Part 1 (1/2)

Warrior of the Dawn

by Howard Carleton Browne

CHAPTER I

In Quest of Vengeance

It was late afternoon Neela, the zebra, and his farazed quietly near the center of a level stretch of grassland In the distance, and encircling the expanse of prairie, stood a solid wall of forest and close-knit jungle

For the past two hours of this long hot afternoon Neela had shown signs of increasing nervousness Feeding a short distance froes, he lifted his head frorasses to the east Twice he had started slowly in that direction, only to stop short, stamp and snort uneasily, then wheel about and retrace his steps

The rerasses, apparently heedless of their leader's unrest, tails slapping flanks clear of biting flies

Meanwhile, some two hundred yards to the eastward, three half-naked white hunters, belly-flat in the concealing growth, continued their cautious advance

Wise in the ways of wary grass-eaters were these threein a day so of Roe as soundless as only veteran hunters may make it, they knew the zebra had no cause for alarue suspicion born of instinct alone

[Footnote A: Probably no race of ination of scientists as that of Cro-Magnon Man The origin of the race is lost in antiquity, although its arrival on the scene was supposed to have taken place between 35,000 and 20,000 BC It is established, however, that hordes of the white-skinned, strong-thewed cave-dwellers over-ran, long before the dawn of history, what today is southern Europe and the Mediterranean Basin This section of the earth's surface was sparsely populated, at the time, by Neanderthal Man--the last of the sub-human fore-runners of hoed between the two The Cro-Magnards, while lacking the tre, ape-like arent (as witness the di in size that of present day radually eliminated the native Neanderthals Between the two, there was little difference in man-made weapons The principal weapon of both was the club; but, in Cro-Magnon's case, this was augmented by the flint knife, clumsily shaped but effective It is entirely possible that the latter people made use of the rope, both as one of the anon Man was the proud possessor of a virtue both new and startling in a world given only to the struggle for survival This virtue was Leisure--a period in which he was free to do things other than kill his enemies, hunt, and eat He used his leisure to develop an artistic sense that found its expression in the painting of everyday scenes from his life The walls of his cave served as a canvas; his materials, principally ochre, he took fros, still ad precedence, have endured to this day

In appearance, Cro-Magnon Man was ruggedly handso-headed, with a short face patterned on the diah cheek-bones slanting up to a narrowing forehead, and down to a short, fir, usually prominent nose jutted out imperiously

The fe no more than to his shoulders Possibly she was lovely of face and figure; we of today have no evidence to the contrary

There are authorities who insist no finer specinard Whether or not this is true, does not alter the fact that he was able to carve a secure niche in a savage and implacable world, and, at the same time, place the feet of his descendants on the path to civilization and a more sheltered life--Ed]

And so the three ht hand, their only guide the keen ears this primitive life had developed

One of the three, a stockyface and heavily rasp on the stone-tipped spear he carried As he did so there was a quick stir in the tangled grasses near his hand and Sleeza, the snake, struck savagely at his fingers

With a startled, involuntary shout, the s And then he snatched the flint knife froain into Sleeza's threshi+ng body

When finally he stopped, the mottled coils were li erect, staring to the west

Fro position he looked up at the others

”Neela--?” he began