As we passed out into the village plaza, I saw
Chal-az--we were so close to one another that I could have reached
out and touched him--and our eyes met; but though I greeted him
pleasantly and paused to speak to him, he brushed past me without
a sign of recognition. I was puzzled at his behavior, and then
I recalled that To-mar, though he had warned me, had appeared not
to wish to seem friendly with me. I could not understand their
attitude, and was trying to puzzle out some sort of explanation,
when the matter was suddenly driven from my mind by the report of
a firearm. Instantly I broke into a run, my brain in a whirl of
forebodings, for the only firearms in the Kro-lu country were those
I had left in the hut with Ajor.
That she was in danger I could not but fear, as she was now something
of an adept in the handling of both the pistol and rifle, a fact
which largely eliminated the chance that the shot had come from an
accidentally discharged firearm. When I left the hut, I had felt
that she and I were safe among friends; no thought of danger was in
my mind; but since my audience with Al-tan, the presence and bearing
of Duseen and the strange attitude of both To-mar and Chal-az had
each contributed toward arousing my suspicions, and now I ran along
the narrow, winding alleys of the Kro-lu village with my heart
fairly in my mouth.
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