CHAPTER XVII.
Busy now were the preparations for dire war. Not that troops were to be armed, or supplies collected for a long campaign. No vessels were to be fitted out to cross the Swamp, or ambulances prepared for the wounded. No loans were to be negotiated or preliminaries of diplomacy settled. The early men were always ready for war, in fact were always at war. One of the first advances of mankind was made when wars were separated from peace, and men observed the difference. As yet war was the natural state, and never had to be declared. Whenever a man met an ape, or even a wild beast, the signal was given for a fight. The race had not yet learned peace, which had to be learned before war, the arts of peace being all of later development. Men had fists before they had plows, and took their food before they produced it.
But the Ammi were, nevertheless, busy with preparations for war. Those are often busiest who have least todo. The excitement made them active, and they rushed about impatient to begin the fray. They had not yet learned to wait, or to take time for things. To resolve was, as yet, to commence. Unaccustomed to those great achievements which require time for preparation, they would enter into a long war as quickly as into a single battle. Had they found their enemy they would have fought that day. The battle generally comes too late for savages, the impulse for war being expended before the fight begins.
Still a few things had to be prepared. While they expected to get their rations from the Swamp, and to rely on some stone heap for weapons, they remembered that in the few years of their separate life as Men they had accumulated some wealth. This it was thought best to protect. They had large quantities of cocoanuts and other fruits in their dens; they had made some valuable instruments of stones and shells; their dug-outs themselves were worth much to them, and would likely be destroyed in their absence; for all which reasons some of the older men opposed the project of war; for wealth is always a promoter of peace.
“It is better to keep our caves and cocoanuts,” said Oko, a stingy fellow, “then to get back a girl.”
Their very position in the Cocoanut Hill region was deemed valuable on account of its abundant fruits and its nearness to the Swamp with its game. They found it advisable, therefore, to protect their homes and country, and for that purpose determined to leave some at home. They learned also that some of their implements mightbe used in war, or rather recalled the fact, since they were first invented for purposes of war; and it took some time to select what they wanted and to provide for its transportation. Some, not accustomed to hunt, or not liking the products of the Swamp, concluded to take with them the sweetest nuts and juiciest fruits of the Cocoanut Hill region, while others were busy determining the best route to the other side of the Swamp.
These things required activity, and men and women were accordingly busy preparing for war. For the warriors were not confined to men. There were amazons before there were belles. Woman’s equality in public affairs was recognized before her inferiority, and equal rights were as yet the law of the race. Instead of leaving the women behind to protect their homes, they concluded to leave the old and the children behind, while the able-bodied of both sexes were all to go to the field. Oko, the stingy fellow just mentioned, proposed to kill off the non-combatants, as they would eat all the cocoanuts before the warriors should return, and perhaps not let the latter again have possession of their homes.
“You greedy ape,” replied one to this suggestion, “you have not yourself gathered all the fruit you now have; you took some from others’ dens. I saw in your hole a wedge which I made for myself, and a marrow bone sharpened by a woman. You would now like to kill them lest they get back what you stole from them.”
At this the avaricious ape, Oko, threw a cocoanut shell at the speaker, but took care that it was an empty one, forhe was so economical, since he had begun the collection of nuts, that he never wasted anything.
The other threw back a filled cocoanut at him, and knocked him down. His generosity in using a whole nut served him a good turn, for liberality is necessary in war, where one may be too stingy even to fight, and lose a battle because he begrudges the price of the weapon. Oko picked up the cocoanut, and—kept it. The Ammi now expected a desperate struggle between the two men; but, one being satisfied with his victory and the other with his gain, they parted, one going off with an air of triumph, and the other with a cocoanut.
Other disputes arose over various details in the conduct of the war, but none broke out into violence.
“Whose girl will Sosee be if we get her back?” asked one.
“Mine!” replied Koree, defiantly.
“Are we all to fight, and only one to get the advantage of it?” asked another.
“You must fight,” retorted Koree, “or you will lose all you have. The restoration of my girl means the protection of yours.”
“If I capture her,” replied a third, “neither Koree nor any one else will get her. A girl, like a cocoanut, belongs to whomsoever gets her.”
“Whoever gets her,” replied Koree, “will get a broken head if he does not restore her to me.”
It was now feared that this altercation would lead to a civil war before the foreign war should commence; when the thoughts of the company were turned by the suggestionof Oko, the stingy fellow mentioned, that the Lali had doubtless acquired some possessions, so that they would all return laden with the spoils of war.
“If it were not so,” he added, “I would not fight at all.”
“Perhaps,” suggested one of the young men, “there are also some pretty apes among them, so that instead of one girl we may bring back many—enough for all.”
“Sosee must be recovered first,” said Koree, “when I will help you to catch all the rest.”
Some, however, could not be made to understand what the war was for.
“I can see no cocoanuts in it,” said one.
“I don’t want my eyes scratched out,” added another, who had lately become interested in a girl who was sitting beside him; “nor do I want her injured.”
“Who knows,” asked a third, “if we shall ever meet again? I fear we shall lose this place and lose one another.”
“Why did Koree lose his girl?” asked another. “He should not have taken her into danger.”
“Men and warriors!” interposed Koree at this point, fearing an insubordination that might be disastrous, “is this your resolution? A little while ago you were impatient for battle. Now you are seeking excuses for peace. None of you are worthy of such honor as awaits us. The defeat of the Lali will give glory to the Ammi, and many women and stores. We will divide their country among us, or, at least, have no more trouble from them. You fight not for me only but for yourselves, and fightthat you may have to fight no more. For, this war will destroy all our enemies. Now swear to me not only that you will go to the war (for that you have already done), but that you will never abandon it till Sosee is restored.”
This they all swore by scratching their ribs, and again there was harmony in the counsels of war.