Their staring eyes made him uncomfortable. Wherever he looked they were—staring eyes and gaping mouths. He felt suddenly ashamed. He wanted to hide himself—but they would not let him do that, he knew. How long would they keep him here, he wondered? There seemed to be no limit to the crowds. This must be a great center of population....
And in a flash he had forgotten the people, with their staring eyes, forgotten his shame, forgotten his bodily discomfort.... A center of population! Those words blazed in his mind. Once more, he knew the joy of hope.
With a sudden clear perception he realized that they could not have helped him more if they had done it consciously. He had arrived at a goal, which, a few days ago, had seemed impossible of attainment. Here, if anywhere, he would find help....
He must learn the language. That was imperative.... And again his good fortune amazed him. These people were constantly talking. His position was ideal for studying their speech. From what he already knew, it was quite simple; and it should not take long to learn enough to serve his purpose.
It took longer than he had expected, mainly because the people were not there all of the time. They came only at certain periods of the day; and he soon made a surprising discovery—that they slept during a great part of every night. In fact, almost one third of their time seemed to be spent in an unconscious state. The creatures in the cages slept even more. He could see no signs of intelligence in these caged creatures. They were dumb, and were completely dominated by the men.
He missed the sun badly. These people, in their dark houses and their draped bodies, did not seem to need it. Often he felt quite ill, but tried not to worry about his health.
At night, when alone, he practiced the sounds he had learned; and rehearsed the things he was going to say when his chance came.
He passed through a sleep period; and then, on the ninth day, decided that he was ready. To the attendant who brought his food he said:
"I talk."