questioning expression on her face. "Whose she is this?" repeated
Al-tan.
"She is mine," I replied, though what force it was that impelled me
to say it I could not have told; but an instant later I was glad
that I had spoken the words, for the reward of Ajor's proud and
happy face was reward indeed.
Al-tan eyed her for several minutes and then turned to me. "Can
you keep her?" he asked, just the tinge of a sneer upon his face.
I laid my palm upon the grip of my pistol and answered that I could.
He saw the move, glanced at the butt of the automatic where it
protruded from its holster, and smiled. Then he turned and raising
his great bow, fitted an arrow and drew the shaft far back. His
warriors, supercilious smiles upon their faces, stood silently
watching him. His bow was the longest and the heaviest among them
all. A mighty man indeed must he be to bend it; yet Al-tan drew
the shaft back until the stone point touched his left forefinger,
and he did it with consummate ease. Then he raised the shaft to the
level of his right eye, held it there for an instant and released
it.
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