Dancer of Gor

The beast, then lifted its head, its ears erected. Too, very carefully, alertly, it sniffed the air. Such a thing then, I suspected, had unusually keen senses. I was aware of the excellence of its night vision. I had more than enough evidence of its ferocity and strength. Too, I had seen it count money. I had heard it speak. It could bend bars. It could destroy men. Such a beast, I feared, was some type of dominant life form. How small and weak humans seemed compared to such a thing. How I feared then for my species! I now wanted to be sold as quickly as possible to the brigands, and taken from this place, to be locked in the closed slave wagon. Would I be safe even there, or could such a thing tear off the plates, those bolted, iron plates which confined us so well within, in the darkness, to get at us› I had not been given permission to speak, and dared not ask it. If I had I would have begged release from the railing and submission to any bonds my captors might choose, even body cages or wire jackets, simply to be taken from this place!

"What is it?" asked the small fellow of the beast.

"Sleen," is said.

"Do you detect men with it?" asked the small fellow, anxiously.

"No," it said.

"It is then a wild sleen," he said.

"It is past noon," said the leader of the other men. "It is late in the day for a sleen to be abroad." The sleen is predominantly nocturnal.

"It is probably on the trace of tabuk, from last night," said the small man. I pulled at the binding fiber which confined my wrists. It was still damp, from having been in my mouth, when I had been brought up from the well. I squirmed on my knees, my neck bound at the railing. If there were a sleen about we were helpless. We could not even run. It was almost as though we were fastened on a meat rack.

"We did not even come into the area until it was light," said the one of the leader" s men.

From the remark I gathered that it was not likely that the animal, if there were one about, would be concerned with us. A sleen will usually follow the first scent it picks up when hunting, and then follow it tenaciously. There are stories of such beasts on the trail of something actually running between, or among, other animals, and even men, and paying them no attention.

"Too, sleen seldom attack groups," said the leader. "They prefer isolated animals."

I took some courage from these remarks.

"Let us move the women," said the leader. "We have been too long in this place." I was pleased to hear this resolution. I would have been zealously cooperative even if I had been a free woman, hodlng forth my limbs to be bound, putting forth my neck for the coffle collar, and not a mere slave.

"Free their ankles," said the leader of the men.

"Look," said one of the small fellow" s two cohorts, pointing across the meadow. One of the leader" s two men had scarcely bent to unknot the bonds on Tupita" s crossed ankles when he stopped, given pause by this utterance. He stood up, shading his eyes.

Two beasts were approaching, doubtless the companions of the one with us. One thrust a man before it. The other was dragging behind itself, through the grass, a belt, with an attached scabbard and sword.

"No," cried Tupita, in misery.

The fellow, pushed forward by the beast, looked at her, dully, angrily. I pulled back a little, the railing hard against the back of my neck. I saw him regard me, with frustration, with hatred.

"What are you doing here?" asked the small fellow of the prisoner.

He was silent.

There was a growl from the beast behind him.

"He came to seek me," said Tupita, boldly.

"No," said the man, looking at her.

"What then? What then?" asked the small fellow.

"I followed that thing," he said, rubbing his arm, where the beast had gripped him.

"He is from the camp of Pietro Vacchi," said the leader of the men. "I saw him there, two days ago."

"Yes!" said the small fellow. "I, too, I am sure, saw him there!" "He is one of Vacchi" s men," said one of the small fellow" s cohorts. "There must be others about, too, then!" said the other, alarmed.:They are seeking the two women."

"I am not of the company of Pietro Vacchi," said the man.

"How came you here?" asked the small fellow.

"I followed that," he said, indicating the beast, "as I told you." The beast growled, menacingly. I take it, it did not care to accept the fact that a man might be able to follow it.

"You are a hunter?" asked one of the leader" s men.

"In a way," he said.

"You are a brave fellow," said one of the leader" s men, "to pursue such a beast."

"It was not the beast which I was interested," he said.

"How many are with you?" asked one of the small fellow" s cohorts. "I am alone," he said proudly.

"What are you doing here?" asked the small fellow. "What is it you seek?" "I seek the blood of a slave," he said, regarding me.

I put down my head.

Tupita sobbed.