SWALONE'S ISLAND
When he awoke, the day was not so bright, and he guessed it was late afternoon. Polecrab and his wife were both on their feet, and another meal of fish had been cooked and was waiting for him.
"Is it decided who is to go with me?" he asked, before sitting down.
"I go," said Gleameil.
"Do you agree, Polecrab?"
The fisherman growled a little in his throat and motioned to the others to take their seats. He took a mouthful before answering.
"Something strong is attracting her, and I can't hold her back. Idon't think I shall see you again, wife, but the lads are now nearly old enough to fend for themselves.""Don't take dejected views," replied Gleameil sternly. She was not eating. "I shall come back, and make amends to you. It's only for a night."Maskull gazed from one to the other in perplexity. "Let me go alone.
I would be sorry if anything happened."
Gleameil shook her head.
"Don't regard this as a woman's caprice," she said. "Even if you hadn't passed this way, I would have heard that music soon. I have a hunger for it.""Haven't you any such feeling, Polecrab?""No. A woman is a noble and sensitive creature, and there are attractions in nature too subtle for males. Take her with you, since she is set on it. Maybe she's right. Perhaps Earthrid's music will answer your questions, and hers too.""What are your questions, Gleameil?"
The woman shed a strange smile. "You may be sure that a question which requires music for an answer can't be put into words.""If you are not back by the morning," remarked her husband, "I will know you are dead."The meal was finished in a constrained silence. Polecrab wiped his mouth, and produced a seashell from a kind of pocket.
"Will you say goodbye to the boys? Shall I call them?" She considered a moment.
"Yes - yes, I must see them."
He put the shell to his mouth, and blew; a loud, mournful noise passed through the air.
A few minutes later there was a sound of scurrying footsteps, and the boys were seen emerging from the forest. Maskull looked with curiosity at the first children he had seen on Tormance. The oldest boy was carrying the youngest on his back, while the third trotted some distance behind. The child was let down, and all the three formed a semicircle in front of Maskull, standing staring up at him with wide-open eyes. Polecrab looked on stolidly, but Gleameil glanced away from them, with proudly raised head and a baffling expression.
Maskull put the ages of the boys at about nine, seven, and five years, respectively; but he was calculating according to Earth time.
The eldest was tall, slim, but strongly built. He, like his brothers, was naked, and his skin from top to toe was ulfire-colored.
His facial muscles indicated a wild and daring nature, and his eyes were like green fires. The second showed promise of being a broad, powerful man. His head was large and heavy, and drooped. His face and skin were reddish. His eyes were almost too sombre and penetrating for a child's.
"That one," said Polecrab, pinching the boy's ear, "may perhaps grow up to be a second Broodviol.""Who was that?" demanded the boy, bending his head forward to hear the answer.
"A big, old man, of marvellous wisdom. He became wise by making up his mind never to ask questions, but to find things out for himself.""If I had not asked this question, I should not have known about him.""That would not have mattered," replied the father.
The youngest child was paler and slighter than his brothers. His face was mostly tranquil and expressionless, but it had this peculiarity about it, that every few minutes, without any apparent cause, it would wrinkle up and look perplexed. At these times his eyes, which were of a tawny gold, seemed to contain secrets difficult to associate with one of his age.
"He puzzles me," said Polecrab. "He has a soul like sap, and he's interested in nothing. He may turn out to be the most remarkable of the bunch."Maskull took the child in one hand, and lifted him as high as his head. He took a good look at him, and set him down again. The boy never changed countenance.
"What do you make of him?" asked the fisherman.
"It's on the tip of my tongue to say, but it just escapes me. Let me drink again, and then I shall have it.""Go and drink, then."
Maskull strode over to the tree, drank, and returned. "In ages to come," he said, speaking deliberately, "he will be a grand and awful tradition. A seer possibly, or even a divinity. Watch over him well."The eldest boy looked scornful. "I want to be none of those things.
I would like to be like that big fellow." And he pointed his finger at Maskull.
He laughed, and showed his white teeth through his beard. "Thanks for the compliments old warrior!" he said.
"He's great and brawny" continued the boy, "and can hold his own with other men. Can you hold me up with one arm, as you did that child?"Maskull complied.
"That is being a man!" exclaimed the boy. "Enough!" said Polecrab impatiently. "I called you lads here to say goodbye to your mother.
She is going away with this man. I think she may not return, but we don't know."The second boy's face became suddenly inflamed. "Is she going of her own choice?" he inquired.
"Yes," replied the father.
"Then she is bad." He brought the words out with such force and emphasis that they sounded like the crack of a whip.
The old man cuffed him twice. "Is it your mother you are speaking of?"The boy stood his ground, without change of expression, but said nothing.
The youngest child spoke, for the first time. "My mother will not come back, but she will die dancing."Polecrab and his wife looked at one another.
"Where are you going to, Mother?" asked the eldest lad.
Gleameil bent down, and kissed him. "To the Island.""Well then, if you don't come back by tomorrow morning, I will go and look for you."Maskull grew more and more uneasy in his mind. "This seems to me to be a man's journey," he said. "I think it would be better for you not to come, Gleameil.""I am not to be dissuaded." she replied.
