For an instant each face stared at the other as in the waking moments of a dream. Then came light and understanding and in a moment father and son were locked tightly in each other’s arms.
XXV
The sky might have fallen in just then; anything might have happened and Pic would not have noticed it. He had no thought of aught but the one happiness that filled his heart to bursting—Kutnar was found. The pursuit through southwestern France, the long journey across the Pyrenees, the terrible cold; all were set aside and forgotten for this supreme moment—one of the most blissful he had ever known. For a time, nothing was said. Father and son sat in the cave-entrance, holding each other tightly as though they would never let go. Kutnar wept silent tears. He had played the part of a man well, but once more under the protection of his powerful sire, the reaction was overwhelming and he was but a baby boy, tired and homesick and so glad to be again with the one he loved best.
When the first joy of meeting was over, Pic drifted back to earth. “What were you doing in that hole?” he asked.
Kutnar told of his escape from Castillo and the various events leading to it. Everything bespoke the Muskman’s perfidy and cruelty. Pic’s face became adamant as the tale of Gonch’s duplicity gradually unfolded itself. Driven to desperation, the boy had turned upon the traitor, who must have by this time breathed his last.
“I could tell you more,” said Pic, “but what you already know is enough. However, it would seem that what my boy has suffered has made him bear himself as well or better than a man. And this Gonch; are you quite sure he is dead?”
To this Kutnar replied: “No, I do not feel at all sure. When I left him lying in the bushes he still breathed. Something warned me to make an end of the ruffian, but I could not summon courage to deal the death-stroke.”
Pic fidgeted uneasily. “It would have been wiser had you shown him no mercy,” he said; “but you did well and I am proud of you. Now I am going to treat you to a pleasant surprise. You see, I did not come alone. The Mammoth and Rhinoceros are near at hand and waiting for us to meet them.”