it seemed so lonely to martin when the vultures had gone up out of sight in the sky, so silent and solitary on that immense level plain, that he could not help wishing them back for the sake of company. they were an amusing people when they were walking round him, conversing together, and trying without coming too near to discover whether he was dead or only sleeping.
all that day it was just as lonely, for though he went on as far as he could before night, he was still on that great level plain of dry yellow grass which appeared to have no end, and the blue hills looked no nearer than when he had started in the morning. he was hungry and thirsty that evening, and very cold too when he nestled down on the ground with nothing to[96] cover him but the little heap of dry grass he had gathered for his bed.
it was better next day, for after walking two or three hours he came to the end of that yellow plain to higher ground, where the earth was sandy and barren, with a few scattered bushes growing on it—dark, prickly bushes like butcher's broom. when he got to the highest part of this barren ground he saw a green valley beyond, stretching away as far as he could see on either hand. but it was nice to see a green place again, and going down into the valley he managed to find some sweet roots to stay his hunger and thirst; then, after a rest, he went on again, and when he got to the top of the high ground beyond the valley, he saw another valley before him, just like the one he had left behind. again he rested in that green place, and then slowly went up the high land beyond, where it was barren and sandy with the dark stiff prickly bushes growing here and there, and when he got to the top he looked down, and behold! there was yet another green valley stretching away to the right and left as far as he could see.
would they never end—these high barren ridges and the long green valleys between!
when he toiled slowly up out of this last green resting-place it was growing late in the day, and he was very tired. then he came to the top of another ridge like the others, only higher and more barren, and when he could see the country beyond, lo! another valley, greener and broader than those[97] he had left behind, and a river flowing in it, looking like a band of silver lying along the green earth—a river too broad for him to cross, stretching away north and south as far as he could see. how then should he ever be able to get to the hills, still far, far away beyond that water?
martin stared at the scene before him for some time; then, feeling very tired and weak, he sat down on the sandy ground beside a scanty dark bush. tears came to his eyes: he felt them running down his cheeks; and all at once he remembered how long before when his wandering began, he had dropped a tear, and a small dusty beetle had refreshed himself by drinking it. he bent down and let a tear drop, and watched it as it sank into the ground, but no small beetle came out to drink it, and he felt more lonely and miserable than ever. he began to think of all the queer creatures and people he had met in the desert, and to wish for them. some of them had not been very kind, but he did not remember that now, it was so sad to be quite alone in the world without even a small beetle to visit him. he remembered the beautiful people of the mirage and the black people of the sky; and the ostrich, and old jacob, and the savages, and the serpent, and the black weasel in the forest. he stood up and stared all round to see if anything was coming, but he could see nothing and hear nothing.
by-and-by, in that deep silence, there was a sound; it seemed to come from a great distance, it was so faint. then it grew louder and nearer; and far away he saw a little cloud of dust,[98] and then, even through the dust, dark forms coming swiftly towards him. the sound he heard was like a long halloo, a cry like the cry of a man, but wild and shrill, like a bird's cry; and whenever that cry was uttered, it was followed by a strange confused noise as of the neighing of many horses. they were, in truth, horses that were coming swiftly towards him—a herd of sixty or seventy wild horses. he could see and hear them only too plainly now, looking very terrible in their strength and speed, and the flowing black manes that covered them like a black cloud, as they came thundering on, intending perhaps to sweep over him and trample him to death with their iron-hard hoofs.
all at once, when they were within fifty yards of martin, the long, shrill, wild cry went up again, and the horses swerved to one side, and went sweeping round him in a wide circle. then, as they galloped by, he caught sight of the strangest-looking being he had ever seen, a man, on the back of one of the horses; naked and hairy, he looked like a baboon as he crouched, doubled up, gripping the shoulders and neck of the horse with his knees, clinging with his hands to the mane, and craning his neck like a flying bird. it was this strange rider who had uttered the long piercing man-and-bird-like cries; and now changing his voice to a whinnying sound the horses came to a stop, and gathering together in a crowd they stood tossing their manes and staring at martin with their wild, startled eyes.
in another moment the wild rider came bounding out from[99] among them, and moving now erect, now on all fours, came sideling up to martin, flinging his arms and legs about, wagging his head, grimacing and uttering whinnying and other curious noises. never had martin looked upon so strange a man! he was long and lean so that you could have counted his ribs, and he was stark naked, except for the hair of his head and face, which half covered him. his skin was of a yellowish brown colour, and the hair the colour of old dead grass; and it was coarse and tangled, falling over his shoulders and back and covering his forehead like a thatch, his big brown nose standing out beneath it like a beak. the face was covered with the beard which was tangled too, and grew down to his waist. after staring at martin for some time with his big, yellow, goat-like eyes, he pranced up to him and began to sniff round him, then touched him with his nose on his face, arms, and shoulders.
"who are you?" said martin in astonishment.
for only answer the other squealed and whinnied, grimacing and kicking his legs up at the same time. then the horses advanced to them, and gathering round in a close crowd began touching martin with their noses. he liked it—the softness of their sensitive skins, which were like velvet, and putting up his hands he began to stroke their noses. then one by one, after smelling him, and being touched by his hand, they turned away, and going down into the valley were soon scattered about, most of them grazing, some rolling, others lying stretched[100] out on the grass as if to sleep; while the young foals in the troop, leaving their dams, began playing about and challenging one another to run a race.
martin, following and watching them, almost wished that he too could go on four legs to join them in their games. he trusted those wild horses, but he was still puzzled by that strange man, who had also left him now and was going quietly round on all fours, smelling at the grass. by-and-by he found something to his liking in a small patch of tender green clover, which he began nosing and tearing it up with his teeth, then turning his head round he stared back at martin, his jaws working vigorously all the time, the stems and leaves of the clover he was eating sticking out from his mouth and hanging about his beard. all at once he jumped up, and flying back at martin, snatched him up from the ground, carried him to the clover patch, and set him upon it, face down, on all fours; then when martin sat up he grasped him by the head and forced it down until his nose was on the grass so as to make him smell it and know that it was good. but smell it he would not, and finally the other seized him roughly again and opening his mouth, forced a bunch of grass into it.
"it's grass, and i sha'n't eat it!" screamed martin, crying with anger at being so treated, and spewing the green stuff out of his mouth.
then the man released him, and withdrawing a space of two or three yards, sat down on his haunches, and, planting his[101] bony elbows on his knees thrust his great brown fingers in his tangled hair, and stared at martin with his big yellow goat's eyes for a long time.
suddenly a wild excited look came into his eyes, and, leaping up with a shrill cry, which caused all the horses to look round at him, he once more snatched martin up, and holding him firmly gripped to his ribby side by his arm, bounded off to where a mare was standing giving suck to her young foal. with a vigorous kick he sent the foal away, and forced martin to take his place, and, to make it easier for him, pressed the teat into his mouth. martin was not accustomed to feed in that way, and he not only refused to suck, but continued to cry with indignation at such treatment, and to struggle with all his little might to free himself. his striving was all in vain; and by-and-by the man, seeing that he would not suck, had a fresh idea, and, gripping martin more firmly than ever, with one hand forced and held his mouth open, and with the other drew a stream of milk into it. after choking and spluttering and crying more than ever for a while, martin began to grow quiet, and to swallow the milk with some satisfaction, for he was very hungry and thirsty, and it tasted very good. by-and-by, when no more milk could be drawn from the teats, he was taken to a second mare, from which the foal was kicked away with as little ceremony as the first one, and then he had as much more milk as he wanted, and began to like being fed in this amusing way.[102]
of what happened after that martin did not know much, except that the man seemed very happy after feeding him. he set martin on the back of a horse, then jumped and danced round him, making funny chuckling noises, after which he rolled horse-like on the grass, his arms and legs up in the air, and finally, pulling martin down, he made him roll too.
but the little fellow was too tired to keep his eyes any longer open, and when he next opened them it was morning, and he found himself lying wedged in between a mare and her young foal lying side by side close together. there too was the wild man, coiled up like a sleeping dog, his head pillowed on the foal's neck, and the hair of his great shaggy beard thrown like a blanket over martin.
he very soon grew accustomed to the new strange manner of life, and even liked it. those big, noble-looking wild horses, with their shining coats, brown and bay and black and sorrel and chestnut, and their black manes and tails that swept the grass when they moved, were so friendly to him that he could not help loving them. as he went about among them when they grazed, every horse he approached would raise his head and touch his face and arms with his nose. "o you dear horse!" martin would exclaim, rubbing the warm, velvet-soft, sensitive nose with his hand.
he soon discovered that they were just as fond of play as he[104] was, and that he too was to take part in their games. having fed as long as they wanted that morning, they all at once began[105] to gather together, coming at a gallop, neighing shrilly; then the wild man, catching martin up, leaped upon the back of one of the horses, and away went the whole troop at a furious pace to the great open dry plain, where martin had met with them on the previous day. now it was very terrifying for him at first to be in the midst of that flying crowd, as the animals went tearing over the plain, which seemed to shake beneath their thundering hoofs, while their human leader cheered them on with his shrill, repeated cries. but in a little while he too caught the excitement, and, losing all his fear, was as wildly happy as the others, crying out at the top of his voice in imitation of the wild man.
after an hour's run they returned to the valley, and then martin, without being compelled to do so, rolled about on the grass, and went after the young foals when they came out to challenge one another to a game. he tried to do as they did, prancing and throwing up his heels and snorting, but when they ran from him they soon left him hopelessly behind. meanwhile the wild man kept watch over him, feeding him with mare's milk, and inviting him from time to time to smell and taste the tender grass. best of all was, when they went for another run in the evening, and when martin was no longer held with a tight grip against the man's side, but was taught or allowed to hold on, clinging with his legs to the man's body and clasping him round the neck with his arms, his fingers tightly holding on to the great shaggy beard.[106]
three days passed in this way, and if his time had been much longer with the wild horses he would have become one of the troop, and would perhaps have eaten grass too, and forgotten his human speech, or that he was a little boy born to a very different kind of life. but it was not to be, and in the end he was separated from the troop by accident.
at the end of the third day, when the sun was setting, and all the horses were scattered about in the valley, quietly grazing, something disturbed them. it might have been a sight or sound of some feared object, or perhaps the wind had brought the smell of their enemies and hunters from a great distance to their nostrils. suddenly they were all in a wild commotion, galloping from all sides toward their leader, and he, picking martin up, was quickly on a horse, and off they went full speed, but not towards the plain where they were accustomed to go for their runs. now they fled in the opposite direction down to the river: into it they went, into that wide, deep, dangerous current, leaping from the bank, each horse, as he fell into the water with a tremendous splash, disappearing from sight; but in another moment the head and upper part of the neck was seen to rise above the surface, until the whole lot were in, and appeared to martin like a troop of horses' heads swimming without bodies over the river. he, clinging to the neck and beard of the wild man, had the upper half of his body out of the cold, rushing water, and in this way they all got safely across and up the opposite bank. no sooner were they out,[107] than, without even pausing to shake the water from their skins, they set off at full speed across the valley towards the distant hills. now on this side, at a distance of a mile or so from the river, there were vast reed-beds standing on low land, dried to a hard crust by the summer heat, and right into the reeds the horses rushed and struggled to force their way through. the reeds were dead and dry, so tall that they rose high above the horses' heads, and growing so close together that it was hard to struggle through them. then when they were in the midst of this difficult place, the dry crust that covered the low ground began to yield to the heavy hoofs, and the horses, sinking to their knees, were thrown down and plunged about in the most desperate way, and in the midst of this confusion martin was struck and thrown from his place, falling amongst the reeds. luckily he was not trampled upon, but he was left behind, and then what a dreadful situation was his, when the whole troop had at last succeeded in fighting their way through, and had gone away leaving him in that dark, solitary place! he listened until the sound of heavy hoofs and the long cries of the man had died away in the distance; then the silence and darkness terrified him, and he struggled to get out, but the reeds grew so close together that before he had pushed a dozen yards through them he sank down, unable to do more.
the air was hot and close and still down there on the ground, but by leaning his head back, and staring straight up he could see the pale night sky sprinkled with stars in the openings between[108] the dry leaves and spikes of the reeds. poor martin could do nothing but gaze up at the little he could see of the sky in that close, black place, until his neck ached with the strain; but at last, to make him hope, he heard a sound—the now familiar long shrill cry of the wild man. then, as it came nearer, the sound of tramping hoofs and neighing of the horses was heard, and the cries and hoof-beats grew louder and then fainter in turns, and sounded now on this side, now on that, and he knew that they were looking for him. "i'm here, i'm here," he cried; "oh, dear horses, come and take me away!" but they could not hear him, and at last the sound of their neighing and the wild long cries died away altogether, and martin was left alone in that black silent place.
