back. "It's too late, the sun will disappear soon and we'll lose our way in the dark," said Kidogo. "Better wait until the moon comes up, it won't be long." Pandion and Cavius agreed and lay down to rest. VIII. THE SONS OF THE WIND Hyenas barked and jackals howled plaintively in the impenetrable darkness. Kidogo was worried, he kept looking towards the east where an ash-grey strip of sky above the treetops heralded the rising moon. "I don't know if there are any wild dogs here or not," muttered Kidogo. "If there are we'll be in trouble. Dogs attack together, the whole pack of them, and overcome even the buffalo. . . ." The sky grew lighter, the grim, black rocks turned to silver, and the trees in the plain showed up as black silhouettes. The moon had risen. The three friends, their spears grasped firmly in their hands, set out southwards along the chain of rocky hills. They hastened away from the gloomy battlefield where the carrion eaters were feasting on the dead elephants. The howls died away behind them, the plain around them seemed dead, and only the swift steps of the three men broke the silence of the night. Kidogo carefully avoided dense groves of trees and thickets of bushes that formed mysterious black hills towering here and there above the grass. The Negro chose his path through open spaces that gleamed like white lakes in a labyrinth of black islands of vegetation. The chain of rocky hills turned to the west, and a narrow strip of forest kept the friends close to the rocks. Kidogo turned to the right and led the way across a long, stony open space, that sloped down in a southerly direction. Suddenly the Negro stopped, turned abruptly round and stood listening. Pandion and Cavius strained their ears but not a sound could they hear in any direction. As before, absolute silence reigned supreme. The Negro went hesitantly forward, increasing his pace, and did not answer the whispered questions of the Etruscan and the Hellene. They had advanced a further thousand cubits, when the Negro again stopped. His eyes showed a troubled gleam in the bright moonlight. "Something's following us," he whispered and lay down with his ear to the ground. Pandion followed his friend's example, but Cavius remained standing, straining his eyes to see through the silver curtain of moonlight. Pandion lay with his ear pressed to the hot stony earth and at first could hear nothing but his own breathing. The silent, menacing uncertainty alarmed him. Suddenly a weak, scarcely audible sound was transmitted through the earth from a distance. The regularly repeated sounds grew more frequent-click, click, click. Pandion held up his head and the sounds stopped immediately. Kidogo continued listening for some time, pressing first one, then the other ear to the ground; then he leaped to his feet like a spring released. "Some big animal is following us, it's a bad thing that I don't know what animal. Its claws are outside, like those of a dog or hyena, so that it isn't a lion or a leopard. . . ." "A buffalo or rhinoceros," suggested Cavius. Kidogo shook his head energetically. "No, it's a beast of prey," he snapped with confidence. "We must find cover ... no trees near us," he whispered, looking round in alarm. The country ahead of them was an almost level stony stretch of open ground with occasional tufts of grass and small bushes. "Forward, as fast as we can!" Kidogo hurried them on, and the friends ran along carefully, trying to avoid the long thorns on the bushes and the cracks in the dried earth. Now the scratching of heavy talons on the stony ground could be clearly heard behind them. The increased frequency of the regular clatter of the claws told the friends that the animal had also broken into a run. Click, click, click-the sounds drew nearer and nearer. Pandion looked over his shoulder and saw a tall swaying silhouette, a grey phantom pursuing them. Kidogo kept turning his head this way and that, trying to pick out a tree somewhere ahead of them and to judge the speed of the unknown animal. He realized that the trees were too far away and that the friends would not be able to reach them in time. 'The animal is gaining on us," said the Negro stopping. "If we keep our backs to it, we shall die a sorry death!" he added excitedly. "We must fight it," said the saturnine Cavdus. The three friends stood side by side facing the menacing grey phantom that was bearing down on them in silence. During the whole period of pursuit the animal had not emitted a single sound, and' it was this strange fact, so unusual in the wild beasts of the plains, that disturbed the friends. The diffused grey silhouette grew darker, its outlines became clearer. When the animal had reduced the distance between them to no more than three hundred cubits, it slowed down and approached at a steady walk, confident that its chosen victims would not escape. The friends had never before seen any such animal. Its massive forelegs were longer than its hinds, the forepart of the body rose high above the spine, the back sloped away towards the croup. The heavy head, with massive jaws and a steep, prominent forehead, sat upright on the thick neck. The animal's short light fur was speckled with darker patches. Long black hair stuck up on the back of its head and neck. It bore a distant resemblance to a spotted hyena but of a monstrous size such as nobody had ever seen before; its head was a good five cubits from the ground. The wide chest, shoulders and withers were frightening in their massiveness, the muscles stood out like hillocks, and the huge claws clattered maliciously on the ground putting fear into those who heard them. The beast moved with a strange irregular gait, swinging its low rump and nodding its heavy head, so that the lower jaw almost touched the throat. "What is it?" asked Pandion in a whisper, licking his dry lips. "I don't know," answered the perplexed Kidogo. "I've never heard of such an animal." The animal suddenly turned; its huge eyes, directed straight at the waiting men, lit up with flickering flames. The animal sidled round the men to the right, then stopped again with its eyes fixed on them. Its rounded ears jutted out obliquely from its head. "The brute is intelligent; it has moved round so that the moonlight is against us," whispered Kidogo, his breath coming in short gasps. A nervous shiver ran through Pandion's body such as he always felt before a dangerous fight. ' The animal drew a deep breath and advanced slowly on the men. In its movements, in its malevolent silence, in the persistent stare of the big eyes under the protruding forehead, there was something that distinguished it from all other animals the friends had ever seen. The three men realized instinctively that the animal was a relic of an older world with other laws of life. Shoulder to shoulder, their spears held ready, the three men advanced to meet the nocturnal monster. For an instant it stood still, perplexed, then, uttering a short, hoarse sound, hurled itself at them. The huge jaw opened, the thick teeth flashed in the moonlight as three spears plunged into the broad chest and neck of the monster. The men could not withstand the pressure of the animal's weight and, furthermore, it possessed enormous strength. The spears struck against bone and were turned aside and pulled out of their hands; the three of them were thrown back. Kidogo and Pandion managed to scramble to their feet, but Cavius found himself lying under the beast. The two friends rushed to his rescue. The monster sat back on its hind-legs and suddenly swung out its front paws. Blunt claws struck Pandion in the hip with such force that he fell and almost lost consciousness. The animal planted its enormous paw on Pandion's leg, causing him terrific pain, the joints cracked, and the animal's claws tore skin and flesh. Pandion, keeping his spear in his hand, lifted himself from the ground with both hands in an effort to rise and, as he did so, heard Kidogo's spear-shaft break. Rising to his knees, he saw that the Negro was held down by the animal whose open jowl was drawing near him. Kidogo, his eyes popping out of his head, was pressing both hands under the lower jaw of the monster in an effort to turn its head away. Pandion's trusted friend was perishing before his eyes. The young Hellene was beside himself and, feeling no pain, jumped up and thrust his spear into the animal's neck. The animal snapped its teeth loudly and turned on Pandion, knocking him off his feet with the movement. The young Hellene did not let go the spear and, holding the spear-shaft on the ground, for a short time held the animal fast, while Kidogo managed to get out his knife. Neither Pandion nor the Negro noticed Cavius rise up on the other side of the animal. Baring his teeth in a grin, the Etruscan coolly aimed at the animal's flank with his spear and thrust it in behind the shoulder-blade with both hands. The long blade went in a cubit deep, a roar escaped the opening mouth of the monster; it shuddered convulsively and turned left, towards the Etruscan. The latter, hunching his shoulders and pulling his head down between them, staggered but did not fall. Kidogo with a piercing yell drove his knife into the animal's throat, and at that same moment the Etruscan's spear reached the animal's heart. The great beast collapsed convulsively and an unbearable stench spread around it. Pandion withdrew his spear and thrust it again into the back of the animal's neck, but this last blow was unnecessary. The animal stretched its neck, stubbed its jowl against Cavius and stretched out its hind-legs, that were still quivering; the claws scratched the earth, the muscles contracted under the skin; but the stiff hairs on the back of the neck had fallen flat. Great was the joy of the three friends at their deliverance from the terrible monster that lay motionless before them in the moonlight. As soon as they had come to themselves the three friends examined their wounds. A piece of flesh had been torn out of the Etruscan's shoulder, and the animal's long claws had furrowed his back. Pandion's leg was not broken, but he had a deep wound below the knee and apparently the tendons had been strained or torn so that he could not step on his foot. His side was swollen and black from the blow of the animal's paw, but no ribs were broken. Kidogo had suffered more than the others-he had several deep wounds and had been badly crushed. The friends bound each other's wounds with strips torn from their loin-cloths. Pandion was more worried than the others, for his wounded leg made it impossible for him to walk. Kidogo soothed his friend, assuring him that they were now out of danger, and that the body of the monster would be a sure protection against all other beasts of prey; the Elephant People would miss them and at dawn would set out to find them. Bearing with patience and fortitude the pain of their burning wounds, the three friends stretched out on the hard stones, but were unable to sleep in their excitement. Dawn came very suddenly, and the sun drove away the mysterious and ominous shadows of the night. Pandion, tormented by the pain in his leg, opened his tired eyes at the sound of a loud shout from Kidogo. The Negro was examining their nocturnal pursuer and was explaining to Cavius that he had seen drawings of such animals in Tha-Quem amongst pictures of other animals in a tomb in the City of the White Walls. Cavius stuck out his lower lip incredulously. Kidogo swore and tried to convince his friend that the inhabitants of Tha-Quem had no doubt met with such animals in the distant past. The sun rose higher. Thirst tormented the three friends, Õ and they were racked with fever from their wounds. Kidogo and Cavius had decided to go in search of water when they suddenly heard voices. Three elephants with warriors on their backs were moving across the plain below the stony slope on which the friends had met the terror of the night. The Elephant People, hearing Kidogo's shouts, turned their elephants towards them and set them at a faster pace. The elephants were approaching the three strangers when they suddenly shied and began trumpeting uneasily, raising their trunks and spreading their ears. The warriors jumped down from their platforms and ran towards the dead monster with cries of "Gishu! Gishu!" Yesterday's chief hunter gave the three friends a look of approval and said with a catch in his hoarse voice: "You are indeed famous warriors if the three of you alone could overcome the terror of the night, the eater of the thick-skinned animals." The Elephant People told the three friends about the gishu, a very rare and dangerous animal. Nobody knew where it lay hidden by day, but during the night it wandered about in silence, attacking young elephants, rhinoceroses and the young of other big animals. The gishu was exceptionally strong and stubborn in battle. Its terrible teeth could bite off the leg of an elephant at one snap, and its powerful forepaws crushed its victims, breaking their bones. Cavius made signs asking the hunters to help him skin the animal. Four warriors willingly set about the task, paying no attention to the horrible stench. The skin and the head were lifted on to an elephant, where the three friends were also lifted by the warriors. The elephants, obedient to light blows of their drivers' hooked knives, set out at a smart trot and in a short time covered the distance to the village, which they reached by midday. The villagers greeted them with shouts of welcome; from the height of the elephants' backs the warriors shouted out, announcing the details of the great deed of valour. Kidogo, his face beaming, sat proudly beside Pandion on the wide swaying elephant platform, five cubits above the earth. The Negro had started singing several times, but each time the Elephant People had stopped him, warning him that the elephants did not like noise and were accustomed to moving in silence. Four days journey separated them from the village of the Elephant People. The chief had kept his word, and the party of former slaves was allowed to follow the tribe's expedition to the west. As their wounds had not yet healed, Pandion, Cavius and Kidogo were given a place on one of the six elephants and their sixteen companions followed behind on foot. The elephants marched only half the day, the remainder of the time being required to feed and rest them. Those who were following on foot, however, could only overtake the elephants by nightfall. The elephant drivers did not select for their charges the way that the people would have chosen for themselves. They avoided forests with stands of tall trees and crashed their way through bush country where the undergrowth was so thick that the men would have had to hack their way through. From time to time the leading elephant was changed and sent to the rear to rest. The elephants left a path behind them along which the liberated slaves marched without a single blow of a knife full of admiration at the ease with which the impenetrable thickets were crushed underfoot. The three friends on the elephant were even better off. The platform on which they sat swayed slightly as it floated continuously over the ground with its thorn-bushes, insects and dangerous snakes, stretches of foul, stinking mud, sharp stones on rocky slopes, grass that cut the feet, and deep, gaping crevices. Only now did Pandion realize the great care that had to be exercised by a traveller on foot through the African jungles and bushlands. Constant vigilance was necessary for a man to remain uninjured and preserve his strength and fighting ability for the journey ahead of him. The elephants strode on through all obstacles with the reliability of granite blocks, and Pandion had ample time to drink in the beauty of this strange country, its colour, form and aromas, the magnificence of its plant and animal life. In the glaring sunlight of the glades the pure tones of the flowers attained such extraordinary brilliance that to Pandion's northern eye there seemed to be some-. thing vaguely wrong with them. The glaring colour sequences seemed harsh and dissonant when compared with the soft, harmonious colours of his native Hellas. But whenever clouds covered the sky or the party plunged into the deep twilight of the shady forests this- galaxy of colour disappeared. The party cut across an outjutting spur of the forest and found themselves in open, hilly, red-soil country where they again saw the leafless trees that exuded milky sap. Their bluish-green branches stretched mournfully into the blinding glare of the sky; the tops looked as if they had been deliberately trimmed straight some thirty cubits from the ground. The thick trunks and leafless branches had the appearance of candelabra cast from some green metal. Huge blossoms, glowing red at the tips of the branches, gave one the impression of hundreds of torches burning in a sunless cemetery. There was neither beast nor bird to disturb the deathlike stillness of the tropical heat in these motionless thickets.- Farther on the soil was scarred by deep watercourses with dazzling white sand where the red soil had been washed away. The travellers entered a labyrinth of narrow gullies whose friable purple walls rose to a height of a hundred cubits on either side. The elephants picked their way carefully through a maze of eroded cliffs, pyramids, turrets and frail pillars. Now and again they passed through deep depressions, round like bowls, in which spurs of different soil spread radially across the level floor. These spurs formed steep sharp walls of friable earth that sometimes collapsed as the party passed by, frightening the elephants, who shied away from them. The colour of the eroded earth was constantly changing; a wall of warm red tones would give way to one of light brown which, in turn, was followed by bright yellow pyramids interspersed with strips and ledges of dazzling white. It seemed to Pandion that he had entered a fairy kingdom. These deep, dry and lifeless canyons hid a wealth of colour contrasts, the iridescence of inanimate nature. Again came densely wooded ridges, again the green walls hemmed in the travellers, and the elephant platform was like an island floating slowly over a sea of leaves and branches. Pandion noticed how carefully the drivers led their elephants, and how carefully they examined the animals' skin at halts. When he asked one of them why they did this, the Negro placed his hand on a gourd that hung at his belt. "It's a bad thing for an elephant to graze its skin or injure it in any way," said the driver. "If he does his blood turns bad and the animal soon dies. We have medicinal pitch we always keep at hand to treat all injuries without delay." The young Hellene was astonished to learn that the powerful, long-lived giants were so vulnerable, but then he realized why the wise old animals were so careful. The elephants took a lot of looking after. The sites of the night's bivouac and resting places were selected with great care after a lengthy examination of the country and numerous consultations; the tethered elephants were surrounded by keen-eyed watchmen, who kept awake the whole night through. Special reconnaissance parties were sent out far ahead to make sure that there were no wild elephants in the neighbourhood, and if any were met with, they were driven off with loud cries. At the bivouacs the friends talked with their fellow-travellers, who answered all their questions. On one occasion Pandion asked the caravan leader, an elderly man of short stature, why they went so willingly to the elephant hunts despite the terrible danger. The deep furrows around the leader's mouth grew even deeper. He answered unwillingly: "You talk like a coward although you do not look like one. The elephants are the strength of our people. Owing to the elephants we live in ease and plenty, but we pay for that with our lives. If we were afraid, we shouldn't live any better than the tribes that feed on lizards and roots. Those who are afraid of death live a life of hunger and misery. If you know that your death means life to your family, then you go boldly into any danger! My son, a brave man, in the prime of his life was killed during an elephant hunt." The caravan leader screwed up his eyes morosely as he turned them on Pandion. "Perhaps you think different, stranger? If so, why have you journeyed through many countries, fighting against men and beasts, instead of remaining in slavery?" Pandion grew ashamed and asked no more questions. Kidogo, who was sitting by the campfire, suddenly got up and shuffled over to a group of trees standing at a distance of two hundred cubits from the camp. The sinking sun turned the big oval leaves to gold and the thin branches quivered in the light breeze. Kidogo carefully examined the irregular, lumpy bark of their thin trunks, gave a shout of joy and pulled out his knife. A little later the Negro came back carrying two bunches of reddish-grey bark. One of the bunches he took to the leader of the caravan. "Give this to the chief as Kidogo's parting gift," he said. "This medicine is quite as good as the magic grass from the blue plains. When he is sick or tired or sorrowing, let him crush the bark and make a decoction of it. He must drink only a little, if he drinks too much it will not act as medicine but as poison. This bark restores strength to the aged, brings joy to the depressed and new life to the weak. Take good note of that tree, you will be grateful for it." ( Corynanthe johimbe from the Rubiaceae family to which quinine and coffee trees also belong.) The caravan leader took the gift with pleasure and immediately ordered his men to get more of the bark; Kidogo hid the second bunch in the skin of the gishu which Cavius carried with him. The next day the elephants climbed on to a stony plateau overgrown with tall bushes so bent by the wind that they bowed down to the earth in green humps scattered about the grey dry grass. Every breath of the wind that blew in their faces brought a pleasant freshness. Pandion brightened up. The air was filled with a strange fragrance, long forgotten yet still familiar and infinitely dear; but soon it was lost amongst the strong perfumes wind-carried from the sun-heated leaves of the forest that lay below them. Wide, easy slopes stretched to a great distance, dark strips and patches of forest thickets marring the even blue of their bare surface. Far away on the horizon a high mountain range loomed purple in the haze. "Tengrela, my country, is over there!" screamed Kidogo in ecstasies of joy and the whole party turned to look in that direction. Kidogo waved his arms, sobbed and laughed and his mighty shoulders shook with excitement. Pandion could well understand the feelings of his friend, but nevertheless an indeterminate sense of jealousy embittered him; Kidogo had reached his homeland, but how much had he, Pandion, to overcome before the great hour came when he, like his friend, would be able to say: "This is my native land!" Unnoticed by the others, Pandion turned away and his head drooped; at that moment he could not share his friend's joy. The elephants descended a bare black slope of volcanic rock where no vegetation could get a foothold on the solidified lava. Their path crossed a level platform dotted with numerous small lakes. The gleaming stretches of clear, blue water stood out in sharp contrast to the black banks. Pandion gave a shudder as he suddenly saw before him Thessa's deep blue eyes and black tresses. The blue lakes seemed to be looking at him in reproach like the eyes of Thessa herself. Pandion's thoughts carried him back to Oeniadae, a vague but strong feeling of impatience filled his breast, and he moved over to his friend and embraced him. The tanned sinewy hand of Cavius lay in Kidogo's black hand and the three friends joined their hands in a firm and joyous handshake. The elephants were continuing the descent; the banks of a broad river-valley spread on both sides of them. A little farther on, it was joined by a similar valley on the right, and the two streams they carried, joining into a single river, raced on, gaining more water the farther they went. For a time the elephants followed the left bank, marching at the foot of a line of eroded cliffs. Ahead of them the cliffs dropped back from the river whose pure, clear water gurgled merrily as it rushed on through the shade of tall trees, that met in a green arch over the river which was here some fifteen cubits wide. The elephants halted before they reached the trees. "This is the place," said the caravan leader. "We don't go any farther." The three friends descended from their elephant and said farewell to their hosts. The caravan crossed the river and the three friends stood for a long time watching the great grey beasts climb the slope leading to a flat-topped eminence to the north of the river. An involuntary sigh of regret broke from the lips of all three as the mighty animals disappeared into the distance. The friends lit signal fires to guide the party that was following behind on foot. "Let us go and look for reeds and small trees to build rafts with," said Kidogo to the Etruscan. "We can make the rest of the journey quickly by water. You, cripple, wait here by the fire and look after your leg," said the Negro to Pandion with rough tenderness. Pandion and Cavius left Kidogo on the bank of the river amongst his fellow-tribesmen. The smell of the nearby sea intoxicated the two friends, who had grown up on its shores. They pushed off their raft and floated down the left-hand sleeve of the river. Soon the raft was brought to rest on a sand bar. The friends climbed up the steep bank, their feet and legs tangling in the tall grass. They made their way over a hilly ridge and, panting with excitement, hurried to the top and stood stock-still in silence, unable to speak or even to breathe. They were overwhelmed by the endless expanse of the ocean; the gentle splashing of the waves sounded like thunder to them. Cavius and Pandion stood breast-high in the tall grass with the feathery leaves of palm-trees waving high over their heads. The line where the green of the foothills joined the burning sunlit sands of the seashore looked almost black. The golden sand was fringed with the silver line of the surf beyond which transparent green waves rose and fell. Farther out at sea a straight line marked the edge of the offshore reefs, dazzlingly white against the blue of the open sea. Light fluffy patches of cloud dotted the sky. On the beach, a clump of five palms leaned out over the water, the light even breeze opening their leaves out and then folding them again like the tattered wings of birds with dark-brown and golden feathers. The leaves of the palms, the colour of cast bronze, shut out the view of the sea and their sharp edges were tinged with brilliant fire, so great was the strength of the sun that shone through them. The moist wind, bringing with it the salt smell of the sea, flowed over Pandion's face and bare breast as though it were embracing him after years of separation. Cavius and Pandion sat down on the cool firm sand that was as level as the floor of a house. After a short rest they threw themselves into the gently rolling waves and the sea welcomed them, tossing them tenderly on her bosom. Pandion and Cavius, their arms cutting through the sparkling crests of the waves, enjoyed to the full the smell of the salt spray until the sea-water began to make their healing wounds burn. When they left the water the two friends stood on the beach feasting their eyes on the distant ocean. It spread before them like a blue bridge that somewhere joined the waters of their native sea; at that very moment similar waves were rolling against the white cliffs of Hellas and the yellow rocks of Cavius' native Etruria. The young Hellene felt his eyes fill with tears of joyous excitement; he no longer thought of the tremendous distance that still separated him from his home. Here was the sea and beyond it Thessa was waiting for him; there awaited everything that was near and dear to him, abandoned and hidden by years of harsh trials and the countless stadia of wearisome journey. The two friends stood on a narrow strip of beach, their faces to the sea. Behind them rose high mountains covered with ominous forests, the fringe of a strange land whose burning deserts, plains, dry plateaux and dark and humid forests had held them captive so long; a land that had taken years of life from them, years that could have been devoted to their families. Their liberation had been bought by a long heroic struggle and titanic effort. If all that effort had been devoted to their native lands, it would have earned them honour and glory. Cavius placed his heavy hands on Pandion's shoulder. "Our fate is now in our own hands, Pandion!" he exclaimed. The fires of passion gleamed in his eyes, usually dark and morose. "There are two of us; surely we can reach the waters of the Green Sea now that we have fought our way to the shores of the Great Arc. Yes, we shall return and on the way we shall be the mainstay of our Libyan companions, who know little of navigation. . . ." Pandion nodded his head but did not speak. Now that he stood face to face with the sea he felt absolute confidence in his own strength. Kidogo's voice rang out over the beach. The worried Negro, followed by a crowd of his excited tribesmen and his fellow-travellers, was seeking the friends. Pandion and Cavius were taken back to the river and were ferried across to the other side where several oxen awaited them for the transport of the wounded and their weapons arid other belongings. A short stage would bring their wanderings to an end. The promise made by Kidogo under the trees on the banks of the Nile, when they stood beside their dying comrades after the terrible battle with the rhinoceros, had been fulfilled. All nineteen of the former slaves were given a hearty welcome and an opportunity to rest in a huge village near the sea, on the banks of a wide river that flowed parallel to the one they had floated down after leaving the Elephant People. As far as Pandion and Cavius were concerned, the finest thing of all was the news that the Sons of the Wind, after an interval of twenty years, had, in the previous year, again visited those shores. "Sons of the Wind" was the name given by Kidogo's tribe to the Sea People who had, from time immemorial, come periodically from the northern seas to the Southern Horn in search of ivory, gold, medicinal herbs and the skins of wild beasts. The local people said that the Sons of the Wind were in outward appearance like the Etruscan and the Hellene, only their skin was darker and their hair even more curly. The year before four black ships had come, following the ancient route of their forefathers. The Sons of the Wind had promised to come again as soon as the period of storms in the Sea of Mists was over. According to the calculations of experienced people, the ships should come in three months time. It would take them much longer to build their own ship, quite apart from the fact that the sea route was unknown to them. Pandion and Cavius doubted whether the Sea People would take them on board their ships together with ten of their comrades, but Kido-go, winking and chuckling mysteriously, said that he would arrange that. There was nothing left to do but wait, although they were tormented by uncertainty. The Sons of the Wind might not return again for another twenty years. Pandion and Cavius comforted themselves with the thought that if the ships did not appear by the appointed time they would begin building their own ship. Kidogo's return was an event that was celebrated by noisy feasting. Pandion soon grew tired of the feasts; he grew tired, too, of hearing his prowess praised and of having to repeat stories about his native land and about the adventures he had been through. Quite accidentally it happened that Kidogo, constantly surrounded by his relatives and friends, distracted by the admiration of the women, somehow got separated from Pandion and Cavius, and the friends met less frequently. Kidogo was now journeying into the new life by his own path which did not coincide with that of his friends. Those of Kidogo's travelling companions who belonged to related tribes soon left for their own homes. The party that was left consisted of Pandion, Cavius and ten Libyans, who considered that their return home depended on the Etruscan and the Hellene. The twelve strangers were accommodated in a big house of grey-green sun-dried clay, but Kidogo insisted that Cavius and Pandion move to a beautiful dome-shaped house near his own. After the many years of wandering, Pandion was able at last to sleep on his own bed. These people did not sleep on skins or bundles of grass on the ground; they made bedsteads, wooden frames on legs, which supported a net of plaited, pliable reeds, that gave rest to the body and was especially pleasant for Pandion's wounded leg. Pandion now had a great deal of spare time which he spent near the sea where he sat for hours either alone or with Cavius, listening to the regular rumble of the waves. He was in a state of constant alarm. His boundless vitality had been sapped by the vicissitudes of his long journey in a hot debilitating climate. He had changed greatly and admitted it himself. There had been a time when, given wings by youth and love, he had been able to leave behind the girl he loved, his home and his native land, following the urge to learn more of the art of the ancients, to see foreign lands and to learn something of life. Now he knew the meaning of the bitterest nostalgia, he knew the meaning of joyless captivity, the oppressiveness of despair, the stultifying drudgery of the slave. Uneasily Pandion asked himself whether or not his creative inspiration had left him, whether or not he was capable of becoming a great artist. At the same time he felt that he had seen and experienced much that had left its mark on him, that had enriched him with a great knowledge of life, with numerous unforgettable impressions. Pandion would often gaze lovingly at the spear presented to him by the father of his lost Iruma, the spear that he had carried through plains and forest, the spear that had so often saved him in moments of mortal danger. He regarded it as a symbol of manly courage, a guarantee of human fearlessness in the struggle against the Nature that reigns supreme in the hot expanses of Africa. He would carefully stroke the long blade before he returned it to the bag that Iruma had stitched. This piece of leather, brightly embroidered in wool, was all that was left to remind him of the distant, kind and gentle girl that he had met at the crossroads on his difficult journey home. With these thoughts in his mind Pandion turned to look at the dark mountains that stood between the ocean and the country he had passed through. The endless days of that long journey floated slowly before his eyes. . . . And over all stood the image of Iruma, full of life, and beckoning him irresistibly . . . . She was the same as he had seen her the last time, standing against the trunk of the tree whose flowers were like red torches. . . . Pandion's heart began to beat faster. His imagination gave him a perfect picture of the sheen of her dark and tender skin, her mischievous eyes filled with the fires of passion. . . . Iruma's tiny round face drew, close to his and he heard the endearing notes of her voice. . . . Pandion gradually became acquainted with the manners and customs of Kidogo's jolly and friendly people. They were tall, their black skins had a coppery hue, all of them were well built. Most of them engaged in agricultural pursuits. They cultivated the low palms for their oil-bearing nuts and also bananas, huge herbaceous plants with gigantic leaves that spread fanwise from a bunch of soft stems. The curved, crescent-shaped fruit of the banana plant grew in huge clusters and provided tasty and aromatic food. Bananas were gathered in large numbers and formed the staple diet of the people. Pandion enjoyed them greatly, eating them raw, boiled or fried in oil. The local inhabitants also engaged in hunting, gathered ivory and skins and also collected the magic, chestnut-like nuts that had cured Pandion of his strange torpor; they also kept poultry and herds of cattle. There were many skilled craftsmen amongst Kidogo's people-builders, smiths and potters. Pandion admired the work of many artists whose skill was no whit less than that of Kidogo. Their huge houses, built of squared stones, sun-baked brick or hard, rammed clay, were all decorated with intricate and beautiful ornaments carved with great precision on the walls. In some cases the walls were decorated with highly coloured frescoes that reminded Pandion of the ancient frescoes in Crete. He saw earthenware vessels of beautiful shape and covered with fine drawings, delicately executed. In the buildings devoted to public meetings and in the houses of the chiefs there were many coloured wooden statues. Pandion greatly admired the carvings of people and animals in which characteristic features were portrayed by the faithful recording of the artist's impression. Pandion, however, considered that the sculptors of Kidogo's tribe lacked a profound understanding of form. The same was true of the masters of Aigyptos. The statues of Tha-Quem were lifeless in their fixed poses despite the precision with which they were carved and the brilliant finish that resulted from many centuries of experience. Kidogo's people, on the contrary, recorded in their carvings the most acute impressions but only in partial, deliberately stressed details. When the young Hellene pondered over the work of the local craftsmen, he had a vague feeling that the path to perfection in sculpture must lie in some completely new direction and not in the blind effort to reproduce nature nor in attempts to reflect certain partial impressions. Kidogo's people loved music and played on complicated instruments made of rows of little wooden planks fixed on long hollow gourds. Some of the sad and tenderly expansive songs affected Pandion greatly, reminding him of the songs of his homeland. Cavius was sitting beside the dying fire near their house, chewing stimulating leaves* and pensively stirring with a stick ashes in which yellow fruits were baking. ( Leaves from any bush of the Sterculiaceae family.)He had learned to make flour from bananas and bake cakes from it. Pandion came out of the house, sat down beside his friend and looked idly over the high rows of the houses and at passers-by. A soft evening light descended on the dusty paths and was lost in the motionless branches of the shady trees. Suddenly Pandion's attention was attracted to a