Nancy to do the job together, dragging as best they could the cart on which they piled their fuel. They had never succeeded in training their cattle to pull the conveyance; the creatures stubbornly refused to budge under any sort of load.
By the second day, most of the others were on their feet if not at full efficiency, and matters were considerably easier. A consultation was held that morning, in which Nick proposed and defended vigorously the notion that they move to the viciously rough country he had crossed during his flight from the cave village. His chief point was the presence of so many spots which could only be approached from a single, narrow point, like a canyon or ridge, and could therefore be defended effectively by a small force. It was Nancy who answered the suggestion.
"I'm not sure that's a very good plan," she said. "In the first place, we don't know that any of the places you describe will still be that way when we get there." A quake lent emphasis and support to her words. "What if they aren't?" retorted Nick. "There will always be others. I wasn't suggesting any of the specific spots I described, only the general area."
"But how is Fagin to find us? Supposing one of us does get to the cave village and get a message to him, how are we to describe the way to him? We'd have to guide him directly, which would probably interfere with his own plans - you judged, and I think rightly, that he is planning to take advantage of his ability to travel at night without fire."
Nick felt a very human surge of annoyance at this opposition, but remembered Swift in time to keep from yielding to it. He didn't want to be compared with that savage in anyone's mind, he told himself; besides, there was something to what Nancy was saying, now that he really gave his mind to it.
"What sort of place would you suggest?" he asked.
"You're right about getting back in touch with Fagin, but I certainly can't think of any place which we will ever defend as easily as those canyons in the west."
"It seems to me that Fagin was right when he said I* was foolish to fight Swift's people at all," returned Nancy quietly. "I was not thinking of defense; if we have to defend ourselves, we're already out of luck, I fear. What I had in mind was the sea."
"What?"
"You know. You helped map it. Off to the east there's a body of water that isn't water - at least, it doesn't dry up entirely during the daytime. I don't remember just what Fagin called it when we reported it to him - "
"He said he supposed it was mostly sulphuric acid, whatever that is, but he didn't know how to make sure," interjected the still crippled Dorothy.
" - Whatever it is, it stays there, and if we're on the edge of it Fagin can't help finding us if he simply travels along its border. Probably he can travel in it for a distance, too, so the cave people can't track him." A hum of approving surprise greeted this notion, and after a few moments of thought Nick gestured agreement.
"All right," he said. "If no one has other ideas, we'll move to the edge of the sea; we can settle on the exact spot after we get there and have looked around. It's a year or two since we mapped the place, and I don't suppose we could trust information that old.
"The next problem is getting there. We'll have to decide how much we can take from the village here, and how we can carry it. I suppose we can start with the wood cart, but I'll bet there are places we won't be able to move it across. No matter how we figure it, there's a lot we'll have to leave behind. "Then, finally, there's the matter of getting a message to Fagin. That we can leave until we're settled; there's no point telling him where we are before we know.
"I hope we can travel by tomorrow; in the meantime, the second question is the one to work on. Anyone who has more ideas, let's hear them at any time." They dispersed, each to the tasks of which he was capable.
Jim and Nancy were practically whole again, and were now looking
By the second day, most of the others were on their feet if not at full efficiency, and matters were considerably easier. A consultation was held that morning, in which Nick proposed and defended vigorously the notion that they move to the viciously rough country he had crossed during his flight from the cave village. His chief point was the presence of so many spots which could only be approached from a single, narrow point, like a canyon or ridge, and could therefore be defended effectively by a small force. It was Nancy who answered the suggestion.
"I'm not sure that's a very good plan," she said. "In the first place, we don't know that any of the places you describe will still be that way when we get there." A quake lent emphasis and support to her words. "What if they aren't?" retorted Nick. "There will always be others. I wasn't suggesting any of the specific spots I described, only the general area."
"But how is Fagin to find us? Supposing one of us does get to the cave village and get a message to him, how are we to describe the way to him? We'd have to guide him directly, which would probably interfere with his own plans - you judged, and I think rightly, that he is planning to take advantage of his ability to travel at night without fire."
Nick felt a very human surge of annoyance at this opposition, but remembered Swift in time to keep from yielding to it. He didn't want to be compared with that savage in anyone's mind, he told himself; besides, there was something to what Nancy was saying, now that he really gave his mind to it.
"What sort of place would you suggest?" he asked.
"You're right about getting back in touch with Fagin, but I certainly can't think of any place which we will ever defend as easily as those canyons in the west."
"It seems to me that Fagin was right when he said I* was foolish to fight Swift's people at all," returned Nancy quietly. "I was not thinking of defense; if we have to defend ourselves, we're already out of luck, I fear. What I had in mind was the sea."
"What?"
"You know. You helped map it. Off to the east there's a body of water that isn't water - at least, it doesn't dry up entirely during the daytime. I don't remember just what Fagin called it when we reported it to him - "
"He said he supposed it was mostly sulphuric acid, whatever that is, but he didn't know how to make sure," interjected the still crippled Dorothy.
" - Whatever it is, it stays there, and if we're on the edge of it Fagin can't help finding us if he simply travels along its border. Probably he can travel in it for a distance, too, so the cave people can't track him." A hum of approving surprise greeted this notion, and after a few moments of thought Nick gestured agreement.
"All right," he said. "If no one has other ideas, we'll move to the edge of the sea; we can settle on the exact spot after we get there and have looked around. It's a year or two since we mapped the place, and I don't suppose we could trust information that old.
"The next problem is getting there. We'll have to decide how much we can take from the village here, and how we can carry it. I suppose we can start with the wood cart, but I'll bet there are places we won't be able to move it across. No matter how we figure it, there's a lot we'll have to leave behind. "Then, finally, there's the matter of getting a message to Fagin. That we can leave until we're settled; there's no point telling him where we are before we know.
"I hope we can travel by tomorrow; in the meantime, the second question is the one to work on. Anyone who has more ideas, let's hear them at any time." They dispersed, each to the tasks of which he was capable.
Jim and Nancy were practically whole again, and were now looking
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