CHAPTER XL.
Sosee was, therefore, safe for the present.
But the pursuit did not end with the escape of the fugitive. The momentum of the Apes was too great to let them stop, even when they wanted to. They accordingly rushed on before they had time to think, and fell upon the ranks of the Ammi, where their race was suddenly changed into a fight.
Not knowing the numbers of the Ammi, and so not fearing them, the Lali commenced, before they had yet time to comprehend their situation, to make the best of it. Turning their eagerness into rage, they resolved to kill both Sosee and all her race; so that scarcely had she reached a place of safety when she found that she had carried danger into the ranks of her friends.
The impact of the Apes on the Men was resistless. It astonished them as much by its shock as the Men had astonished the Apes by their appearance.
The Ammi were thrown into a panic, and would have taken to flight had they known where to run, (for theApes were enclosing them on all sides). All thoughts of Sosee were forgotten by both sides, and even by herself. Koree had no time to congratulate himself on her rescue, or the Lali to reproach themselves for her escape. It was a matter of life and death to all, and again the fate of the human race hung in the balance.
None fight so well as those who can do nothing else. The Apes, having got into battle by chance, had to fight to get out; while the Ammi, drawn in reluctantly, had to eagerly fight back. Both parties, therefore, fought fiercely, who would gladly have quit altogether had they only known how. But, having entered a battle which neither could abandon, both felt that their only escape was through victory. Both therefore fought each other fiercely as the only way to a mutual peace.
Dreadful, therefore, was the clash of fists and nails and teeth. The air was filled with cries and the ground with blood. Countless bodies lay in the snow, and many who escaped freezing, now met slaughter. Death seemed about to settle like a cloud on both forces, and to cover them all with one common shroud.
The Lali were both more numerous and more desperate. Having gained an impetus communicated by their chase, they had every advantage. The Ammi, though more skilled and better armed, were so taken by surprise that they could use neither skill nor arms; so that, like the Apes, they fought chiefly with their fists and jaws.
“Let us retreat to the Swamp,†said Koree, who saw his forces yielding at all points.
“They won’t let us,†said Abroo, who knew that the Apes, being close, would follow them, and prevent a second escape.
The only problem thus was how to retreat. There seemed no way of giving up the fight any more than of continuing it. Any sign of weakening would encourage the enemy to rally and destroy them all.
They continued, therefore, to fight against hope, but saw that even battle would soon end them, since only a few now remained to either escape or be killed.
Oko proposed that they all run, and take each his chance of escape. “By regaining the Swamp,†he said, “we may be saved by hiding in the bushes.â€
Abroo remarked that if they did so the women would be captured, and that men without women were not worth saving.
“Besides,†said Koree, “if we hide in the Swamp, they will track us in the snow.â€
“There is nothing to do but fight,†said Pounder, who exhibited great courage during all the encounter. “Let us make one desperate effort, and kill as many Apes as we can before dying.â€
This seemed their only hope, which was born of despair; and they resolved to make a strong effort though in weakness.
Before exhausting that hope in their own extinguishment, Koree looked sadly upon Sosee, and uttered these words as a last farewell:
“Bitter it is to die now that I have rescued you, and when it would be so sweet to live. But it is more gloriousto die after success than if you were still in the hands of the Lali. Since, therefore, we cannot live together, let us die together.â€
Sosee, however, heeded not his despairing words, but continued fighting. For scarcely had she gained the ranks of the Ammi when she turned on her pursuers, and was one of the fiercest combatants against them.
“Rally to the fight,†she said, “and don’t give up to die while you have power to kill.â€
Her resolution was contagious, so that new spirit was infused into the Ammi; and, had there been more for the contagion to spread among, her words would have proved their salvation; but it was an enthusiasm imparted to the helpless.
While, therefore, they looked to see the enemy rush upon them, bearing with them Death, they were in a mind to receive this double enemy with fortitude.
Suddenly a commotion was observed among the Lali. Apparent consternation seized them, and they seemed about to retire from the field at the moment of their complete victory.
The cause of this consternation was that reënforcements had suddenly come to the Ammi, and from a quarter least expected. It was not Night that had opportunely settled down upon them, as it had before upon the Lali when it saved them from destruction. Nor was it a blinding Snow that beat in their faces; as if the skies had come down to attack them by storm. Instead of the Heavens it was the Earth that furnished their last relief.
Watch-the-girls, who had fallen back, as we have related, and could not keep up in the march through the Swamp, because of the cold and fatigue of her troops, now appeared in sight with her female warriors. Left to die these heroines had fought their fate and conquered the elements, and they now came up to succor those who had forsaken them, thus offering salvation in return for abandonment. They were first seen by the Lali, whose faces, in fighting, were turned toward them; and this sight was the cause of their confusion.
Out from the Swamp and into the field these women rushed. Fatigue had left them for a while, and the cold had loosed its grasp. Courage took the place of weakness, and they rushed into battle without thought of their condition. Those who were thought not strong enough to live were now found able to fight.
As when Bluecher appeared to the Allies at Waterloo, and turned the fortunes of war, so Watch-the-girls came at the critical moment, and, with new troops, entered the fight and brought back hope.
Weak as they were after their long march and privation, these women fought with bravery, and persisted to the end. The Lali, who had already seized the victory, now released their grasp, and, falling in great numbers, laid hold on Despair instead. Thrown first into confusion, and then into rout, they found it impossible to longer continue the contest, and so fled from the field.
Thus the victory was won by the Ammi, and the human race was saved.