ht angles, showed in the skin.

The tribesman peered at it and grunted. "Old one."

"I got it twenty years ago, when I first came through here," The
Barbarian answered.

"Double, too. Ain't many of those."

"My name's Hodd Savage."

"Oh," the tribesman said. His entire manner changed. Without becoming
servile, it was respectful. He extended his hand. "Sime Weatherby." He
and The Barbarian clasped hands. "That your woman down there?" the
tribesman asked, nodding toward Myka.

"That's right."

"Good enough." For the first time, Weatherby looked directly at
Geoffrey. "What about him?"

The Barbarian shook his head. "No mark."

The tribesman nodded. "I figured, from the way he was actin'." He seemed
to make no particular signal--perhaps none was needed--but Geoffrey's
arms were suddenly taken from behind, and his wrists were tied.

"We'll see if he can get him a mark today," Weatherby said. He looked to
his left, where other men were just pushing Dugald into the ring they
had formed around the group. "Seein' as there's two of them, one of 'em
ought to make it."

Geoffrey and Dugald stared expressionlessly at each other. The Barbarian
kept his eyes on Geoffrey's face. "That's right," he said. "Can't have
two men fight to the death without one of them coming out alive,
usually."

* * * * *

The tribesmen lived in wooden cabins tucked away among trees and hidden
in narrow little valleys. Geoffrey was surprised to see windmills, and
wire fencing for the cattle pastures that adjoined their homes. He was
even more interested in their rifles, which, the tribesmen told him,
were repeaters. He was puzzled by the absence of a cylinder, such as
could be found on the generally unreliable revolvers one saw
occasionally.

The tribesmen were treating both him and Dugald with a complete absence
of the savagery he expected. They were being perfectly matter-of-fact.
If his hands had not been tied, Geoffrey might not have been a prisoner
at all. This puzzled him as well. A prisoner, after all, could not
expect to be treated very well. True, he and Dugald were nobles, but
this could not possibly mean anything to persons as uncivilized as
mountain tribesmen.

Yet somehow, the only thing that was done was that all of them; the
tribesmen, The Barbarian, Myka, Dugald and he--made their way to
Weatherby's home. A number of the tribesmen continued on their way from
there, going to their own homes t