“I have done the bidding of Bawr the Chief,” he said, in a clear voice, so that all the tribe might hear. “I have found a place where the tribe may hold themselves secure against all enemies. And I have come back, as was agreed, to lead the tribe thither before our enemies destroy us. I have done great deeds. I have not spared myself. I have come quickly. I have deserved well of the people. Why has Bawr the Chief no welcome for me?”
A murmur arose from the corner where Mawg and his friends were grouped, but a glance from the Chief silenced it. With his piercing gaze making relentless inquisition of the eyes that answered his so steadily, he seemed to ponder Grôm’s words. Slowly the anger 81 faded from his scarred and massy face, for he knew men; and this man, though his most formidable rival in strength and prestige, he instinctively trusted.
“You have been accused,” said he at length, slowly, “of deserting the tribe in our weakness––”
A puzzled look had come over Grôm’s face at the word “accused”; then his deep eyes blazed, and he broke in upon the Chief’s speech without ceremony.
“Show me my accusers!” he demanded harshly. The Chief waved his hand for silence.
“In our weakness!” he repeated. “But you have returned to us. So I see that charge was false. Also, you have been accused of stealing the girl A-ya. But you have brought her back. I see not what more your accusers have against you.”
Grôm turned, and, with a quick, decisive motion, drew A-ya to his side.
“Bawr the Chief knows that I am his servant, and a true man!” said he sternly. “I did not steal the girl. She followed me, and I had no thought of it.”
Angry jeers came from Mawg’s corner, but Grôm smiled coldly, and went on:
“Not till near evening of the second day, when she was chased by wolves, did she reveal herself to me. And when I understood why she had come, I looked on her, and I saw that she was very fair and very brave. And I took her. So that now she is my woman, and I hold to her, Chief! But I will pay you for her whatsoever is just, for you are the Chief. And now let Bawr show me my accusers, that I may have 82 done with them quickly. For I have much to tell.”