Falling to the floor and reaching far above their necks, such garments
would have been intolerable to the free-limbed Sanusians. To the
watchers on the earth, however, the robes made the group look
marvelously like a company of monks.
Not that there was anything particularly religious about the place or in
their behavior. All twelve seemed to be silent only because they were
voraciously hungry. A meal was spread on the table. Except for the
garments, the twelve might have been so many harvest hands, gathered for
the evening meal in the cook-house. From the white-bearded man who sat
at the head of the table and passed out large helpings of something from
a big pot, to the fair-haired young fellow at the foot, who could
scarcely wait for his share, there was only one thing about them which
might have been labeled pious; and that was their attitude, which could
have been interpreted: "Give us this day our daily bread--and hurry up
about it!"
Apparently Rolla was convinced that these men were thoroughly human, and
as such fairly safe to approach. For she allowed her curiosity to govern
her caution, and proceeded to sidle through the doorway. Half-way
through she caught a whiff of the food, and her sidling changed to
something faster.
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