Coblentz

“ As a blackness deeper than the blackness of midnight closed about him, there came a low whine from just beside him. Sinking down to the rocky floor, he pressed as if for protection against the huddled form of Wuff—his sole companion amid that appalling emptiness.
Only in the remotest recesses of his old cave had Ru known a darkness such as this. The gloom was absolute; a blind man could have seen as well as he. Yet never before had he felt so intensely the need of eyes. Out of the depths of the cavern that strange whirring still proceeded, a flapping as of great wings, as of gigantic birds. ”

“ Should you not show me that you will treat me as a brother?"
"How can we show you?" grumbled the chieftain, fumbling with his club impatiently. "You ask that which no man can do!"
"I ask that which every man can do!" insisted Ru. "Always you have called me by a name which does not belong to me, and which I do not like. Take that name away, and call me by my right name—and I will ask the river-god to do great things for you. If not—" Here Ru paused, as if to indicate that, unless his request were granted, the gods would avenge him.
"And what does the Sparrow-Hearted want to be called?" ”

“ Of all nations, we have the least reason to doubt the prowess of Prussia. She fought at our side, when the destinies of Europe vibrated in the balance!
COBLENTZ TO MAYENCE.
Between Cologne and Coblentz it is mere child’s play for the tourist. The stream is wide, and the attractive objects are so reasonably distant from one another, that the traveller has time to consult his map, peruse Schreiber, and even con over some of the shorter legends, between castle and castle. But it is another affair above Coblentz. ”

“ I myself will go gladly, if only you will say yes."
"No!" thundered the chieftain. "I say no!" And the great club came down with an echoing thud, and sent the dust of the cave floor flying.
Hastily Ru withdrew, lest a second blow wreak greater havoc. And as he pressed back into the shadows, derisive murmurs filled the air; and many a pair of black eyes, glistening in malice and scorn, followed him with proud, superior gaze.
"The Sparrow-Hearted has had his say!" came the amused roar of Grumgra. "Now let me have my say. We will not let the bad spirits take any more lives on foolish journeys. ”

“ It was as if a world had been shattered before my eyes; as if in the echoes of my own thoughts I heard that fateful word, "Impossible, impossible, impossible!"
"There are so many things to consider, so many things you cannot even know," Abthar proceeded, still stroking his beard meditatively, while my restless fingers toyed with the clods of earth, and my eyes followed absently the wanderings of an ant lost amid those mountainous masses. "But let me explain as well as I can. I shall try to talk to you as a friend, and forget for the time that I am Yasma's father. ”

“ Müller addressed a multitude, numbering from 1,600 to 1,800. In the evening at half past 8, he spoke at the Vereins Haus for the third time, and again addressed (if possible) a more crowded audience than had assembled there in the afternoon.
On August 30th, early in the morning, we started for Cologne; proceeded thence by rail to Bonn, and embarking on board a steamer for Coblentz, went up the Rhine. After a pleasant voyage, surrounded by beautiful scenery, at half past 5 we passed the Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, and in a few minutes reached our destination. At Coblentz we remained two nights ”

“ Late that afternoon I was busying myself in the cabin, lighting a fire and preparing some simple articles of food, for I could not let myself spend all my time brooding like Yasma. A brilliant light gleamed in her eyes; ecstasy and longing and terror and furious enthusiasm convulsed her features; she seemed a living blaze of vehemence and desire. Urgently she seized my hand, and led me unresisting into the open; then passionately pointed upward, upward to a triangle of black dots darting across the gray heavens.
"See!" she cried. "See, the birds fly south! The last birds fly south!" ”

“ You have locked yourself up in Sobul, and can't go back to your own land, no, you can't—never again—not unless—unless without me!"
The last words were uttered with a drooping of the head and a gesture of utmost renunciation.
"You know I would never go back without you, Yasma," I assured her.
"But you can never go with me! I must remain in Sobul—I must! I've told you so before, and I cannot—cannot be anything but what I am!"
"No one would ask you to be anything but what you are. But think, Yasma, might it not really be wiser to go away? Remember how long we have been parted even in Sobul. ”

“ In the name of the good Lord, what are we to do?"
"They permit us not even a newspaper, monsieur," rumbled the heavy voice of the man, as his portly form slouched forward.
"They stand over us all the time. We have no privacy except in our beds," put in the younger woman, with a despairing gesture of one bony hand. ”

“ Above all, I kept thinking of Yasma, kept remembering her in hope that alternated with dejection. Could it be true, as Karem had said, that I was to see her soon? Surely, she must know how impatiently I was waiting! She would not be the last of her tribe to reappear!
That night I had but little sleep; excited visions of Yasma permitted me to doze away only by brief dream-broken snatches. But when the gray of dawn began to creep in through the open window, sheer weariness forced an hour's slumber; and I slept beyond my usual time, and awoke to find the room bright with sunlight. ”

“ I must be in Sobul each year when the birds fly south! Or I too might go the way of the birds, and never be able to fly back!"
It was an instant before I had grasped the significance of her words. "But you cannot mean that, Yasma!" I protested, with a return of my old, half-buried forebodings. "No, no, you cannot—"
"I do mean it!"—In her tones there was an unfathomable sadness, and the humility of one who bows to inexorable forces.—"I do mean it! I know that it is so! Oh, if you love me, if you care to have me with you, do not speak of this again! ”

“ And rising to a deep-toned dreary monody, it seemed like the mourning of a multitude.
Simultaneously, louder and more insistent than before, there rang forth that terrorizing battle-cry, "Oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow, oo-ow!"
Then came another ominous whizzing, and another beast-man fell with a scream. And brandishing his bow high above his head, Ru started forward with a great leap; while after him dashed his followers in a yelling band.
The beast-men screeched with terror. Those nearest the charging squad dropped their clubs, wheeled about, and dashed pell-mell toward their frightened fellows. ”

“ Startled, I wheeled about; then strode back, and in an instant had my arms about the yielding, convulsive form of Yasma.
"Oh, do not go away!" she wailed. "Do not go away from me, ever, ever! You are everything to me, everything! Oh, what does anything else matter? Let them warn me, forbid me, predict horrible things—I do not care! Nothing could be more horrible than to have you go away! Oh, if I knew I would be smitten dead for it tomorrow, I would still want you here today!" ”

“ For a moment pandemonium reigned, while something between mere bewilderment and panic possessed the surging, firelit shapes.
"Ru! Ru!" shouted some of the bolder, pressing forward while the more timid still retreated. "Where did you come from? We thought you were dead!"
Like a weird echo the others took up the cry, "We thought you were dead! We thought you were dead!"
In confusion that equaled their own, Ru stood regarding his tribesfolk. "I do not understand! Where do you come from?" he heard himself demanding. "How did you enter here?" ”

“ For a few seconds she turned from me to stare into the dwindling fire; then her whole body was shaken by a spasmodic twinge, like an electric shock. And facing me again, she murmured, sorrowfully, "It is too late, my beloved, too late. But do not be sad. It is no one's fault. You could not be different if you wished, and I could not be. And one of us must suffer the cost."
"Do not say that, Yasma!" I protested, in rising alarm. "What cost can there be?"
"Yulada alone can answer," she returned, calmly but in tones of certainty. ”

“ Even when evening was approaching and Yasma's eyes began to glitter as with some secret ecstasy, I did not realize that the present moment might dominate all other moments in my life; and when sunset was setting fire to the west and the stray clouds wore vermilion and purple, I was still unprepared for what the night had in store.
Dusk was falling over the world and in our cabin a lively blaze was beaming, when I was surprised to see Yasma draw herself up to a sitting posture and throw out her hands as though invoking some unseen power. ”

“ All the while half of us women stood watching, and crying out for our own men to win; but the other half did not want to watch, but left their babes and fought with the men—and very good fighters they were, too!
"When at last everything was over, two of our people lay bleeding on the ground, and could not rise again; and most of the rest of us were hurt on the arms or legs or shoulders. But those on Grumgra's side were not hurt so much as those on Zunzun's, for many a man had known the touch of Grumgra's club. ”

“ The Romans called it Conf!uentes, "modernized into Coblentz, from its situation at the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine. It is the capital of the Rhenish provinces of Prussia, and its population, together with that of Ehrenbreitstein, including the garrison, is about 22,000." ”

“ On the floor we saw the ashes of the fires that the spirits have lighted, and the black bones from the feasts that the spirits have eaten; and we picked up the broken flint tools that the spirits have used, and a great club all colored and marked with dried blood. This is an evil sign, as Zunzun the Marvel-Worker will tell you. What do you think, Ru?"
"I think the Smiling-Eyed speaks wisely," declared Ru. "It is true—the cave is filled with bad spirits. And some of these look like men, but have the hearts of hyenas and eat other men. ”

“ Still all lay unmoving and calm; the shadow had not stirred but lay before him, dark and irregular in contour as any boulder.
Straining his eyes in a blackness that told him nothing, the sentry suddenly reached out his club and prodded the doubtful shadow. Simultaneously, a terrified scream started from his lips—the object was soft and yielding before his touch!
As the startled beast-man leaped back, a huge form sprang up from amid the shadows; and through the darkness a huge club swung. And the beast-man's scream gave place to a moan, agonized and swiftly passing ”

“ Ru, trembling with anger, noted an admiring gleam in the eyes of Yonyo as she glanced toward the Hot-Blooded; and at the same time Grumgra continued in words that scorched him to the heart.
"There is another of our people," resumed the Growling Wolf, in tones that justified his name, "who would have us think him a friend of the fire-god. But this man is really like a worm; he is not strong at all, and did not make the fire-stick. For the fire-god is mighty and would not help a half-man like the Sparrow-Hearted—"
"Lies! Lies!" screamed Ru, springing to his feet in a quivering frenzy. ”

“ Maybe, like us, you will feel them without being told; but maybe time alone will be your teacher. The traditions of my tribe would stop me from telling you even if I knew how. But do not be surprised if you learn some very, very strange things."
"Strange or not strange," I vowed, "all I know is that I love you. All I care to learn is when—when, Yasma, you will say to me—"
"Not until the spring," she murmured, with such finality that I felt intuitively the uselessness of argument. "Not until the flowers come out from their winter hiding, and the birds fly north. ”

“ The cave-spirits will do nothing for us if we stay here. And we have seen what they will do if we try to go down in small bands. So let us go down all together! That is what the fire-god told me when I prayed to him!"
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Let us go down all together!" pleaded a dozen excited voices, led by that of Woonoo.
"How can we go down all together?" demanded Grumgra, his brow contracted in an anxious frown. "The beast-men are as many as the hands of all our people—and two clubs are stronger than one."
"Sometimes one club is stronger!" denied Zunzun. ”

“ At last, choking down his visions of huge fanged jaws and ambushed tawny forms, Ru released his hold on the tree and slid silently back to earth.
But nothing happened, absolutely nothing—the motionless trees and the wide rippling waters and the clear blue sky alike seemed unconscious of his deed of daring. And though his limbs were trembling and his eyes were filled with dread and he stood long by the tree, still prepared to dash back to safety at the least suspicious rustling, the world appeared friendly and serene as if it harbored no saber-fanged marauders. ”

“ Thinking that this was one of the fleeing Ibandru, I crouched down so as not to be seen; but a peal of laughter brought me to my senses; in an instant, I found myself face to face with—my wife!
"Oh, you silly creature, how do you expect to find out anything that way?" she chided me, having apparently divined my purpose. "You may lie there watching till the end of time, and you'll never discover a thing. It is not by examining the earth that you may learn of the eagle's flight."
With these words Yasma took my arm; and docilely I accompanied her back to our cabin. ”