He counted much on his firearms now. Here were weapons of which even Kalin knew not the secret.
Among the few books in the cabin of his father was one which Polaris had read and reread, and which, as boy and man, he had liked best of them all. It was the "Ivanhoe" of Sir Walter Scott. He had wondered much on its story of chivalry and battle in a far-off time. Unconsciously much of his own language was couched in its quaint terms.
Now, as he set forth, to fight, or to fall, if need be, for the lady of his heart, there came to him a strange conceit, born of the old romance.
Armed and ready, he stood at the top of the terrace, and while the priest wondered, he raised his voice in his own tongue, not loudly, but firmly and clearly, in the first battle cry ever heard in the valley of Sardanes:
"For the Rose of America! Polaris to the rescue!"
Together he and Kalin passed down the terraced slopes of the Gateway to the Future.
CHAPTER XV
HEPHAISTOS CLAIMS A SACRIFICE
Kalin carried a bundle in his hand, and as they reached the thickets at the foot of the hill he paused.