The chief thought a moment, then turned to his son and said, “You may take Lodrix about the village, but do not go far, for Tevico will return at sunset.”
CHAPTER IX
THE RETURN
Just as the moon was rising Tevico came.
He was very tired, for his journey had been a long one, but he was glad to bring good news to his people and to Lodrix.
The Bear people had come together and were waiting for Tevico.
They were very glad to hear the message for it meant great wealth for them.
They would now have more bronze than any other land tribe.
“Lodrix must be sent home. We must have a messenger,” said the chief. “He must be very strong, for the bronze is heavy.”
Then he chose one of the strongest of the men, who started off with Lodrix.
At sunrise, they reached the shore of the lake.
There the Lake-Dweller messenger was waiting with the bronze.
Not a word was spoken.
The messenger of the Bear tribe took the bag of bronze, and Lodrix with the other messenger hurried across the bridge to his home.
There his mother and father and all his tribe were waiting to welcome him.
They crowded about the chief’s hut and listened, as Lodrix told the story of his capture.
When Lodrix had finished his story, he went into the hut to rest.
He soon fell asleep, tired from his long journey.
Then the chief sent two men to pull up the drawbridge which had been down since early morning.
He still feared that the Bear tribe would attack them.
After this had been done, the chief said to his people: “My son has returned to us. Now we must think of winter.
“Our fruit-trees have been destroyed by our enemies and we have very little dried fruit left.
“We will have to hunt and fish every day, that we may have enough food to last us through the winter.”
As the chief was talking, a messenger, who had been sent by the people of another Lake village, came up.
He said: “Chief, my people offer help to you and your tribe.
“They know that your fruit-trees have been destroyed.
“They have plenty of food to give you if you need it.
“They are glad that your son has been returned to you.”
This message made the Lake-Dweller people very happy, and before separating, they planned to come together that night for a feast of thanksgiving.
At sunset, as they sat eating and drinking, they made a solemn pledge that some day they would conquer the Bear tribe and get back their bronze.
That night the moon shone upon them, as they stood with outstretched arms, praying to it for strength to fulfil their vow.
THE END
Transcriber’s Notes
- Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.
- In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)
- Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.