Suddenly the bow snapped back with such force that Ru almost lost his balance; there came a whizzing sound—and the dented shaft of wood was to be seen no longer.
"Where did it go?" asked the Smiling-Eyed, more bewildered than ever.
"Let us see. I think we can find it," suggested Ru. And, followed by Yonyo, he started slowly into the shadows, inspecting the ground with painstaking care.
"Here it is!" Yonyo at length exclaimed, gleefully picking up the shaft of wood some twenty or thirty yards from its starting point.
"See! I told you I could make a weapon that would strike at a distance!" Ru reminded her triumphantly, while Yonyo, now completely convinced, had no more to say. "I cannot make it strike far enough yet, but the gods will show me that. And they will show me how to make the stick sharp and terrible, so that it will kill a man! Then we need not fear the beast-men any more!"
"Ru the Sparrow-Hearted will be stronger yet than Grumgra!" prophesied Yonyo, looking up at him with an admiring smile.
"Yonyo the Smiling-Eyed will make him strong," acknowledged Ru. And, coming close, he began to murmur gentle-sounding words that had no relation to the fashioning of bows and arrows.
But with a commanding gesture she repelled him. "No, Ru, you must not say pretty things now," she remonstrated. "First you must finish your wonder stick. We need that very, very soon. Then you can talk of softer things. But not before!"
And, despite all his protests, she started back into the dim recesses of the cavern. "When the sun has gone down and come up once more," she promised, "I will be here again." With these words for farewell, she was lost amid the shadows.
Returning to her people, she found that her absence had not been observed. The women were still wailing and lamenting; the wounded warriors were muttering and groaning querulously. Mingled with the oaths and curses of the men and the sobs and sighs of her sisters, she could hear occasional frightened murmurings about the beast-men. But no one paid any heed to her inquiries, or even seemed able to answer. Consequently, she was soon on her way to the cave entrance, to observe the latest happenings for herself.