Then he glanced
at the shadow extending beyond the rocks.
"I, too, would see," he told Nymani.
Jellico arose, and Dane, interested, followed. Some five minutes later
none of them needed the native keenness of smell to detect the presence
of some foulness ahead. The odor of corruption was almost tangible in
the sultry air. And it grew worse until they stood on the edge of a pit.
Dane retreated hurriedly. This was as bad as the battlefield of the rock
apes. But the captain and the two Khatkans stood calmly assessing the
slaughter left by the hide poachers.
"Glam, graz, hoodra," Jellico commented. "Tusks and hides--the full line
of trade stuff."
Asaki, his expression bleak, stepped back from the pit. "Day old
calves, old ones, females--all together. They kill wantonly and leave
those they do not choose to pelt."
"Trail--" Nymani pointed eastward. "Leads to Mygra swamp."
"The swamps!" Asaki was shaken. "They must be mad!"
"Or know more about this country than your men do," Jellico corrected.
"If poachers can enter Mygra, then we can follow!"
But not now, Dane protested silently.
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