Krotox hurled another stone.
“You guys ain’t even in de class uv de bush-leaguers,” remarked the voice, sounding nearer than before, and in no way discouraged by this reception. “Never seen my spit-ball, did yer? Say, she curves roun’ de batter’s nut and swats him in de off eye! Ef dat’s yer best yer goes back to de bench. Git me?”
“It’s coming straight up the cliff!” exclaimed Krotox in dismay. “It must be a goblin! I never saw one before; we must pretend we’re glad to see it!”
“Get if off its guard and then leave it to me,” muttered Asgar. “It’ll go down faster than it came up!”
This hospitable purpose had no sooner been formulated than the visitor’s head appeared above the level of the ledge, and the next moment he was standing beside the remnants of the goat; a one-legged apparition, supported under his left shoulder by a black crutch. His involuntary hosts regarded him with grimaces of feigned welcome, which ill disguised their fear and amazement. They were crouching on their hams at the mouth of the cavern.
“Home-sweet-home!” called out the apparition cheerfully; he was not even winded by his extraordinary feat. “Git up an’ hustle now, you ginks; yer ain’t in de habit uv meetin’ toffs like me—I kin see dat! So dis is de roof-gard’n; eh? Don’ bodder wid de cabbyrat stuff—my time’s wort’ about ten plunks an inch, an’ dirt cheap at dat! I’s de One-Legged Avenger, an’ I’s campin’ on de trail uv ol’ Torpy! Has eeder o’ you ducks seen him—dat fuzzy-haired geezer wid de red sweater looped round him? Cough up!”
Jim’s dialect was doubtless modified to Toridian ears by planetary conditions; but it was Krotox, who was bony, aquiline, and quicker of apprehension than his lethargic and unwieldy companion, who was first able to decipher the code: for “Torpy” read “Torpeon.”
“The person you mention, worshipful stranger,” he said in his most sugary accents, “does not rule over this side of our planet, and is never seen here. To find him, you must travel east, passing those two ranges of mountains, by way of that volcano which is just now beginning an eruption. Beyond that is a lake, which—”
“Yer kin bite it off right dere, ol’ pal,” interposed Jim; “I ain’t in de g’ography class dis trip. Git me headed right an’ I’m dere—see? Me an’ Torpy has a bone to pick togedder, an’ I’m treatin’ some ginks ter a feed at Delmonniker’s at eight-t’irty, an’ me wid about a billion miles ter cover between dis and dat; so I ain’t loafin’ on me job. I’ll mebbe be back later an’ give t’ings here de once-over. Looks like dere might be a boom in real-estate in dese parts. Got a ticker inside? What’s de quotin’s on city lots in dis block? Gimme de inside an’ den some? I ain’t no piker!”
Krotox and Asgar looked at each other in manifest perplexity. Though not unfamiliar with trouble, some of our modern afflictions were still unknown to them. But they were interested in the allusions to Torpeon; if this supernatural creature had hostile designs against the common enemy the opportunity should be improved.