hold me down by main strength and
awkwardness, and they were having their hands full in the doing, I can
tell you. I don't like to appear conceited, but I may as well admit
that I am proud of my strength and the science that I have acquired and
developed in the directing of it--that and my horsemanship I always
have been proud of. And now, that day, all the long hours that I had
put into careful study, practice and training brought me in two or
three minutes a full return upon my investment. Californians, as a
rule, are familiar with ju-jutsu, and I especially had made a study of
it for several years, both at school and in the gym of the Los Angeles
Athletic Club, while recently I had had, in my employ, a Jap who was a
wonder at the art.

It took me just about thirty seconds to break the elbow of one of my
assailants, trip another and send him stumbling backward among his
fellows, and throw the third completely over my head in such a way that
when he fell his neck was broken. In the instant that the others of
the party stood in mute and inactive surprise, I unslung my
rifle--which, carelessly, I had been carrying across my back; and when
they charged, as I felt they would, I put a bullet in the forehead of
one of them. This stopped them all temporarily--not the death of their
fellow, but the report of the rifle, the first they had ever heard.
Before they were ready to attack me again, one of them spoke in a
commanding tone to his fellows, and in a language similar but still
more comprehensive than that of the tribe to the south, as theirs was
more complete than Ahm's. He commanded them to stand back and then he
advanced and addressed me.

He asked me who I was, from whence I came and what my intentions were.
I replied that I was a stranger in Caspak, that I was lost and that my
only desire was to find my way back to my companions. He asked where
they were and I told him toward the south somewhere, using the
Caspakian phrase which, literally translated, means "toward the
beginning." His surprise showed upon his face before he voiced it in
words. "There are no Galus there," he said.

"I tell you," I said angrily, "that I am from another country, far from
Caspak, far beyond the high cliffs. I do not know who the Galus may
be; I have never seen them. This is the farthest north I have been.
Look at me--look at my clothing and my weapons. Have you ever seen a
Galu or any other creature in Caspak who possessed s