OK. I advise everyone out there to (re)read this story and its concluding section for themselves. Kidnapper and victim discuss the history and contradictions of civilization in true Andersonian style. The identification of the conflict between primitive man and the unnatural state of civilization parallels the way this same issue is presented in Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic History. The Smashup and its psychosociological consequences are explained more or less. Incredibly and entirely unexpectedly, the young woman who has been the victim turns the tables, saves the day and arranges a happy ending for (nearly) everyone concerned and certainly for our hero, villain or whatever he has been.
I had approached this story with misgivings but have devoted a lot of time to it. Only one (longer) story remains in Seven Conquests. After that, there are several other Poul Anderson collections. It is never the end.
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