"I am Ul," said the speaker. "Go away from the land of Ul. I am Ul; I kill!"
"We will not harm you," I replied. "We only want to pass through your country."
"Go away!" growled Ul, baring sharp fighting fangs.
By now, fifty of the fierce little men were gathered at the water's edge, growling, menacing. They were without clothing or ornaments and carried no weapons, but their sharp fangs and the bulging muscles of their shoulders and arms bespoke their ability to carry out Ul's threats.
"What are we going to do?" demanded Nalte. "They will tear us to pieces the moment we step out of the water."
"Perhaps I can persuade them to let us pass," I said, but after five minutes of fruitless effort I had to admit defeat. Ul's only reply to my arguments was, "Go away! I kill! I kill!"
I hated to turn back, for I knew that we must cross the river eventually and we might not find such another crossing, but at last, reluctantly, I retraced my steps to the right bank hand in hand with Nalte.
All the remainder of the day I searched for traces of Duare as we followed the course of the river downward, but my efforts were without success. I was disheartened. I felt that I should never see her again. Nalte tried to cheer me up, but inasmuch as she believed that Duare was dead she was not very successful.
Late in the afternoon I succeeded in killing a small animal. As we had eaten nothing all that day we were both famished, so we soon had a fire going and were grilling cuts of the tender meat.
After we had eaten I built a rude platform among the branches of a large tree and gathered a number of huge leaves to serve as mattress and covering, and as darkness fell Nalte and I settled ourselves, not uncomfortably, in our lofty sanctuary.