Adventure Magazine Cover — page 152: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

146 lived in caves. So he tried to beat down the stiff price of a hundred bone fish-hooks, but when the malicious merchant “would not moderate his demand, Ufu the Great accepted the terms. The merchant fashioned the rude figure of a man out of mud and threw it into the fire with words and gestures of incantation. The rite was to cause Lean Ak and his men to fall down and remain motionless, be- witched until the spell was removed. Then the merchant led Ufu the Great and all the fishermen to the place where the hunters were sleeping. Ufu the Great was awed at this demonstration of potent magic, and he paid the hundred fish-hooks without a grumble. Some of the fishermen wanted to cut the hunters into small pieces without any delay, but Ufu the Great forbade them. Not a sacrilegious blow should fall upon the be- witched men, he announced; they were to be treated tenderly, for they were sacred to the Fish, and were to be offered up in solemn sacrifice on the following day. It was a pious thing to treat destined victims with every honor. Crude boats of wicker and animal skins were brought down the river, and the hunt- ers, still deep in stupor, were ferried up- stream, and were deposited in a corner of the cave. The slow and tedious task was completed just before darkness fell, and the fishermen lay down to sleep and dream of the great event of the morrow. Morning light streamed through the cave entrance and awakened the fishermen; it awakened Lean Ak also. The artist-chief was a more sensitive organism than his men were, and his stupor was less profound than theirs. Yet when he stirred slightly and opened his eyes drowsiness was still heavy in his brain. He raised his head ' slowly and stared with dazed incredulity upon the scene before him. The fishermen were bestirring themselves. One of them threw fresh logs on the fire, and Lean Ak laid his head back as the flames leaped and lighted the nooks of the cave. ‘ A procession of frantic thought beat in the hunting-chief’s head as the talk in the cave and the revelation of an occasional cautious glance revealed the situation to him. The fish-catchers had found the hunters in post-prandial coma. Because the rhinoceros steaks had seduced Lean Ak Adventure from his duty the hunters now lay unarmed in the cave. But they would awaken as strong as mammoths. For they were full of the strongest meat that man could eat.’ And they could seize weapons from the sur- prized fishermen, who seemingly did not — expect them to awaken. Not astonishing, because the fishermen knew little about the lives and feeding habits of hunters. The danger was that the hunters would not awaken simultaneously. One of them would start up drowsily while the others remained in stupor. The half-awakened man would be struck down before he had cleared his brain. His fellows would be killed as they lay. And Lean Ak would have to fight alone and unarmed. If only he could get several of his men awake at the same moment! They would be able to stand off the surprized fish- catchers. That was the thing to be con- trived. But it would have been a fatal thing to move about in the bright firelight trying to bring the hunters to consciousness. Lean Ak waited for a time when the fire should burn low and shroud the sleepers in shadow; or until the bulk of the fish- catchers had left the cave. Meanwhile he trembled with anxiety lest one of the hunt- ers should start up, suddenly awakening. But the fire did not burn low, nor did the fish-catchers leave the cave. After the morning meal they set about making pre- parations for the sacrifice. Ufu the Great squatted before the fire and chipped at the edge of a large flint knife, while a number of fishermen carried in a large, flat stone which was to be the sacrificial altar. Lean Ak observed this with half-closed eyes; he felt himself already dead. The six daughters of Ufu the Great were overwhelmed with grief. the motionless destined victims, desiring to gaze upon the form of their bewitched lover. But Ufu the Great cuffed them and drove them away. They huddled near the hearth fire, and dolefully watched the preparation for the sacrifice. Lean Ak, observing this, felt the stir of his old vision for a moment, and thought sadly of his un- numbered hunting-descendants, who seem- ingly were not to be. The hunters’ women were crowded at another cerner of the cave, after having been beaten for venturing too near their comatose spouses. Although it was many COMMICLOOOKS They approached . (F@)