oo dark for him to make out Tharn's expression but he
seemed entirely unmoved by the sound of Sadu's voice.

A moment later Trakor heard the rustle of something moving in the
undergrowth beside the trail, and a prickly sensation crawled along his
spine. Sadu was hunting again! He would have liked to call Tharn's
attention to the faint sound but hesitated to do so lest he appear
overly nervous. Again came the slight rustle.

"It is Gubo, the hyena," Tharn said unexpectedly.

Trakor gasped. "How do you know that?" he demanded, both relieved and
bewildered.

"He is upwind from us."

"Upwind? You mean you can scent him?"

"Yes."

The young man from the tribe of Gerdak nearly betrayed his skepticism.
Never before had he heard of a man whose nose could receive and
interpret a scent spoor. It smacked of a kinship with the animals
themselves.

"Are you sure?" he asked uneasily.

Tharn's quick ear caught the undercurrent of incredulity in the boy's
voice, and he smiled under the cover of darkness. It was not the first
time his unique ability had been doubted. He drew Trakor to a halt.

"Watch," he said.

Lifting his head the cave lord gave voice to the hunting squall of a
leopard. So perfect was his imitation of Tarlok's cry, so fearsome the
sound, that Trakor shrank back in quick alarm.

As the harsh scream rose on the night air, there was a sudden flurry of
motion among the tangled foliage to their right, a blurred figure
skidded into the trail ahead of where they stood and disappeared around
a bend of the path. In the brief moment in which it was visible, Trakor
recognized the animal as Gubo.

Crestfallen, Trakor could think of nothing to say. Never again, he
resolved, would he doubt any statement made by this god-like stranger.
There were many questions he burned to ask, but an aura of reserve
seemed to surround the man--an aura he hesitated to intrude upon. At
last he could contain his curiosity no longer.

"Where lie the caves of your people, Tharn?"

"Nearly two moons' march to the north," the cave lord replied readily
enough.

"You came so great a distance alone?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Tharn did not at once reply. During the moon since he had set out from
Sephar in search of Dylara this was his first opportunity for a friendly
word with a fellow man. On the several occasions that he encountered
hunting parties of Cro-Magnon warriors, he had been regarded as
legitimate prey to be hunted down and slai