gibes of It, and the tears and shrieks of It; and the knife! What!
sayest thou of my Lady?--What Lady? O alien, what other Lady is
there? And what shall I tell thee of her? it is like that she made
me, as she made the Bear men. But she made not the Wretch, the
Thing; and she hateth It sorely, as I do. And some day to come--"

Thereat he brake off and fell to wordless yelling a long while, and
thereafter spake all panting: "Now I have told thee overmuch, and O
if my Lady come to hear thereof. Now I will go."

And therewith he took out two more loaves from his wallet, and
tossed them to Walter, and so turned and went his ways; whiles
walking upright, as Walter had seen his image on the quay of
Langton; whiles bounding and rolling like a ball thrown by a lad;
whiles scuttling along on all-fours like an evil beast, and ever and
anon giving forth that harsh and evil cry.

Walter sat a while after he was out of sight, so stricken with
horror and loathing and a fear of he knew not what, that he might
not move. Then he plucked up a heart, and looked to his weapons and
put the other loaves into his scrip.

Then he arose and went his ways wondering, yea and dreading, what
kind of creature he should next fall in with. For soothly it seemed
to him that it would be worse than death if they were all such as
this one; and that if it were so, he must needs slay and be slain.



CHAPTER X: WALTER HAPPENETH ON ANOTHER CREATURE IN THE STRANGE LAND