Page:Weird Tales v34n03 (1939-09).djvu/76

74 around the hem and throat with painted figures, these at our distance impossible to distinguish clearly. He carried a green flowering branch and nothing else, so that the meaning was plain—we might have either peace or war!

Now these folk stopped a little distance out of the greenery, while the old man came on alone to the very edge of the water, and here he paused and called out to us in a clear pleasant voice that seemed the very essence of peaceful living and happy carefree ways.

Myrdhinn climbed up on the bulwark and tried several languages, gesturing at the sun, the sea, the sky and land, while for his part the other old man answered in possibly more than one dialect, but no common ground could be found for conversation, till at last each gave up his efforts and stood smiling at the other in humorous bewilderment across the intervening waters. Then Myrdhinn said:

"Put the boat overside. I am going ashore."

And this we did against our wills, fearing treachery, but Myrdhinn's mind was made up and his will was firm. So ashore he went, and we could see their arms waving as they gesticulated and strove to make themselves understood.

At length, the old man pointed inland in silent invitation, and Myrdhinn nodded, and all in an instant it seemed, the twain had turned and were gone from our sight, with many of the armed men following, though some were left. These were all big, strong fellows well able, it seemed to us, to cast a spear out to where we lay; so unobtrusively we trained the arrow engine, loaded with a full sheaf of arrows, upon them and swung also the port catapult in their direction. We were now almost certain that, despite the rolling of the vessel, we could drop the boulder among them. Then we grasped our bows behind the bulwarks—and waited.

HE sun rose high and higher, until at almost midday, Myrdhinn and the other old man came back with their following of curious spearmen.

"Lay down your arms, my friends!" he shouted. "Come ashore to me on Brandon's Isle, for this is truly the land we seek. Leave a guard of fifty and come, you others."

While he was speaking, the old islander harangued his followers to somewhat similar effect, for each stepped forward and threw down his weapon to form a pile on the sand, after which they moved back some twenty feet and showed us their empty hands.

All this time, since daybreak, there had been a rolling mutter of small drums, neither loud nor very far inland. This threatening sound now stopped and the hush that followed pressed down upon our accustomed ears, as might another noise.

In this deathly quiet, I gave low commands and our other boat was lowered and sent ashore, where some leaped out and joined Myrdhinn and others brought back the two boats, plying between ship and shore until all of us were there with the exception of the guards, the torments; men and the arrow-engineers.

"For," I warned, "these strangers may meditate treachery; wherefore keep sharp watch and be ready to cover our retreat if need be."

So, once lined in formation upon the sands, at my signal we stepped forward three paces together and cast down our bows, our shortswords, even our eating-daggers, and stood facing the islanders' array across the two piles of weapons—two unarmed companies, each with its holy man in front.

Then Myrdhinn and the old priest stepped forward and kissed each other, and as they did so, the drumming burst out with a great fury. We stared at one another, almost tempted to reach for our