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cooked food. And I liked to carry the metaphor a little further in this
instance and think of the partner of his achievements as his mate. I
sighed as I thought of the happiness that might be ours did Duare but
return my love.
"What's the matter?" demanded Duare. "Why do you sigh?"
"I am sighing because I am not really a primitive man instead of a
poor, weak imitation of one."
"Why do you want to be a primitive mant she inquired.
"Because primitive man was not bound by silly conventions," I
replied. "If he wanted a woman and she did not want him, he grabbed
her by the hair and dragged her to his lair."
"I am glad that I did not live in those times," said Duare.
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For several days we wandered on through the forest. I knew that we
were hopelessly lost, but I was anxious to get out of that gloomy wood.
It was getting on our nerves. I managed to kill small game with my
spear and my arrows; there was an abundance of fruit and nuts; and
water was plentiful. In the matter of food we lived like kings, and we
were fortunate in our encounters with the more formidable creatures
we met. Luckily for us we saw none that were arboreal, though I am
positive that this was merely by the luckiest chance, for the woods of
Amtor harbor many terrible creatures that live wholly in the trees.
Duare, notwithstanding all the hardships and dangers she was
constantly undergoing, seldom complained. She remained
remarkably cheerful in the face of what was now palpably the
absolute certainty that we could never hope to find the distant island
where her father was king. Sometimes she was sober and silent for
long periods, and I guessed that at these times she was sorrowing; but
she did not share her sorrows with me. I wished that she would; we
often share our sorrows with those we love.
But one day she suddenly sat down and began to cry. I was so
surprised that I just stood there for several minutes staring at her
before I could think of anything to say, and then I didn't think of
anything very brilliant.
"Why, Duare!" I cried. "What's the matter? Are you ill?"
She shook her head and sought to stifle her sobs. I'm sorry," she
managed to say at last. "I didn't mean to; I've tried not to; but this
forest! Oh, Carson, it's on my nerves; it haunts me even in my sleep. It
is endless; it goes on and on forever--gloomy, forbidding, filled with
terrible dangers. There!" she exclaimed, and rising she shook her
head as though to dispel unwelcome visions. "I'm all right now; I
won't do it again." She smiled through her tears.
I wanted to take her in my arms and comfort her--oh, how badly I
wanted to! But I only laid a hand upon her shoulder. "I know just how
you feel," I told her. I've felt the same way for days. I have to take it
out by swearing to myself. But it can't last forever, Duare. There must
be an end to it pretty soon; and, anyway, you must remember that the
forest has fed us and sheltered us and protected us."
"As a jailer feeds and shelters and protects the criminal condemned to
die," she responded dully. "Come! Let's not speak of it any more."
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Once again the underbrush was thick, and we were following a game
trail that was as erratic as most game trails. I think it was this thick
brush that depressed Duare even more than the forest itself. I know it
always depressed me. The trail was wide and we were walking abreast
when suddenly at a turning the forest seemed to disappear in front of
us. There was a void staring us in the face, and beyond that, far, far
away, the outlines of distant mountains.
Chapter 8 - Down the Escarpment
WONDERINGLY we advanced until we stood upon the brink of a lofty
escarpment. Far below, at least five thousand feet, a great valley
spread before our eyes. Far, far away, across it, we saw the outlines of
the distant mountains that hemmed it upon that side; but to the right
and left its extent was shrouded in the mists of distance.
During the days that we had been wandering in the forest we must
have been climbing steadily, but the ascent had been so gradual that
we had scarcely noticed it. Now, the effect of coming suddenly upon
this mighty depression was startling. It was as though I were looking
into a deep pit that lay far below sea level. This impression, however,
was soon dispelled, for in the distance I saw a great river winding
along the bed of the valley; and I knew that it must run downward to
some sea.
"A new world!" breathed Duare. "How beautiful by contrast with this
frightful forest!"
"Let us hope that it will be no less kind to us than the forest has been."
"How could it be otherwise than kind? It is so beautiful," she replied.
"There must be people living there, generous, kindly people as lovely
as their lovely valley. There could be no evil where there is so much
beauty. Perhaps they will help us to return to my Vepaja. I am sure
they will."
"I hope so, Duare," I said.
"See!" she exclaimed. "There are little rivers running into the big
river, and there are level plains dotted with trees, and there are
forests, too, but no terrible forest that stretches on and on seemingly
without end as this that we are escaping. Do you see any cities or signs
of man, Carson?"
I shook my head. "I cannot be positive. We are very high above the
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