Page:The Cave Girl - Edgar Rice Burroughs.pdf/189

 us choose a king who will have to be good to us if he wishes to remain king. It is very bad for us to have a king whom we fear.”

“I, for one,” said the young man who had previously spoken, “do not care to be ruled by a king unless he is able to defeat me in battle. If I can defeat him then I should be king.”

And so they took sides, but at last they compromised by selecting one whom they knew to be wise and a great fighter as well. Thus they chose Thandar king.

“Once each week,” said the new king, “we shall gather here and talk among ourselves of the things which are for the best good of the tribe, and what seems best to the majority shall be done. The tribe will tell the king what to do—the king will carry out the work. And all must fight when the king says fight and all must work when the king says work, for we shall all be fighting or working for the whole tribe, and I, Thandar, your king, shall fight and work the hardest of you all.”

It was a new idea to them and placed the kingship in a totally different light from any by which they had previously viewed it. That it would take a long time for them to really absorb the idea Thandar knew, and he was glad that in the meantime they had a king who could command their respect according to their former standards.