Van Emmon and Smith had similarly impressed Corrus and Dulnop with the
result that there was no loss of time in the beginning. The two men
reached the hills on their side of the valley an hour before the women
reached theirs.
And thus the search began, the strangest search, beyond a doubt, within
the history of the universe. It was not like the work of some of earth's
prehistoric men, who already knew fire and were merely looking up fresh
materials; it was a quest in which an idea, an idea given in a vision,
was the sole driving force. The most curious part of the matter was that
these people were mentally incapable of conceiving that there was
intelligence at work upon them from another world, or even that there
was another world.
"Ye saw the stars last night?" Corrus spoke to Dulnop. "Well, 'tis just
such stars as shall awaken the seed of the flower. Ye shall see!"
Both knew exactly what to look for: the brassy, regularly cut crystals
with the black stripings, such as has led countless men to go through
untold hardships in the belief that they had found gold. In fact, iron
pyrites is often called "fool gold," so deceptive is its glitter.
Yet, it was just the thing for the purpose. Flint they already had,
large quantities of it; practically all their tools, such as axes and
knives, were made of it.
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