Thusly the Fleer had waited before coming to the camp. If the Dust Legs knew ofhis presence in their country they had not chosen to do anything about it,perhaps in deference to Grunt.
Grunt and the Fleer spoke largely in sign, this being easier for them than theattempt to communicate verbally.
I sat back from the fire, watching them closely. It was now late at night. Grunthad shortened the coffle by two collars and chain lengths. I had put the newgirl in Margaret's place, after Priscilla and before the Hobarts. This was theposition of "Last Girl," which, fittingly, not counting the Hobarts, she wouldoccupy, being the newest girl on the coffle. Coffle arrangements, incidentally,are seldom arbitrary. One common principle of arrangements is in order ofheight, with the tallest girls coming first; this makes a lovely coffle.
Sometimes, too, coffles are arranged in order of beauty or preference, the mostbeautiful or the most preferred girls coming first. Coloring and body type canalso be important. It is for such reasons, perhaps, that the coffle is sometimesspoken of as the slaver's necklace. Sales strategies, too, can enter into theformation of a coffle, as, for example, when a girl is put between two plainergirls to accentuate her beauty, or a superb girl is saved for last, and manyother considerations, as well, can enter into the formation of a coffle. Whenone sees a chain of beauties, fastened together, say, by the neck, or the leftwrist or left ankle, it is well to remember that their locations on that sturdy,metallic bond, keeping them precisely where the master wishes, are seldom likelyto be merely fortuitous. After I had carried the new girl to the chain and puther on the grass, locking the collar on her, I went to the red-haired girl and,as I had earlier promised her, bound her hand and foot. She had asked a stupidquestion, one pertaining to respect. She would spend the night tied.
"Is the new girl pleasing?" she had asked me, reproachfully.
"Yes," I said.
"More pleasing than I?" she asked, lying at my feet, her hands tied behind her,her ankles crossed and bound, her neck in the coffle collar.
"Yes," I said. "She is an experienced slave. You are only a new slave. You havemuch to learn."
"Yes, Master," she said.
I then, for good measure, gagged her. She must learn that she was a slave.
Corn Stalks, after a time, took his leave. Before he left Grunt gave him somehard candy and a fine steel knife.
"You seem moody," I said to Grunt. He had returned to the fire, and sat beforeit, not speaking.
"It is nothing," he said.
"I should like to learn some Dust Leg," I said.
"I will teach you some, as we ride," he said.
"If I learn some Dust Leg, I should be able, to some extent, to communicate withKaiila," I said.
"Very easily," said Grunt, "for they are much the same, and, too, you would beable to make yourself understood to the Kailiauk, and, to some extent, to theFleer."
"I have heard little of the Kailiauk," I said.
"They are not well known west of the perimeter," he said. "Their country lies tothe south and east of that of the Kaiila."
"Mostly," I said, "you spoke to Corn Stalks in sign."
"Yes," he said. "It is easier for us." He looked at me. "To learn sign," hesaid, "would probably be more useful to you, all things considered, thanlearning a smattering of Dust Leg."
"Teach me sign," I asked.
"To be sure," he said, "it would be wise for you to learn some Dust Leg orKaiila. There is no substitute for being able to converse with these people intheir own language. Sign, as far as I know, is common to all the tribes of theBarrens."
"Why are they called Dust Legs?" I asked.
"I do not know," said Grunt, "but I think it is because they were the last ofthe major tribes to master the kaiila. Afoot, they were much at the mercy of theothers. Their heritage as traders and diplomats may stem from that period."
"It is an interesting hypothesis," I said.
"I can teach you hundreds of signs in a short time," said Grunt. "It is a verylimited language, hut in most situations it is quite adequate, and, because manyof the signs seem so appropriate and natural, it can be easily learned. In fouror five days you can learn most of what you would need of sign."
"I would like to learn something of Dust Leg and Kaiila, and also sign," I said.
"I will be pleased to help you," said Grunt.
"Grunt?" I asked.
"Yes," he said.
"After I came to join you," I said, "Corn Stalks didn't stay long."
"He does not know you," said Grunt.
I nodded. Goreans, in general, not merely red savages, tend to be wary ofstrangers, in particular those who speak other languages or come from otherterritories or cities. There is only one word in Gorean, incidentally, forstranger and enemy. To be sure, the specific meaning intended is usually clearin the context. Goreans are not unaware that there may exist such things asfamiliar enemies and friendly strangers.
"He did not do trading, as far as I know," I said.
"No," said Grunt. "We talked. He is a friend."
"What is the sign for a red savage?" I asked.
Grunt rubbed the back of his left hand from the wrist to the knuckle with hisright index finger. "The general sign for a man is this," he said. He held hisright hand in front of his chest, the index finger pointing up, and raised it infront of his face. He then repeated the sign for the red savage. "I am not clearon the specific rationale for the sign for the savage," he said. "You will note,however, that the same finger, the index finger, is used in the sign, as in thesign for man. The origins of some of these signs are obscure. Some think thesign for the red savage has a relation to the spreading of war paint. Othersthink that it means a man who goes straight or a man who is close to the earth,to nature. Doubtless there are other explanations, as well. This is the sign forfriend." He then put his first two fingers together and raised them upward,beside his face. "It probably means two men growing up together."
"Interesting," I said. "What does this mean?" I put the middle fingers of myright hand on my right thumb, extending the index and little finger. Thissuggests a pointed snout and ears.
"You have seen Dust Legs make that sign," he said. "It means a wild sleen. It isalso used for the Sleen tribe. Do you know what this means?" He then spread theindex finger and the second finger of his right hand and drew them from the leftto the right, in front of his body.
"No," I said.
"That is the sign for a domestic sleen," he said. "You see? It is like thespread poles of a travois, which might be drawn by such an animal."
"Yes!" I said.
"What is this?" he asked, drawing his right index finger across his forehead,from left to right.
"A white man?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. "Good."
"It is like the line of the brim of a hat, across the forehead," I said.
"Good," he said, "And this?" With the fingers of both hands slightly curved, hemade downward motions from the top of his head to the shoulders. It was asthough he were combing hair.
"A woman?" I asked.
"Good," he said. "Good. And this?"
"A white woman?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. He had traced a line with his right index across his forehead,from left to right, and had then opened his hand and moved it downward, towardhis shoulder, in the combing motion. "What do you think this means?" he asked.
He then made the combing motions with his hand, then lowered his head and lookedat his left wrist, which he grasped firmly in his right hand, the left wrist,the weaker wrist, helpless in the grip of the stronger.
"I am not sure," I said.
"The second sign indicates bondage," he said.
"A female slave?" I asked.
"Yes," said Grunt, "but, more generally, it is another sign which may stand forany white woman, and is often used in this way."
"The same sign then," I said, "that sign, stands for both white woman and femaleslave? "Yes," he said. "It is the most common way of referring to a white woman. Yousee, in the Barrens, all white women are regarded as being female slaves. Ourfriends of the plains divide white women into those who have already, properly,been imbonded, and those who, improperly, have not yet been imbonded."