They drew lots to decide which two must remain with the ship and the rest perfumed themselves so as to give no offense which might upset their now cordial relations.  Again it was mid-afternoon when the Salariki escort sent to do them honor waited at the edge of the wood and Mura and Tang saw them off.  With a herald booming before them, they traveled the beaten earth road in the opposite direction from the trading center, off through the forest until they came to a wide section of several miles which had been rigorously cleared of any vegetation which might give cover to a lurking enemy.  In the center of this was a twelve-foot-high stockade of the bright red, burnished wood which had attracted Weeks on the shore.  Each paling was the trunk of a tree and it had been sharpened at the top to a wicked point.  On the field side was a wide ditch, crossed at the gate by a bridge, the planking of which might be removed at will.  And as Dane passed over he looked down into the moat that was dry.  The Salariki did not depend upon water for a defense—­but on something else which his experience of the previous night had taught him to respect.  There was no mistaking that shade of purple.  The highly inflammable scum the hunters had burnt from the top of the waves had been brought inland and lay a greasy blanket some eight feet below.  It would only be necessary to toss a torch on that and the defenders of the stockade would create a wall of fire to baffle any attackers.  The Salariki knew how to make the most of their world’s natural resources.

Chapter VI

DUELIST’S CHALLENGE

Inside the red stockade there was a crowded community.  The Salariki demanded privacy of a kind, and even the unmarried warriors did not share barracks, but each had a small cubicle of his own.  So that the mud brick and timber erections of one of their clan cities resembled nothing so much as the comb cells of a busy beehive.  Although Paft’s was considered a large clan, it numbered only about two hundred fighting men and their numerous wives, children and captive servants.  Not all of them normally lived at this center, but for the funeral feasting they had assembled—­which meant a lot of doubling up and tenting out under makeshift cover between the regular buildings of the town.  So that the Terrans were glad to be guided through this crowded maze to the Great Hall which was its heart.

As the trading center had been, the hall was a circular enclosure open to the sky above but divided in wheel-spoke fashion with posts of the red wood, each supporting a metal basket filled with imflammable material.  Here were no lowly stools or trading tables.  One vast circular board, broken only by a gap at the foot, ran completely around the wall.  At the end opposite the entrance was the high chair of the chieftain, set on a two step dais.  Though the feast had not yet officially begun, the Terrans saw that the majority of the places were already occupied.