"Yes, old one," Johnny answered respectfully.
"Come!" the marva addressed the leopardess.
The two leopards, the cubs, Johnny and the marva walked off together. Soon Johnny was in the circle of marva again. This time he was over his surprise and he tried to tell his story as clearly as he could. He was beginning to get worried about the time that was passing, and he looked at Rick's watch again and again. There was always the chance that the outlaws would try to get Baba, even though they no longer had Johnny to give in return. But he told his story as best he could.
In spite of his worry, he had to explain all about men on Venus. He even had to tell where men came from, since the jewel bears had never seen stars or planets in their sky. He told about overcrowded Earth and his father's desire to make a colony. He told about the hunters and Trader Harkness. He told about his trip into the jungle and how the outlaws had captured him, and, finally, of his escape with Rick into the jungle.
The group of marva listened carefully. Sometimes they nodded their heads in approval of what he had done, and sometimes they seemed puzzled. But they seemed more friendly when he had finished.
When at last he came to a halt, the old marva who was acting as spokesman for the group arose.
"You say this young marva friend of yours is named Baba?" The old one used the word in the clicking language for Baba's name.
"Yes."
"We have heard of him," the black muzzled marva clicked, "though he was not of our grove. His mother and brother were killed. We have wondered why he was not killed too, since your people feel we are your enemies. Our observer on Council Rock has watched your people often, but has seen little we can understand. Tell us why Baba was not killed at first."
"I already explained," Johnny said. "His teeth and claws were black. Now they are blue and, of course, he's worth a lot of money."