Whether Ralph's theory was correct could not, of course, be ascertained.
But in the matter of prophecy, he was absolutely vindicated. About
half-way through the morning five black spots appeared in the west. They
grew gradually to bewildering shapes and colors, for the girls came
dressed in gowns woven of brilliant flowers. And the torrents of their
beautiful hair floated loose. This time they held themselves grouped
close; they kept themselves aloof, high. But again came the sinuous
interplay of flower-clad bodies, the flashing evolution of rainbow
wings, the dazzling interweaving of snowy arms and legs. It held the men
breathless.
"They're like goldfish in a bowl," Billy Fairfax said. "I never saw such
suppleness. You wouldn't think they had a bone in their systems."
"I bet they're as strong as tigers, though," commented Addington. "I
wouldn't want to handle more than one of them at once."
"I think I could handle two," remarked Frank Merrill. He said this, not
boastfully, but as one who states an interesting fact. And he spoke as
impersonally as though the girls were machines.
Ralph Addington studied Frank Merrill's gigantic copper-colored bulk
enviously. "I guess you could," he agreed.
"Fortunately," Frank went on, "it would be impossible for such a
situation to arise. Men don't war on women."
"On the contrary," Ralph disagreed, "men always war on women, and women
on men. Why, Merrill," he added with his inevitable tone of patronage,
"aren't you wise to the fact that the war between the sexes is in
reality more bitter and bloody than any war between the races?"
But Frank did not answer. He only stared.
"Did you notice," Pete Murphy asked, "what wonderful hair they had?
Loose like that - they looked more than ever like Valkyries."
"Yes, I got that," Ralph answered. He smiled until all his white teeth
showed. "And take it from me, that's a point gained. When a woman begins
to let her hair down, she's interested."
"Well," said Honey Smith, "their game may be the same as every other
woman's you've known, but it takes a damned long time to come down to
cases. What I want to know is how many months more will have to pass
before we speak when we pass by."
"That matter'll take care of itself," Ralph reassured him. "You leave it
to natural selection."
"Well, it's a deuce of a slow process," Honey grumbled.