Be aware, then, that all these lands from
horizon to horizon are mine and my people's. I desire no tidings of
what follies may be beyond my boundaries, no aid, and no amity. I
admit no trespasser here and will bear with none. It appears, however,
that your life has passed beyond your own keeping: I may not,
therefore, refuse you shelter and food, and to have you conducted in
safety beyond my borders. Have the courtesy, then, to keep within
shelter of these walls till the night be over. Else"--he gazed out
across the verdant undulations--"else, Yahoo, I have no power to
protect you."
He turned once more, and regarded me with a lofty yet tender
recognition, as if, little though his speech might profess it, he very
keenly desired my safety.
He then stepped aside and bade me rather sharply enter the gate before
him. I tried to show none of the mistrust I felt at passing out of
these open lands into this repellent yard. I glanced at the
shock-haired creature, alert, half-human, beside me; across the
limitless savannah around me, echoing yet, it seemed, with the rumour
of innumerable hoofs; and bowing, as it were, to odds, I went in.
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