The People That Time Forgot

By

Edgar Rice Burroughs

JTABLE 4 7 1

Chapter 1

I am forced to admit that even though I had traveled a long distance toplace Bowen Tyler's manuscript in the hands of his father, I was stilla trifle skeptical as to its sincerity, since I could not but recallthat it had not been many years since Bowen had been one of the mostnotorious practical jokers of his alma mater. The truth was that as Isat in the Tyler library at Santa Monica I commenced to feel a triflefoolish and to wish that I had merely forwarded the manuscript byexpress instead of bearing it personally, for I confess that I do notenjoy being laughed at. I have a well-developed sense of humor--whenthe joke is not on me. 

Mr. Tyler, Sr. , was expected almost hourly. The last steamer in fromHonolulu had brought information of the date of the expected sailing ofhis yacht Toreador, which was now twenty-four hours overdue. Mr. Tyler's assistant secretary, who had been left at home, assured me thatthere was no doubt but that the Toreador had sailed as promised, sincehe knew his employer well enough to be positive that nothing short ofan act of God would prevent his doing what he had planned to do. I wasalso aware of the fact that the sending apparatus of the Toreador'swireless equipment was sealed, and that it would only be used in eventof dire necessity. There was, therefore, nothing to do but wait, andwe waited. 

We discussed the manuscript and hazarded guesses concerning it and thestrange events it narrated. The torpedoing of the liner upon whichBowen J. Tyler, Jr. , had taken passage for France to join the AmericanAmbulance was a well-known fact, and I had further substantiated bywire to the New York office of the owners, that a Miss La Rue had beenbooked for passage. Further, neither she nor Bowen had been mentionedamong the list of survivors; nor had the body of either of them beenrecovered. 

Their rescue by the English tug was entirely probable; the capture ofthe enemy U-33 by the tug's crew was not beyond the range ofpossibility; and their adventures during the perilous cruise which thetreachery and deceit of Benson extended until they found themselves inthe waters of the far South Pacific with depleted stores and poisonedwater-casks, while bordering upon the fantastic, appeared logicalenough as narrated, event by event, in the manuscript. 

Caprona has always been considered a more or less mythical land, thoughit is vouched for by an eminent navigator of the eighteenth century;but Bowen's narrative made it seem very real, however many miles oftrackless ocean lay between us and it. Yes, the narrative had usguessing. We were agreed that it was most improbable; but neither ofus could say that anything which it contained was beyond the range ofpossibility. The weird flora and fauna of Caspak were as possibleunder the thick, warm atmospheric conditions of the super-heated crateras they were in the Mesozoic era under almost exactly similarconditions, which were then probably world-wide. The assistantsecretary had heard of Caproni and his discoveries, but admitted thathe never had taken much stock in the one nor the other. We were agreedthat the one statement most difficult of explanation was that whichreported the entire absence of human young among the various tribeswhich Tyler had had intercourse. This was the one irreconcilablestatement of the manuscript. A world of adults! It was impossible. 

We speculated upon the probable fate of Bradley and his party ofEnglish sailors. Tyler had found the graves of two of them; how manymore might have perished! And Miss La Rue--could a young girl longhave survived the horrors of Caspak after having been separated fromall of her own kind? The assistant secretary wondered if Nobs stillwas with her, and then we both smiled at this tacit acceptance of thetruth of the whole uncanny tale:

"I suppose I'm a fool, " remarked the assistant secretary; "but byGeorge, I can't help believing it, and I can see that girl now, withthe big Airedale at her side protecting her from the terrors of amillion years ago. I can visualize the entire scene--the apelikeGrimaldi men huddled in their filthy caves; the huge pterodactylssoaring through the heavy air upon their bat-like wings; the mightydinosaurs moving their clumsy hulks beneath the dark shadows ofpreglacial forests--the dragons which we considered myths until sciencetaught us that they were the true recollections of the first man, handed down through countless ages by word of mouth from father to sonout of the unrecorded dawn of humanity. "

"It is stupendous--if true, " I replied. "And to think that possiblythey are still there--Tyler and Miss La Rue--surrounded by hideousdangers, and that possibly Bradley still lives, and some of his party!I can't help hoping all the time that Bowen and the girl have found theothers; the last Bowen knew of them, there were six left, all told--themate Bradley, the engineer Olson, and Wilson, Whitely, Brady andSinclair. There might be some hope for them if they could join forces;but separated, I'm afraid they couldn't last long. "

"If only they hadn't let the German prisoners capture the U-33! Bowenshould have had better judgment than to have trusted them at all. Thechances are von Schoenvorts succeeded in getting safely back to Kieland is strutting around with an Iron Cross this very minute. With alarge supply of oil from the wells they discovered in Caspak, withplenty of water and ample provisions, there is no reason why theycouldn't have negotiated the submerged tunnel beneath the barriercliffs and made good their escape. "

"I don't like 'em, " said the assistant secretary; "but sometimes yougot to hand it to 'em. "

"Yes, " I growled, "and there's nothing I'd enjoy more than handing itto them!" And then the telephone-bell rang. 

The assistant secretary answered, and as I watched him, I saw his jawdrop and his face go white. "My God!" he exclaimed as he hung up thereceiver as one in a trance. "It can't be!"

"What?" I asked. 

"Mr. Tyler is dead, " he answered in a dull voice. "He died at sea, suddenly, yesterday. "

The next ten days were occupied in burying Mr. Bowen J. Tyler, Sr. , andarranging plans for the succor of his son. Mr. Tom Billings, the lateMr. Tyler's secretary, did it all. He is force, energy, initiative andgood judgment combined and personified. I never have beheld a moredynamic young man. He handled lawyers, courts and executors as asculptor handles his modeling clay. He formed, fashioned and forcedthem to his will. He had been a classmate of Bowen Tyler at college, and a fraternity brother, and before, that he had been an impoverishedand improvident cow-puncher on one of the great Tyler ranches. Tyler, Sr. , had picked him out of thousands of employees and made him; orrather Tyler had given him the opportunity, and then Billings had madehimself. Tyler, Jr. , as good a judge of men as his father, had takenhim into his friendship, and between the two of them they had turnedout a man who would have died for a Tyler as quickly as he would havefor his flag. Yet there was none of the sycophant or fawner inBillings; ordinarily I do not wax enthusiastic about men, but this manBillings comes as close to my conception of what a regular man shouldbe as any I have ever met. I venture to say that before Bowen J. Tylersent him to college he had never heard the word ethics, and yet I amequally sure that in all his life he never has transgressed a singletenet of the code of ethics of an American gentleman. 

Ten days after they brought Mr. Tyler's body off the Toreador, westeamed out into the Pacific in search of Caprona. There were forty inthe party, including the master and crew of the Toreador; and Billingsthe indomitable was in command. We had a long and uninteresting searchfor Caprona, for the old map upon which the assistant secretary hadfinally located it was most inaccurate. When its grim walls finallyrose out of the ocean's mists before us, we were so far south that itwas a question as to whether we were in the South Pacific or theAntarctic. Bergs were numerous, and it was very cold. 

All during the trip Billings had steadfastly evaded questions as to howwe were to enter Caspak after we had found Caprona. Bowen Tyler'smanuscript had made it perfectly evident to all that the subterraneanoutlet of the Caspakian River was the only means of ingress or egressto the crater world beyond the impregnable cliffs. Tyler's party hadbeen able to navigate this channel because their craft had been asubmarine; but the Toreador could as easily have flown over the cliffsas sailed under them. Jimmy Hollis and Colin Short whiled away many anhour inventing schemes for surmounting the obstacle presented by thebarrier cliffs, and making ridiculous wagers as to which one TomBillings had in mind; but immediately we were all assured that we hadraised Caprona, Billings called us together. 

"There was no use in talking about these things, " he said, "until wefound the island. At best it can be but conjecture on our part untilwe have been able to scrutinize the coast closely. Each of us hasformed a mental picture of the Capronian seacoast from Bowen'smanuscript, and it is not likely that any two of these picturesresemble each other, or that any of them resemble the coast as we shallpresently find it. I have in view three plans for scaling the cliffs, and the means for carrying out each is in the hold. There is anelectric drill with plenty of waterproof cable to reach from the ship'sdynamos to the cliff-top when the Toreador is anchored at a safedistance from shore, and there is sufficient half-inch iron rod tobuild a ladder from the base to the top of the cliff. It would be along, arduous and dangerous work to bore the holes and insert the rungsof the ladder from the bottom upward; yet it can be done. 

"I also have a life-saving mortar with which we might be able to throwa line over the summit of the cliffs; but this plan would necessitateone of us climbing to the top with the chances more than even that theline would cut at the summit, or the hooks at the upper end would slip. 

"My third plan seems to me the most feasible. You all saw a number oflarge, heavy boxes lowered into the hold before we sailed. I know youdid, because you asked me what they contained and commented upon thelarge letter 'H' which was painted upon each box. These boxes containthe various parts of a hydro-aeroplane. I purpose assembling this uponthe strip of beach described in Bowen's manuscript--the beach where hefound the dead body of the apelike man--provided there is sufficientspace above high water; otherwise we shall have to assemble it on deckand lower it over the side. After it is assembled, I shall carrytackle and ropes to the cliff-top, and then it will be comparativelysimple to hoist the search-party and its supplies in safety. Or I canmake a sufficient number of trips to land the entire party in thevalley beyond the barrier; all will depend, of course, upon what myfirst reconnaissance reveals. "

That afternoon we steamed slowly along the face of Caprona's toweringbarrier. 

"You see now, " remarked Billings as we craned our necks to scan thesummit thousands of feet above us, "how futile it would have been towaste our time in working out details of a plan to surmount those. " Andhe jerked his thumb toward the cliffs. "It would take weeks, possiblymonths, to construct a ladder to the top. I had no conception of theirformidable height. Our mortar would not carry a line halfway to thecrest of the lowest point. There is no use discussing any plan otherthan the hydro-aeroplane. We'll find the beach and get busy. "

Late the following morning the lookout announced that he could discernsurf about a mile ahead; and as we approached, we all saw the line ofbreakers broken by a long sweep of rolling surf upon a narrow beach. The launch was lowered, and five of us made a landing, getting a goodducking in the ice-cold waters in the doing of it; but we were rewardedby the finding of the clean-picked bones of what might have been theskeleton of a high order of ape or a very low order of man, lying closeto the base of the cliff. Billings was satisfied, as were the rest ofus, that this was the beach mentioned by Bowen, and we further foundthat there was ample room to assemble the sea-plane. 

Billings, having arrived at a decision, lost no time in acting, withthe result that before mid-afternoon we had landed all the large boxesmarked "H" upon the beach, and were busily engaged in opening them. Two days later the plane was assembled and tuned. We loaded tacklesand ropes, water, food and ammunition in it, and then we each imploredBillings to let us be the one to accompany him. But he would take noone. That was Billings; if there was any especially difficult ordangerous work to be done, that one man could do, Billings always didit himself. If he needed assistance, he never called forvolunteers--just selected the man or men he considered best qualifiedfor the duty. He said that he considered the principles underlying allvolunteer service fundamentally wrong, and that it seemed to him thatcalling for volunteers reflected upon the courage and loyalty of theentire command. 

We rolled the plane down to the water's edge, and Billings mounted thepilot's seat. There was a moment's delay as he assured himself that hehad everything necessary. Jimmy Hollis went over his armament andammunition to see that nothing had been omitted. Besides pistol andrifle, there was the machine-gun mounted in front of him on the plane, and ammunition for all three. Bowen's account of the terrors of Caspakhad impressed us all with the necessity for proper means of defense. 

At last all was ready. The motor was started, and we pushed the planeout into the surf. A moment later, and she was skimming seaward. Gently she rose from the surface of the water, executed a wide spiralas she mounted rapidly, circled once far above us and then disappearedover the crest of the cliffs. We all stood silent and expectant, oureyes glued upon the towering summit above us. Hollis, who was now incommand, consulted his wrist-watch at frequent intervals. 

"Gad, " exclaimed Short, "we ought to be hearing from him pretty soon!"

Hollis laughed nervously. "He's been gone only ten minutes, " heannounced. 

"Seems like an hour, " snapped Short. "What's that? Did you hear that?He's firing! It's the machine-gun! Oh, Lord; and here we are ashelpless as a lot of old ladies ten thousand miles away! We can't do athing. We don't know what's happening. Why didn't he let one of us gowith him?"

Yes, it was the machine-gun. We would hear it distinctly for at leasta minute. Then came silence. That was two weeks ago. We have had nosign nor signal from Tom Billings since. 

Chapter 2

I'll never forget my first impressions of Caspak as I circled in, highover the surrounding cliffs. From the plane I looked down through amist upon the blurred landscape beneath me. The hot, humid atmosphereof Caspak condenses as it is fanned by the cold Antarctic air-currentswhich sweep across the crater's top, sending a tenuous ribbon of vaporfar out across the Pacific. Through this the picture gave one thesuggestion of a colossal impressionistic canvas in greens and brownsand scarlets and yellows surrounding the deep blue of the inlandsea--just blobs of color taking form through the tumbling mist. 

I dived close to the cliffs and skirted them for several miles withoutfinding the least indication of a suitable landing-place; and then Iswung back at a lower level, looking for a clearing close to the bottomof the mighty escarpment; but I could find none of sufficient area toinsure safety. I was flying pretty low by this time, not only lookingfor landing places but watching the myriad life beneath me. I was downpretty well toward the south end of the island, where an arm of thelake reaches far inland, and I could see the surface of the waterliterally black with creatures of some sort. I was too far up torecognize individuals, but the general impression was of a vast army ofamphibious monsters. The land was almost equally alive with crawling, leaping, running, flying things. It was one of the latter which nearlydid for me while my attention was fixed upon the weird scene below. 

The first intimation I had of it was the sudden blotting out of thesunlight from above, and as I glanced quickly up, I saw a most terrificcreature swooping down upon me. It must have been fully eighty feetlong from the end of its long, hideous beak to the tip of its thick, short tail, with an equal spread of wings. It was coming straight forme and hissing frightfully--I could hear it above the whir of thepropeller. It was coming straight down toward the muzzle of themachine-gun and I let it have it right in the breast; but still it camefor me, so that I had to dive and turn, though I was dangerously closeto earth. 

The thing didn't miss me by a dozen feet, and when I rose, it wheeledand followed me, but only to the cooler air close to the level of thecliff-tops; there it turned again and dropped. Something--man'snatural love of battle and the chase, I presume--impelled me to pursueit, and so I too circled and dived. The moment I came down into thewarm atmosphere of Caspak, the creature came for me again, rising aboveme so that it might swoop down upon me. Nothing could better havesuited my armament, since my machine-gun was pointed upward at an angleof about degrees and could not be either depressed or elevated by thepilot. If I had brought someone along with me, we could have raked thegreat reptile from almost any position, but as the creature's mode ofattack was always from above, he always found me ready with a hail ofbullets. The battle must have lasted a minute or more before the thingsuddenly turned completely over in the air and fell to the ground. 

Bowen and I roomed together at college, and I learned a lot from himoutside my regular course. He was a pretty good scholar despite hislove of fun, and his particular hobby was paleontology. He used totell me about the various forms of animal and vegetable life which hadcovered the globe during former eras, and so I was pretty wellacquainted with the fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals ofpaleolithic times. I knew that the thing that had attacked me was somesort of pterodactyl which should have been extinct millions of yearsago. It was all that I needed to realize that Bowen had exaggeratednothing in his manuscript. 

Having disposed of my first foe, I set myself once more to search for alanding-place near to the base of the cliffs beyond which my partyawaited me. I knew how anxious they would be for word from me, and Iwas equally anxious to relieve their minds and also to get them and oursupplies well within Caspak, so that we might set off about ourbusiness of finding and rescuing Bowen Tyler; but the pterodactyl'scarcass had scarcely fallen before I was surrounded by at least a dozenof the hideous things, some large, some small, but all bent upon mydestruction. I could not cope with them all, and so I rose rapidlyfrom among them to the cooler strata wherein they dared not follow; andthen I recalled that Bowen's narrative distinctly indicated that thefarther north one traveled in Caspak, the fewer were the terriblereptiles which rendered human life impossible at the southern end ofthe island. 

There seemed nothing now but to search out a more northerlylanding-place and then return to the Toreador and transport mycompanions, two by two, over the cliffs and deposit them at therendezvous. As I flew north, the temptation to explore overcame me. Iknew that I could easily cover Caspak and return to the beach with lesspetrol than I had in my tanks; and there was the hope, too, that Imight find Bowen or some of his party. The broad expanse of the inlandsea lured me out over its waters, and as I crossed, I saw at eitherextremity of the great body of water an island--one to the south andone to the north; but I did not alter my course to examine eitherclosely, leaving that to a later time. 

The further shore of the sea revealed a much narrower strip of landbetween the cliffs and the water than upon the western side; but it wasa hillier and more open country. There were splendid landing-places, and in the distance, toward the north, I thought I descried a village;but of that I was not positive. However, as I approached the land, Isaw a number of human figures apparently pursuing one who fled across abroad expanse of meadow. As I dropped lower to have a better look atthese people, they caught the whirring of my propellers and lookedaloft. They paused an instant--pursuers and pursued; and then theybroke and raced for the shelter of the nearest wood. Almostinstantaneously a huge bulk swooped down upon me, and as I looked up, Irealized that there were flying reptiles even in this part of Caspak. The creature dived for my right wing so quickly that nothing but asheer drop could have saved me. I was already close to the ground, sothat my maneuver was extremely dangerous; but I was in a fair way ofmaking it successfully when I saw that I was too closely approaching alarge tree. My effort to dodge the tree and the pterodactyl at thesame time resulted disastrously. One wing touched an upper branch; theplane tipped and swung around, and then, out of control, dashed intothe branches of the tree, where it came to rest, battered and torn, forty feet above the ground. 

Hissing loudly, the huge reptile swept close above the tree in which myplane had lodged, circled twice over me and then flapped away towardthe south. As I guessed then and was to learn later, forests are thesurest sanctuary from these hideous creatures, which, with theirenormous spread of wing and their great weight, are as much out ofplace among trees as is a seaplane. 

For a minute or so I clung there to my battered flyer, now uselessbeyond redemption, my brain numbed by the frightful catastrophe thathad befallen me. All my plans for the succor of Bowen and Miss La Ruehad depended upon this craft, and in a few brief minutes my own selfishlove of adventure had wrecked their hopes and mine. And what effect itmight have upon the future of the balance of the rescuing expedition Icould not even guess. Their lives, too, might be sacrificed to mysuicidal foolishness. That I was doomed seemed inevitable; but I canhonestly say that the fate of my friends concerned me more greatly thandid my own. 

Beyond the barrier cliffs my party was even now nervously awaiting myreturn. Presently apprehension and fear would claim them--and theywould never know! They would attempt to scale the cliffs--of that Iwas sure; but I was not so positive that they would succeed; and aftera while they would turn back, what there were left of them, and gosadly and mournfully upon their return journey to home. Home! I setmy jaws and tried to forget the word, for I knew that I should neveragain see home. 

And what of Bowen and his girl? I had doomed them too. They wouldnever even know that an attempt had been made to rescue them. If theystill lived, they might some day come upon the ruined remnants of thisgreat plane hanging in its lofty sepulcher and hazard vain guesses andbe filled with wonder; but they would never know; and I could not butbe glad that they would not know that Tom Billings had sealed theirdeath-warrants by his criminal selfishness. 

All these useless regrets were getting me in a bad way; but at last Ishook myself and tried to put such things out of my mind and take holdof conditions as they existed and do my level best to wrest victoryfrom defeat. I was badly shaken up and bruised, but considered myselfmighty lucky to escape with my life. The plane hung at a precariousangle, so that it was with difficulty and considerable danger that Iclimbed from it into the tree and then to the ground. 

My predicament was grave. Between me and my friends lay an inland seafully sixty miles wide at this point and an estimated land-distance ofsome three hundred miles around the northern end of the sea, throughsuch hideous dangers as I am perfectly free to admit had me pretty wellbuffaloed. I had seen quite enough of Caspak this day to assure methat Bowen had in no way exaggerated its perils. As a matter of fact, I am inclined to believe that he had become so accustomed to thembefore he started upon his manuscript that he rather slighted them. AsI stood there beneath that tree--a tree which should have been part ofa coal-bed countless ages since--and looked out across a sea teemingwith frightful life--life which should have been fossil before Godconceived of Adam--I would not have given a minim of stale beer for mychances of ever seeing my friends or the outside world again; yet thenand there I swore to fight my way as far through this hideous land ascircumstances would permit. I had plenty of ammunition, an automaticpistol and a heavy rifle--the latter one of twenty added to ourequipment on the strength of Bowen's description of the huge beasts ofprey which ravaged Caspak. My greatest danger lay in the hideousreptilia whose low nervous organizations permitted their carnivorousinstincts to function for several minutes after they had ceased to live. 

But to these things I gave less thought than to the sudden frustrationof all our plans. With the bitterest of thoughts I condemned myselffor the foolish weakness that had permitted me to be drawn from themain object of my flight into premature and useless exploration. Itseemed to me then that I must be totally eliminated from further searchfor Bowen, since, as I estimated it, the three hundred miles ofCaspakian territory I must traverse to reach the base of the cliffsbeyond which my party awaited me were practically impassable for asingle individual unaccustomed to Caspakian life and ignorant of allthat lay before him. Yet I could not give up hope entirely. My dutylay clear before me; I must follow it while life remained to me, and soI set forth toward the north. 

The country through which I took my way was as lovely as it wasunusual--I had almost said unearthly, for the plants, the trees, theblooms were not of the earth that I knew. They were larger, the colorsmore brilliant and the shapes startling, some almost to grotesqueness, though even such added to the charm and romance of the landscape as thegiant cacti render weirdly beautiful the waste spots of the sad Mohave. And over all the sun shone huge and round and red, a monster sun abovea monstrous world, its light dispersed by the humid air of Caspak--thewarm, moist air which lies sluggish upon the breast of this greatmother of life, Nature's mightiest incubator. 

All about me, in every direction, was life. It moved through thetree-tops and among the boles; it displayed itself in widening andintermingling circles upon the bosom of the sea; it leaped from thedepths; I could hear it in a dense wood at my right, the murmur of itrising and falling in ceaseless volumes of sound, riven at intervals bya horrid scream or a thunderous roar which shook the earth; and alwaysI was haunted by that inexplicable sensation that unseen eyes werewatching me, that soundless feet dogged my trail. I am neither nervousnor highstrung; but the burden of responsibility upon me weighedheavily, so that I was more cautious than is my wont. I turned oftento right and left and rear lest I be surprised, and I carried my rifleat the ready in my hand. Once I could have sworn that among the manycreatures dimly perceived amidst the shadows of the wood I saw a humanfigure dart from one cover to another, but I could not be sure. 

For the most part I skirted the wood, making occasional detours ratherthan enter those forbidding depths of gloom, though many times I wasforced to pass through arms of the forest which extended to the veryshore of the inland sea. There was so sinister a suggestion in theuncouth sounds and the vague glimpses of moving things within theforest, of the menace of strange beasts and possibly still strangermen, that I always breathed more freely when I had passed once moreinto open country. 

I had traveled northward for perhaps an hour, still haunted by theconviction that I was being stalked by some creature which kept alwayshidden among the trees and shrubbery to my right and a little to myrear, when for the hundredth time I was attracted by a sound from thatdirection, and turning, saw some animal running rapidly through theforest toward me. There was no longer any effort on its part atconcealment; it came on through the underbrush swiftly, and I wasconfident that whatever it was, it had finally gathered the courage tocharge me boldly. Before it finally broke into plain view, I becameaware that it was not alone, for a few yards in its rear a second thingthrashed through the leafy jungle. Evidently I was to be attacked inforce by a pair of hunting beasts or men. 

And then through the last clump of waving ferns broke the figure of theforemost creature, which came leaping toward me on light feet as Istood with my rifle to my shoulder covering the point at which I hadexpected it would emerge. I must have looked foolish indeed if mysurprise and consternation were in any way reflected upon mycountenance as I lowered my rifle and gazed incredulous at the lithefigure of the girl speeding swiftly in my direction. But I did nothave long to stand thus with lowered weapon, for as she came, I saw hercast an affrighted glance over her shoulder, and at the same momentthere broke from the jungle at the same spot at which I had seen her, the hugest cat I had ever looked upon. 

At first I took the beast for a saber-tooth tiger, as it was quite themost fearsome-appearing beast one could imagine; but it was not thatdread monster of the past, though quite formidable enough to satisfythe most fastidious thrill-hunter. On it came, grim and terrible, itsbaleful eyes glaring above its distended jaws, its lips curled in afrightful snarl which exposed a whole mouthful of formidable teeth. Atsight of me it had abandoned its impetuous rush and was now sneakingslowly toward us; while the girl, a long knife in her hand, took herstand bravely at my left and a little to my rear. She had calledsomething to me in a strange tongue as she raced toward me, and now shespoke again; but what she said I could not then, of course, know--onlythat her tones were sweet, well modulated and free from any suggestionof panic. 

Facing the huge cat, which I now saw was an enormous panther, I waiteduntil I could place a shot where I felt it would do the most good, forat best a frontal shot at any of the large carnivora is a ticklishmatter. I had some advantage in that the beast was not charging; itshead was held low and its back exposed; and so at forty yards I tookcareful aim at its spine at the junction of neck and shoulders. But atthe same instant, as though sensing my intention, the great creaturelifted its head and leaped forward in full charge. To fire at thatsloping forehead I knew would be worse than useless, and so I quicklyshifted my aim and pulled the trigger, hoping against hope that thesoft-nosed bullet and the heavy charge of powder would have sufficientstopping effect to give me time to place a second shot. 

In answer to the report of the rifle I had the satisfaction of seeingthe brute spring into the air, turning a complete somersault; but itwas up again almost instantly, though in the brief second that it tookit to scramble to its feet and get its bearings, it exposed its leftside fully toward me, and a second bullet went crashing through itsheart. Down it went for the second time--and then up and at me. Thevitality of these creatures of Caspak is one of the marvelous featuresof this strange world and bespeaks the low nervous organization of theold paleolithic life which has been so long extinct in other portionsof the world. 

I put a third bullet into the beast at three paces, and then I thoughtthat I was done for; but it rolled over and stopped at my feet, stonedead. I found that my second bullet had torn its heart almostcompletely away, and yet it had lived to charge ferociously upon me, and but for my third shot would doubtless have slain me before itfinally expired--or as Bowen Tyler so quaintly puts it, before it knewthat it was dead. 

With the panther quite evidently conscious of the fact that dissolutionhad overtaken it, I turned toward the girl, who was regarding me withevident admiration and not a little awe, though I must admit that myrifle claimed quite as much of her attention as did I. She was quitethe most wonderful animal that I have ever looked upon, and what few ofher charms her apparel hid, it quite effectively succeeded inaccentuating. A bit of soft, undressed leather was caught over herleft shoulder and beneath her right breast, falling upon her left sideto her hip and upon the right to a metal band which encircled her legabove the knee and to which the lowest point of the hide was attached. About her waist was a loose leather belt, to the center of which wasattached the scabbard belonging to her knife. There was a singlearmlet between her right shoulder and elbow, and a series of themcovered her left forearm from elbow to wrist. These, I learned later, answered the purpose of a shield against knife attack when the left armis raised in guard across the breast or face. 

Her masses of heavy hair were held in place by a broad metal band whichbore a large triangular ornament directly in the center of herforehead. This ornament appeared to be a huge turquoise, while themetal of all her ornaments was beaten, virgin gold, inlaid in intricatedesign with bits of mother-of-pearl and tiny pieces of stone of variouscolors. From the left shoulder depended a leopard's tail, while herfeet were shod with sturdy little sandals. The knife was her onlyweapon. Its blade was of iron, the grip was wound with hide andprotected by a guard of three out-bowing strips of flat iron, and uponthe top of the hilt was a knob of gold. 

I took in much of this in the few seconds during which we stood facingeach other, and I also observed another salient feature of herappearance: she was frightfully dirty! Her face and limbs and garmentwere streaked with mud and perspiration, and yet even so, I felt that Ihad never looked upon so perfect and beautiful a creature as she. Herfigure beggars description, and equally so, her face. Were I one ofthese writer-fellows, I should probably say that her features wereGrecian, but being neither a writer nor a poet I can do her greaterjustice by saying that she combined all of the finest lines that onesees in the typical American girl's face rather than the pronouncedsheeplike physiognomy of the Greek goddess. No, even the dirt couldn'thide that fact; she was beautiful beyond compare. 

As we stood looking at each other, a slow smile came to her face, parting her symmetrical lips and disclosing a row of strong white teeth. 

"Galu?" she asked with rising inflection. 

And remembering that I read in Bowen's manuscript that Galu seemed toindicate a higher type of man, I answered by pointing to myself andrepeating the word. Then she started off on a regular catechism, if Icould judge by her inflection, for I certainly understood no word ofwhat she said. All the time the girl kept glancing toward the forest, and at last she touched my arm and pointed in that direction. 

Turning, I saw a hairy figure of a manlike thing standing watching us, and presently another and another emerged from the jungle and joinedthe leader until there must have been at least twenty of them. Theywere entirely naked. Their bodies were covered with hair, and thoughthey stood upon their feet without touching their hands to the ground, they had a very ape-like appearance, since they stooped forward and hadvery long arms and quite apish features. They were not pretty to lookupon with their close-set eyes, flat noses, long upper lips andprotruding yellow fangs. 

"Alus!" said the girl. 

I had reread Bowen's adventures so often that I knew them almost byheart, and so now I knew that I was looking upon the last remnant ofthat ancient man-race--the Alus of a forgotten period--the speechlessman of antiquity. 

"Kazor!" cried the girl, and at the same moment the Alus came jabberingtoward us. They made strange growling, barking noises, as with muchbaring of fangs they advanced upon us. They were armed only withnature's weapons--powerful muscles and giant fangs; yet I knew thatthese were quite sufficient to overcome us had we nothing better tooffer in defense, and so I drew my pistol and fired at the leader. Hedropped like a stone, and the others turned and fled. Once again thegirl smiled her slow smile and stepping closer, caressed the barrel ofmy automatic. As she did so, her fingers came in contact with mine, and a sudden thrill ran through me, which I attributed to the fact thatit had been so long since I had seen a woman of any sort or kind. 

She said something to me in her low, liquid tones; but I could notunderstand her, and then she pointed toward the north and started away. I followed her, for my way was north too; but had it been south I stillshould have followed, so hungry was I for human companionship in thisworld of beasts and reptiles and half-men. 

We walked along, the girl talking a great deal and seeming mystifiedthat I could not understand her. Her silvery laugh rang merrily when Iin turn essayed to speak to her, as though my language was thequaintest thing she ever had heard. Often after fruitless attempts tomake me understand she would hold her palm toward me, saying, "Galu!"and then touch my breast or arm and cry, "Alu, alu!" I knew what shemeant, for I had learned from Bowen's narrative the negative gestureand the two words which she repeated. She meant that I was no Galu, asI claimed, but an Alu, or speechless one. Yet every time she said thisshe laughed again, and so infectious were her tones that I could onlyjoin her. It was only natural, too, that she should be mystified by myinability to comprehend her or to make her comprehend me, for from theclub-men, the lowest human type in Caspak to have speech, to the goldenrace of Galus, the tongues of the various tribes are identical--exceptfor amplifications in the rising scale of evolution. She, who is aGalu, can understand one of the Bo-lu and make herself understood tohim, or to a hatchet-man, a spear-man or an archer. The Ho-lus, orapes, the Alus and myself were the only creatures of human semblancewith which she could hold no converse; yet it was evident that herintelligence told her that I was neither Ho-lu nor Alu, neitheranthropoid ape nor speechless man. 

Yet she did not despair, but set out to teach me her language; and hadit not been that I worried so greatly over the fate of Bowen and mycompanions of the Toreador, I could have wished the period ofinstruction prolonged. 

I never have been what one might call a ladies' man, though I liketheir company immensely, and during my college days and since have madevarious friends among the sex. I think that I rather appeal to acertain type of girl for the reason that I never make love to them; Ileave that to the numerous others who do it infinitely better than Icould hope to, and take my pleasure out of girls' society in what seemto be more rational ways--dancing, golfing, boating, riding, tennis, and the like. Yet in the company of this half-naked little savage Ifound a new pleasure that was entirely distinct from any that I everhad experienced. When she touched me, I thrilled as I had never beforethrilled in contact with another woman. I could not quite understandit, for I am sufficiently sophisticated to know that this is a symptomof love and I certainly did not love this filthy little barbarian withher broken, unkempt nails and her skin so besmeared with mud and thegreen of crushed foliage that it was difficult to say what color itoriginally had been. But if she was outwardly uncouth, her clear eyesand strong white, even teeth, her silvery laugh and her queenlycarriage, bespoke an innate fineness which dirt could not quitesuccessfully conceal. 

The sun was low in the heavens when we came upon a little river whichemptied into a large bay at the foot of low cliffs. Our journey so farhad been beset with constant danger, as is every journey in thisfrightful land. I have not bored you with a recital of the wearyingsuccessions of attacks by the multitude of creatures which wereconstantly crossing our path or deliberately stalking us. We werealways upon the alert; for here, to paraphrase, eternal vigilance isindeed the price of life. 

I had managed to progress a little in the acquisition of a knowledge ofher tongue, so that I knew many of the animals and reptiles by theirCaspakian names, and trees and ferns and grasses. I knew the words forsea and river and cliff, for sky and sun and cloud. Yes, I was gettingalong finely, and then it occurred to me that I didn't know mycompanion's name; so I pointed to myself and said, "Tom, " and to herand raised my eyebrows in interrogation. The girl ran her fingers intothat mass of hair and looked puzzled. I repeated the action a dozentimes. 

"Tom, " she said finally in that clear, sweet, liquid voice. "Tom!"

I had never thought much of my name before; but when she spoke it, itsounded to me for the first time in my life like a mighty nice name, and then she brightened suddenly and tapped her own breast and said:"Ajor!"

"Ajor!" I repeated, and she laughed and struck her palms together. 

Well, we knew each other's names now, and that was some satisfaction. I rather liked hers--Ajor! And she seemed to like mine, for sherepeated it. 

We came to the cliffs beside the little river where it empties into thebay with the great inland sea beyond. The cliffs were weather-worn androtted, and in one place a deep hollow ran back beneath the overhangingstone for several feet, suggesting shelter for the night. There wereloose rocks strewn all about with which I might build a barricadeacross the entrance to the cave, and so I halted there and pointed outthe place to Ajor, trying to make her understand that we would spendthe night there. 

As soon as she grasped my meaning, she assented with the Caspakianequivalent of an affirmative nod, and then touching my rifle, motionedme to follow her to the river. At the bank she paused, removed herbelt and dagger, dropping them to the ground at her side; thenunfastening the lower edge of her garment from the metal leg-band towhich it was attached, slipped it off her left shoulder and let it dropto the ground around her feet. It was done so naturally, so simply andso quickly that it left me gasping like a fish out of water. Turning, she flashed a smile at me and then dived into the river, and there shebathed while I stood guard over her. For five or ten minutes shesplashed about, and when she emerged her glistening skin was smooth andwhite and beautiful. Without means of drying herself, she simplyignored what to me would have seemed a necessity, and in a moment wasarrayed in her simple though effective costume. 

It was now within an hour of darkness, and as I was nearly famished, Iled the way back about a quarter of a mile to a low meadow where we hadseen antelope and small horses a short time before. Here I broughtdown a young buck, the report of my rifle sending the balance of theherd scampering for the woods, where they were met by a chorus ofhideous roars as the carnivora took advantage of their panic and leapedamong them. 

With my hunting-knife I removed a hind-quarter, and then we returned tocamp. Here I gathered a great quantity of wood from fallen trees, Ajorhelping me; but before I built a fire, I also gathered sufficient looserock to build my barricade against the frightful terrors of the nightto come. 

I shall never forget the expression upon Ajor's face as she saw mestrike a match and light the kindling beneath our camp-fire. It wassuch an expression as might transform a mortal face with awe as itsowner beheld the mysterious workings of divinity. It was evident thatAjor was quite unfamiliar with modern methods of fire-making. She hadthought my rifle and pistol wonderful; but these tiny slivers of woodwhich from a magic rub brought flame to the camp hearth were indeedmiracles to her. 

As the meat roasted above the fire, Ajor and I tried once again totalk; but though copiously filled with incentive, gestures and sounds, the conversation did not flourish notably. And then Ajor took up inearnest the task of teaching me her language. She commenced, as Ilater learned, with the simplest form of speech known to Caspak or forthat matter to the world--that employed by the Bo-lu. I found it farfrom difficult, and even though it was a great handicap upon myinstructor that she could not speak my language, she did remarkablywell and demonstrated that she possessed ingenuity and intelligence ofa high order. 

After we had eaten, I added to the pile of firewood so that I couldreplenish the fire before the entrance to our barricade, believing thisas good a protection against the carnivora as we could have; and thenAjor and I sat down before it, and the lesson proceeded, while from allabout us came the weird and awesome noises of the Caspakian night--themoaning and the coughing and roaring of the tigers, the panthers andthe lions, the barking and the dismal howling of a wolf, jackal andhyaenadon, the shrill shrieks of stricken prey and the hissing of thegreat reptiles; the voice of man alone was silent. 

But though the voice of this choir-terrible rose and fell from far andnear in all directions, reaching at time such a tremendous volume ofsound that the earth shook to it, yet so engrossed was I in my lessonand in my teacher that often I was deaf to what at another time wouldhave filled me with awe. The face and voice of the beautiful girl wholeaned so eagerly toward me as she tried to explain the meaning of someword or correct my pronunciation of another quite entirely occupied myevery faculty of perception. The firelight shone upon her animatedfeatures and sparkling eyes; it accentuated the graceful motions of hergesturing arms and hands; it sparkled from her white teeth and from hergolden ornaments, and glistened on the smooth firmness of her perfectskin. I am afraid that often I was more occupied with admiration ofthis beautiful animal than with a desire for knowledge; but be that asit may, I nevertheless learned much that evening, though part of what Ilearned had naught to do with any new language. 

Ajor seemed determined that I should speak Caspakian as quickly aspossible, and I thought I saw in her desire a little of thatall-feminine trait which has come down through all the ages from thefirst lady of the world--curiosity. Ajor desired that I should speakher tongue in order that she might satisfy a curiosity concerning methat was filling her to a point where she was in danger of bursting; ofthat I was positive. She was a regular little animated question-mark. She bubbled over with interrogations which were never to be satisfiedunless I learned to speak her tongue. Her eyes sparkled withexcitement; her hand flew in expressive gestures; her little tongueraced with time; yet all to no avail. I could say man and tree andcliff and lion and a number of other words in perfect Caspakian; butsuch a vocabulary was only tantalizing; it did not lend itself well toa very general conversation, and the result was that Ajor would wax sowroth that she would clench her little fists and beat me on the breastas hard as ever she could, and then she would sink back laughing as thehumor of the situation captured her. 

She was trying to teach me some verbs by going through the actionsherself as she repeated the proper word. We were very muchengrossed--so much so that we were giving no heed to what went onbeyond our cave--when Ajor stopped very suddenly, crying: "Kazor!" Nowshe had been trying to teach me that ju meant stop; so when she criedkazor and at the same time stopped, I thought for a moment that thiswas part of my lesson--for the moment I forgot that kazor means beware. I therefore repeated the word after her; but when I saw the expressionin her eyes as they were directed past me and saw her point toward theentrance to the cave, I turned quickly--to see a hideous face at thesmall aperture leading out into the night. It was the fierce andsnarling countenance of a gigantic bear. I have hunted silvertips inthe White Mountains of Arizona and thought them quite the largest andmost formidable of big game; but from the appearance of the head ofthis awful creature I judged that the largest grizzly I had ever seenwould shrink by comparison to the dimensions of a Newfoundland dog. 

Our fire was just within the cave, the smoke rising through theapertures between the rocks that I had piled in such a way that theyarched inward toward the cliff at the top. The opening by means ofwhich we were to reach the outside was barricaded with a few largefragments which did not by any means close it entirely; but through theapertures thus left no large animal could gain ingress. I had dependedmost, however, upon our fire, feeling that none of the dangerousnocturnal beasts of prey would venture close to the flames. In this, however, I was quite evidently in error, for the great bear stood withhis nose not a foot from the blaze, which was now low, owing to thefact that I had been so occupied with my lesson and my teacher that Ihad neglected to replenish it. 

Ajor whipped out her futile little knife and pointed to my rifle. Atthe same time she spoke in a quite level voice entirely devoid ofnervousness or any evidence of fear or panic. I knew she was exhortingme to fire upon the beast; but this I did not wish to do other than asa last resort, for I was quite sure that even my heavy bullets wouldnot more than further enrage him--in which case he might easily forcean entrance to our cave. 

Instead of firing, I piled some more wood upon the fire, and as thesmoke and blaze arose in the beast's face, it backed away, growlingmost frightfully; but I still could see two ugly points of lightblazing in the outer darkness and hear its growls rumbling terrificallywithout. For some time the creature stood there watching the entranceto our frail sanctuary while I racked my brains in futile endeavor toplan some method of defense or escape. I knew full well that shouldthe bear make a determined effort to get at us, the rocks I had piledas a barrier would come tumbling down about his giant shoulders like ahouse of cards, and that he would walk directly in upon us. 

Ajor, having less knowledge of the effectiveness of firearms than I, and therefore greater confidence in them, entreated me to shoot thebeast; but I knew that the chance that I could stop it with a singleshot was most remote, while that I should but infuriate it was real andpresent; and so I waited for what seemed an eternity, watching thosedevilish points of fire glaring balefully at us, and listening to theever-increasing volume of those seismic growls which seemed to rumbleupward from the bowels of the earth, shaking the very cliffs beneathwhich we cowered, until at last I saw that the brute was againapproaching the aperture. It availed me nothing that I piled the blazehigh with firewood, until Ajor and I were near to roasting; on camethat mighty engine of destruction until once again the hideous faceyawned its fanged yawn directly within the barrier's opening. It stoodthus a moment, and then the head was withdrawn. I breathed a sigh ofrelief, the thing had altered its intention and was going on in searchof other and more easily procurable prey; the fire had been too muchfor it. 

But my joy was short-lived, and my heart sank once again as a momentlater I saw a mighty paw insinuated into the opening--a paw as largearound as a large dishpan. Very gently the paw toyed with the greatrock that partly closed the entrance, pushed and pulled upon it andthen very deliberately drew it outward and to one side. Again came thehead, and this time much farther into the cavern; but still the greatshoulders would not pass through the opening. Ajor moved closer to meuntil her shoulder touched my side, and I thought I felt a slighttremor run through her body, but otherwise she gave no indication offear. Involuntarily I threw my left arm about her and drew her to mefor an instant. It was an act of reassurance rather than a caress, though I must admit that again and even in the face of death I thrilledat the contact with her; and then I released her and threw my rifle tomy shoulder, for at last I had reached the conclusion that nothing morecould be gained by waiting. My only hope was to get as many shots intothe creature as I could before it was upon me. Already it had tornaway a second rock and was in the very act of forcing its huge bulkthrough the opening it had now made. 

So now I took careful aim between its eyes; my right fingers closedfirmly and evenly upon the small of the stock, drawing back mytrigger-finger by the muscular action of the hand. The bullet couldnot fail to hit its mark! I held my breath lest I swerve the muzzle ahair by my breathing. I was as steady and cool as I ever had been upona target-range, and I had the full consciousness of a perfect hit inanticipation; I knew that I could not miss. And then, as the bearsurged forward toward me, the hammer fell--futilely, upon an imperfectcartridge. 

Almost simultaneously I heard from without a perfectly hellish roar;the bear gave voice to a series of growls far transcending in volumeand ferocity anything that he had yet essayed and at the same timebacked quickly from the cave. For an instant I couldn't understandwhat had happened to cause this sudden retreat when his prey waspractically within his clutches. The idea that the harmless clickingof the hammer had frightened him was too ridiculous to entertain. However, we had not long to wait before we could at least guess at thecause of the diversion, for from without came mingled growls and roarsand the sound of great bodies thrashing about until the earth shook. The bear had been attacked in the rear by some other mighty beast, andthe two were now locked in a titanic struggle for supremacy. Withbrief respites, during which we could hear the labored breathing of thecontestants, the battle continued for the better part of an hour untilthe sounds of combat grew gradually less and finally ceased entirely. 

At Ajor's suggestion, made by signs and a few of the words we knew incommon, I moved the fire directly to the entrance to the cave so that abeast would have to pass directly through the flames to reach us, andthen we sat and waited for the victor of the battle to come and claimhis reward; but though we sat for a long time with our eyes glued tothe opening, we saw no sign of any beast. 

At last I signed to Ajor to lie down, for I knew that she must havesleep, and I sat on guard until nearly morning, when the girl awoke andinsisted that I take some rest; nor would she be denied, but dragged medown as she laughingly menaced me with her knife. 

Chapter 3

When I awoke, it was daylight, and I found Ajor squatting before a finebed of coals roasting a large piece of antelope-meat. Believe me, thesight of the new day and the delicious odor of the cooking meat filledme with renewed happiness and hope that had been all but expunged bythe experience of the previous night; and perhaps the slender figure ofthe bright-faced girl proved also a potent restorative. She looked upand smiled at me, showing those perfect teeth, and dimpling withevident happiness--the most adorable picture that I had ever seen. Irecall that it was then I first regretted that she was only a littleuntutored savage and so far beneath me in the scale of evolution. 

Her first act was to beckon me to follow her outside, and there shepointed to the explanation of our rescue from the bear--a hugesaber-tooth tiger, its fine coat and its flesh torn to ribbons, lyingdead a few paces from our cave, and beside it, equally mangled, anddisemboweled, was the carcass of a huge cave-bear. To have had one'slife saved by a saber-tooth tiger, and in the twentieth century intothe bargain, was an experience that was to say the least unique; but ithad happened--I had the proof of it before my eyes. 

So enormous are the great carnivora of Caspak that they must feedperpetually to support their giant thews, and the result is that theywill eat the meat of any other creature and will attack anything thatcomes within their ken, no matter how formidable the quarry. Fromlater observation--I mention this as worthy the attention ofpaleontologists and naturalists--I came to the conclusion that suchcreatures as the cave-bear, the cave-lion and the saber-tooth tiger, aswell as the larger carnivorous reptiles make, ordinarily, two kills aday--one in the morning and one after night. They immediately devourthe entire carcass, after which they lie up and sleep for a few hours. Fortunately their numbers are comparatively few; otherwise there wouldbe no other life within Caspak. It is their very voracity that keepstheir numbers down to a point which permits other forms of life topersist, for even in the season of love the great males often turn upontheir own mates and devour them, while both males and femalesoccasionally devour their young. How the human and semihuman raceshave managed to survive during all the countless ages that theseconditions must have existed here is quite beyond me. 

After breakfast Ajor and I set out once more upon our northwardjourney. We had gone but a little distance when we were attacked by anumber of apelike creatures armed with clubs. They seemed a littlehigher in the scale than the Alus. Ajor told me they were Bo-lu, orclubmen. A revolver-shot killed one and scattered the others; butseveral times later during the day we were menaced by them, until wehad left their country and entered that of the Sto-lu, or hatchet-men. These people were less hairy and more man-like; nor did they appear soanxious to destroy us. Rather they were curious, and followed us forsome distance examining us most closely. They called out to us, andAjor answered them; but her replies did not seem to satisfy them, forthey gradually became threatening, and I think they were preparing toattack us when a small deer that had been hiding in some low brushsuddenly broke cover and dashed across our front. We needed meat, forit was near one o'clock and I was getting hungry; so I drew my pistoland with a single shot dropped the creature in its tracks. The effectupon the Bo-lu was electrical. Immediately they abandoned all thoughtsof war, and turning, scampered for the forest which fringed our path. 

That night we spent beside a little stream in the Sto-lu country. Wefound a tiny cave in the rock bank, so hidden away that only chancecould direct a beast of prey to it, and after we had eaten of thedeer-meat and some fruit which Ajor gathered, we crawled into thelittle hole, and with sticks and stones which I had gathered for thepurpose I erected a strong barricade inside the entrance. Nothingcould reach us without swimming and wading through the stream, and Ifelt quite secure from attack. Our quarters were rather cramped. Theceiling was so low that we could not stand up, and the floor so narrowthat it was with difficulty that we both wedged into it together; butwe were very tired, and so we made the most of it; and so great was thefeeling of security that I am sure I fell asleep as soon as I hadstretched myself beside Ajor. 

During the three days which followed, our progress was exasperatinglyslow. I doubt if we made ten miles in the entire three days. Thecountry was hideously savage, so that we were forced to spend hours ata time in hiding from one or another of the great beasts which menacedus continually. There were fewer reptiles; but the quantity ofcarnivora seemed to have increased, and the reptiles that we did seewere perfectly gigantic. I shall never forget one enormous specimenwhich we came upon browsing upon water-reeds at the edge of the greatsea. It stood well over twelve feet high at the rump, its highestpoint, and with its enormously long tail and neck it was somewherebetween seventy-five and a hundred feet in length. Its head wasridiculously small; its body was unarmored, but its great bulk gave ita most formidable appearance. My experience of Caspakian life led meto believe that the gigantic creature would but have to see us toattack us, and so I raised my rifle and at the same time drew awaytoward some brush which offered concealment; but Ajor only laughed, andpicking up a stick, ran toward the great thing, shouting. The littlehead was raised high upon the long neck as the animal stupidly lookedhere and there in search of the author of the disturbance. At last itseyes discovered tiny little Ajor, and then she hurled the stick at thediminutive head. With a cry that sounded not unlike the bleat of asheep, the colossal creature shuffled into the water and was soonsubmerged. 

As I slowly recalled my collegiate studies and paleontological readingsin Bowen's textbooks, I realized that I had looked upon nothing lessthan a diplodocus of the Upper Jurassic; but how infinitely differentwas the true, live thing from the crude restorations of Hatcher andHolland! I had had the idea that the diplodocus was a land-animal, butevidently it is partially amphibious. I have seen several since myfirst encounter, and in each case the creature took to the sea forconcealment as soon as it was disturbed. With the exception of itsgigantic tail, it has no weapon of defense; but with this appendage itcan lash so terrific a blow as to lay low even a giant cave-bear, stunned and broken. It is a stupid, simple, gentle beast--one of thefew within Caspak which such a description might even remotely fit. 

For three nights we slept in trees, finding no caves or other places ofconcealment. Here we were free from the attacks of the large landcarnivora; but the smaller flying reptiles, the snakes, leopards, andpanthers were a constant menace, though by no means as much to befeared as the huge beasts that roamed the surface of the earth. 

At the close of the third day Ajor and I were able to converse withconsiderable fluency, and it was a great relief to both of us, especially to Ajor. She now did nothing but ask questions whenever Iwould let her, which could not be all the time, as our preservationdepended largely upon the rapidity with which I could gain knowledge ofthe geography and customs of Caspak, and accordingly I had to asknumerous questions myself. 

I enjoyed immensely hearing and answering her, so naive were many ofher queries and so filled with wonder was she at the things I told herof the world beyond the lofty barriers of Caspak; not once did she seemto doubt me, however marvelous my statements must have seemed; anddoubtless they were the cause of marvel to Ajor, who before had neverdreamed that any life existed beyond Caspak and the life she knew. 

Artless though many of her questions were, they evidenced a keenintellect and a shrewdness which seemed far beyond her years of herexperience. Altogether I was finding my little savage a mightyinteresting and companionable person, and I often thanked the kind fatethat directed the crossing of our paths. From her I learned much ofCaspak, but there still remained the mystery that had proved sobaffling to Bowen Tyler--the total absence of young among the ape, thesemihuman and the human races with which both he and I had come incontact upon opposite shores of the inland sea. Ajor tried to explainthe matter to me, though it was apparent that she could not conceivehow so natural a condition should demand explanation. She told me thatamong the Galus there were a few babies, that she had once been a babybut that most of her people "came up, " as he put it, "cor sva jo, " orliterally, "from the beginning"; and as they all did when they usedthat phrase, she would wave a broad gesture toward the south. 

"For long, " she explained, leaning very close to me and whispering thewords into my ear while she cast apprehensive glances about and mostlyskyward, "for long my mother kept me hidden lest the Wieroo, passingthrough the air by night, should come and take me away to Oo-oh. " Andthe child shuddered as she voiced the word. I tried to get her to tellme more; but her terror was so real when she spoke of the Wieroo andthe land of Oo-oh where they dwell that I at last desisted, though Idid learn that the Wieroo carried off only female babes andoccasionally women of the Galus who had "come up from the beginning. "It was all very mysterious and unfathomable, but I got the idea thatthe Wieroo were creatures of imagination--the demons or gods of herrace, omniscient and omnipresent. This led me to assume that the Galushad a religious sense, and further questioning brought out the factthat such was the case. Ajor spoke in tones of reverence of Luata, thegod of heat and life. The word is derived from two others: Lua, meaning sun, and ata, meaning variously eggs, life, young, andreproduction. She told me that they worshiped Luata in several forms, as fire, the sun, eggs and other material objects which suggested heatand reproduction. 

I had noticed that whenever I built a fire, Ajor outlined in the airbefore her with a forefinger an isosceles triangle, and that she didthe same in the morning when she first viewed the sun. At first I hadnot connected her act with anything in particular, but after we learnedto converse and she had explained a little of her religioussuperstitions, I realized that she was making the sign of the triangleas a Roman Catholic makes the sign of the cross. Always the short sideof the triangle was uppermost. As she explained all this to me, shepointed to the decorations on her golden armlets, upon the knob of herdagger-hilt and upon the band which encircled her right leg above theknee--always was the design partly made up of isosceles triangles, andwhen she explained the significance of this particular geometricfigure, I at once grasped its appropriateness. 

We were now in the country of the Band-lu, the spearmen of Caspak. Bowen had remarked in his narrative that these people were analogous tothe so-called Cro-Magnon race of the Upper Paleolithic, and I wastherefore very anxious to see them. Nor was I to be disappointed; Isaw them, all right! We had left the Sto-lu country and literallyfought our way through cordons of wild beasts for two days when wedecided to make camp a little earlier than usual, owing to the factthat we had reached a line of cliffs running east and west in whichwere numerous likely cave-lodgings. We were both very tired, and thesight of these caverns, several of which could be easily barricaded, decided us to halt until the following morning. It took but a fewminutes' exploration to discover one particular cavern high up the faceof the cliff which seemed ideal for our purpose. It opened upon anarrow ledge where we could build our cook-fire; the opening was sosmall that we had to lie flat and wriggle through it to gain ingress, while the interior was high-ceiled and spacious. I lighted a faggotand looked about; but as far as I could see, the chamber ran back intothe cliff. 

Laying aside my rifle, pistol and heavy ammunition-belt, I left Ajor inthe cave while I went down to gather firewood. We already had meat andfruits which we had gathered just before reaching the cliffs, and mycanteen was filled with fresh water. Therefore, all we required wasfuel, and as I always saved Ajor's strength when I could, I would notpermit her to accompany me. The poor girl was very tired; but shewould have gone with me until she dropped, I know, so loyal was she. She was the best comrade in the world, and sometimes I regretted andsometimes I was glad that she was not of my own caste, for had shebeen, I should unquestionably have fallen in love with her. As it was, we traveled together like two boys, with huge respect for each otherbut no softer sentiment. 

There was little timber close to the base of the cliffs, and so I wasforced to enter the wood some two hundred yards distant. I realize nowhow foolhardy was my act in such a land as Caspak, teeming with dangerand with death; but there is a certain amount of fool in every man; andwhatever proportion of it I own must have been in the ascendant thatday, for the truth of the matter is that I went down into those woodsabsolutely defenseless; and I paid the price, as people usually do fortheir indiscretions. As I searched around in the brush for likelypieces of firewood, my head bowed and my eyes upon the ground, Isuddenly felt a great weight hurl itself upon me. I struggled to myknees and seized my assailant, a huge, naked man--naked except for abreechcloth of snakeskin, the head hanging down to the knees. Thefellow was armed with a stone-shod spear, a stone knife and a hatchet. In his black hair were several gay-colored feathers. As we struggledto and fro, I was slowly gaining advantage of him, when a score of hisfellows came running up and overpowered me. 

They bound my hands behind me with long rawhide thongs and thensurveyed me critically. I found them fine-looking specimens ofmanhood, for the most part. There were some among them who bore aresemblance to the Sto-lu and were hairy; but the majority had massiveheads and not unlovely features. There was little about them tosuggest the ape, as in the Sto-lu, Bo-lu and Alus. I expected them tokill me at once, but they did not. Instead they questioned me; but itwas evident that they did not believe my story, for they scoffed andlaughed. 

"The Galus have turned you out, " they cried. "If you go back to them, you will die. If you remain here, you will die. We shall kill you;but first we shall have a dance and you shall dance with us--the danceof death. "

It sounded quite reassuring! But I knew that I was not to be killedimmediately, and so I took heart. They led me toward the cliffs, andas we approached them, I glanced up and was sure that I saw Ajor'sbright eyes peering down upon us from our lofty cave; but she gave nosign if she saw me; and we passed on, rounded the end of the cliffs andproceeded along the opposite face of them until we came to a sectionliterally honeycombed with caves. All about, upon the ground andswarming the ledges before the entrances, were hundreds of members ofthe tribe. There were many women but no babes or children, though Inoticed that the females had better developed breasts than any that Ihad seen among the hatchet-men, the club-men, the Alus or the apes. Infact, among the lower orders of Caspakian man the female breast is buta rudimentary organ, barely suggested in the apes and Alus, and only alittle more defined in the Bo-lu and Sto-lu, though always increasinglyso until it is found about half developed in the females of thespear-men; yet never was there an indication that the females hadsuckled young; nor were there any young among them. Some of theBand-lu women were quite comely. The figures of all, both men andwomen, were symmetrical though heavy, and though there were some whoverged strongly upon the Sto-lu type, there were others who werepositively handsome and whose bodies were quite hairless. The Alus areall bearded, but among the Bo-lu the beard disappears in the women. The Sto-lu men show a sparse beard, the Band-lu none; and there islittle hair upon the bodies of their women. 

The members of the tribe showed great interest in me, especially in myclothing, the like of which, of course, they never had seen. Theypulled and hauled upon me, and some of them struck me; but for the mostpart they were not inclined to brutality. It was only the hairierones, who most closely resembled the Sto-lu, who maltreated me. Atlast my captors led me into a great cave in the mouth of which a firewas burning. The floor was littered with filth, including the bones ofmany animals, and the atmosphere reeked with the stench of human bodiesand putrefying flesh. Here they fed me, releasing my arms, and I ateof half-cooked aurochs steak and a stew which may have been made ofsnakes, for many of the long, round pieces of meat suggested them mostnauseatingly. 

The meal completed, they led me well within the cavern, which theylighted with torches stuck in various crevices in the light of which Isaw, to my astonishment, that the walls were covered with paintings andetchings. There were aurochs, red deer, saber-tooth tiger, cave-bear, hyaenadon and many other examples of the fauna of Caspak done incolors, usually of four shades of brown, or scratched upon the surfaceof the rock. Often they were super-imposed upon each other until itrequired careful examination to trace out the various outlines. Butthey all showed a rather remarkable aptitude for delineation whichfurther fortified Bowen's comparisons between these people and theextinct Cro-Magnons whose ancient art is still preserved in the cavernsof Niaux and Le Portel. The Band-lu, however, did not have the bow andarrow, and in this respect they differ from their extinct progenitors, or descendants, of Western Europe. 

Should any of my friends chance to read the story of my adventures uponCaprona, I hope they will not be bored by these diversions, and if theyare, I can only say that I am writing my memoirs for my own edificationand therefore setting down those things which interested meparticularly at the time. I have no desire that the general publicshould ever have access to these pages; but it is possible that myfriends may, and also certain savants who are interested; and to them, while I do not apologize for my philosophizing, I humbly explain thatthey are witnessing the groupings of a finite mind after the infinite, the search for explanations of the inexplicable. 

In a far recess of the cavern my captors bade me halt. Again my handswere secured, and this time my feet as well. During the operation theyquestioned me, and I was mighty glad that the marked similarity betweenthe various tribal tongues of Caspak enabled us to understand eachother perfectly, even though they were unable to believe or even tocomprehend the truth of my origin and the circumstances of my advent inCaspak; and finally they left me saying that they would come for mebefore the dance of death upon the morrow. Before they departed withtheir torches, I saw that I had not been conducted to the farthestextremity of the cavern, for a dark and gloomy corridor led beyond myprison room into the heart of the cliff. 

I could not but marvel at the immensity of this great undergroundgrotto. Already I had traversed several hundred yards of it, from manypoints of which other corridors diverged. The whole cliff must behoneycombed with apartments and passages of which this communityoccupied but a comparatively small part, so that the possibility of themore remote passages being the lair of savage beasts that have othermeans of ingress and egress than that used by the Band-lu filled mewith dire forebodings. 

I believe that I am not ordinarily hysterically apprehensive; yet Imust confess that under the conditions with which I was confronted, Ifelt my nerves to be somewhat shaken. On the morrow I was to die somesort of nameless death for the diversion of a savage horde, but themorrow held fewer terrors for me than the present, and I submit to anyfair-minded man if it is not a terrifying thing to lie bound hand andfoot in the Stygian blackness of an immense cave peopled by unknowndangers in a land overrun by hideous beasts and reptiles of thegreatest ferocity. At any moment, perhaps at this very moment, somesilent-footed beast of prey might catch my scent where it laired insome contiguous passage, and might creep stealthily upon me. I cranedmy neck about, and stared through the inky darkness for the twin spotsof blazing hate which I knew would herald the coming of my executioner. So real were the imaginings of my overwrought brain that I broke into acold sweat in absolute conviction that some beast was close before me;yet the hours dragged, and no sound broke the grave-like stillness ofthe cavern. 

During that period of eternity many events of my life passed before mymental vision, a vast parade of friends and occurrences which would beblotted out forever on the morrow. I cursed myself for the foolish actwhich had taken me from the search-party that so depended upon me, andI wondered what progress, if any, they had made. Were they stillbeyond the barrier cliffs, awaiting my return? Or had they found a wayinto Caspak? I felt that the latter would be the truth, for the partywas not made up of men easily turned from a purpose. Quite probable itwas that they were already searching for me; but that they would everfind a trace of me I doubted. Long since, had I come to the conclusionthat it was beyond human prowess to circle the shores of the inland seaof Caspak in the face of the myriad menaces which lurked in everyshadow by day and by night. Long since, had I given up any hope ofreaching the point where I had made my entry into the country, and so Iwas now equally convinced that our entire expedition had been worsethan futile before ever it was conceived, since Bowen J. Tyler and hiswife could not by any possibility have survived during all these longmonths; no more could Bradley and his party of seamen be yet inexistence. If the superior force and equipment of my party enabledthem to circle the north end of the sea, they might some day come uponthe broken wreck of my plane hanging in the great tree to the south;but long before that, my bones would be added to the litter upon thefloor of this mighty cavern. 

And through all my thoughts, real and fanciful, moved the image of aperfect girl, clear-eyed and strong and straight and beautiful, withthe carriage of a queen and the supple, undulating grace of a leopard. Though I loved my friends, their fate seemed of less importance to methan the fate of this little barbarian stranger for whom, I hadconvinced myself many a time, I felt no greater sentiment than passingfriendship for a fellow-wayfarer in this land of horrors. Yet I soworried and fretted about her and her future that at last I quiteforgot my own predicament, though I still struggled intermittently withbonds in vain endeavor to free myself; as much, however, that I mighthasten to her protection as that I might escape the fate which had beenplanned for me. And while I was thus engaged and had for the momentforgotten my apprehensions concerning prowling beasts, I was startledinto tense silence by a distinct and unmistakable sound coming from thedark corridor farther toward the heart of the cliff--the sound ofpadded feet moving stealthily in my direction. 

I believe that never before in all my life, even amidst the terrors ofchildhood nights, have I suffered such a sensation of extreme horror asI did that moment in which I realized that I must lie bound andhelpless while some horrid beast of prey crept upon me to devour me inthat utter darkness of the Bandlu pits of Caspak. I reeked with coldsweat, and my flesh crawled--I could feel it crawl. If ever I camenearer to abject cowardice, I do not recall the instance; and yet itwas not that I was afraid to die, for I had long since given myself upas lost--a few days of Caspak must impress anyone with the utternothingness of life. The waters, the land, the air teem with it, andalways it is being devoured by some other form of life. Life is thecheapest thing in Caspak, as it is the cheapest thing on earth and, doubtless, the cheapest cosmic production. No, I was not afraid todie; in fact, I prayed for death, that I might be relieved of thefrightfulness of the interval of life which remained to me--thewaiting, the awful waiting, for that fearsome beast to reach me and tostrike. 

Presently it was so close that I could hear its breathing, and then ittouched me and leaped quickly back as though it had come upon meunexpectedly. For long moments no sound broke the sepulchral silenceof the cave. Then I heard a movement on the part of the creature nearme, and again it touched me, and I felt something like a hairless handpass over my face and down until it touched the collar of my flannelshirt. And then, subdued, but filled with pent emotion, a voice cried:"Tom!"

I think I nearly fainted, so great was the reaction. "Ajor!" Imanaged to say. "Ajor, my girl, can it be you?"

"Oh, Tom!" she cried again in a trembly little voice and flung herselfupon me, sobbing softly. I had not known that Ajor could cry. 

As she cut away my bonds, she told me that from the entrance to ourcave she had seen the Band-lu coming out of the forest with me, and shehad followed until they took me into the cave, which she had seen wasupon the opposite side of the cliff in which ours was located; andthen, knowing that she could do nothing for me until after the Band-luslept, she had hastened to return to our cave. With difficulty she hadreached it, after having been stalked by a cave-lion and almost seized. I trembled at the risk she had run. 

It had been her intention to wait until after midnight, when most ofthe carnivora would have made their kills, and then attempt to reachthe cave in which I was imprisoned and rescue me. She explained thatwith my rifle and pistol--both of which she assured me she could use, having watched me so many times--she planned upon frightening theBand-lu and forcing them to give me up. Brave little girl! She wouldhave risked her life willingly to save me. But some time after shereached our cave she heard voices from the far recesses within, andimmediately concluded that we had but found another entrance to thecaves which the Band-lu occupied upon the other face of the cliff. Then she had set out through those winding passages and in totaldarkness had groped her way, guided solely by a marvelous sense ofdirection, to where I lay. She had had to proceed with utmost cautionlest she fall into some abyss in the darkness and in truth she hadthrice come upon sheer drops and had been forced to take the mostfrightful risks to pass them. I shudder even now as I contemplate whatthis girl passed through for my sake and how she enhanced her peril inloading herself down with the weight of my arms and ammunition and theawkwardness of the long rifle which she was unaccustomed to bearing. 

I could have knelt and kissed her hand in reverence and gratitude; noram I ashamed to say that that is precisely what I did after I had beenfreed from my bonds and heard the story of her trials. Brave littleAjor! Wonder-girl out of the dim, unthinkable past! Never before hadshe been kissed; but she seemed to sense something of the meaning ofthe new caress, for she leaned forward in the dark and pressed her ownlips to my forehead. A sudden urge surged through me to seize her andstrain her to my bosom and cover her hot young lips with the kisses ofa real love, but I did not do so, for I knew that I did not love her;and to have kissed her thus, with passion, would have been to inflict agreat wrong upon her who had offered her life for mine. 

No, Ajor should be as safe with me as with her own mother, if she hadone, which I was inclined to doubt, even though she told me that shehad once been a babe and hidden by her mother. I had come to doubt ifthere was such a thing as a mother in Caspak, a mother such as we know. From the Bo-lu to the Kro-lu there is no word which corresponds withour word mother. They speak of ata and cor sva jo, meaningreproduction and from the beginning, and point toward the south; but noone has a mother. 

After considerable difficulty we gained what we thought was our cave, only to find that it was not, and then we realized that we were lost inthe labyrinthine mazes of the great cavern. We retraced our steps andsought the point from which we had started, but only succeeded inlosing ourselves the more. Ajor was aghast--not so much from fear ofour predicament; but that she should have failed in the functioning ofthat wonderful sense she possessed in common with most other creaturesCaspakian, which makes it possible for them to move unerringly fromplace to place without compass or guide. 

Hand in hand we crept along, searching for an opening into the outerworld, yet realizing that at each step we might be burrowing moredeeply into the heart of the great cliff, or circling futilely in thevague wandering that could end only in death. And the darkness! Itwas almost palpable, and utterly depressing. I had matches, and insome of the more difficult places I struck one; but we couldn't affordto waste them, and so we groped our way slowly along, doing the best wecould to keep to one general direction in the hope that it wouldeventually lead us to an opening into the outer world. When I struckmatches, I noticed that the walls bore no paintings; nor was thereother sign that man had penetrated this far within the cliff, nor anyspoor of animals of other kinds. 

It would be difficult to guess at the time we spent wandering throughthose black corridors, climbing steep ascents, feeling our way alongthe edges of bottomless pits, never knowing at what moment we might beplunged into some abyss and always haunted by the ever-present terrorof death by starvation and thirst. As difficult as it was, I stillrealized that it might have been infinitely worse had I had anothercompanion than Ajor--courageous, uncomplaining, loyal little Ajor! Shewas tired and hungry and thirsty, and she must have been discouraged;but she never faltered in her cheerfulness. I asked her if she wasafraid, and she replied that here the Wieroo could not get her, andthat if she died of hunger, she would at least die with me and she wasquite content that such should be her end. At the time I attributedher attitude to something akin to a doglike devotion to a new masterwho had been kind to her. I can take oath to the fact that I did notthink it was anything more. 

Whether we had been imprisoned in the cliff for a day or a week I couldnot say; nor even now do I know. We became very tired and hungry; thehours dragged; we slept at least twice, and then we rose and stumbledon, always weaker and weaker. There were ages during which the trendof the corridors was always upward. It was heartbreaking work forpeople in the state of exhaustion in which we then were, but we clungtenaciously to it. We stumbled and fell; we sank through pure physicalinability to retain our feet; but always we managed to rise at last andgo on. At first, wherever it had been possible, we had walked hand inhand lest we become separated, and later, when I saw that Ajor wasweakening rapidly, we went side by side, I supporting her with an armabout her waist. I still retained the heavy burden of my armament; butwith the rifle slung to my back, my hands were free. When I too showedindisputable evidences of exhaustion, Ajor suggested that I lay asidemy arms and ammunition; but I told her that as it would mean certaindeath for me to traverse Caspak without them, I might as well take thechance of dying here in the cave with them, for there was the otherchance that we might find our way to liberty. 

There came a time when Ajor could no longer walk, and then it was thatI picked her up in my arms and carried her. She begged me to leaveher, saying that after I found an exit, I could come back and get her;but she knew, and she knew that I knew, that if ever I did leave her, Icould never find her again. Yet she insisted. Barely had I sufficientstrength to take a score of steps at a time; then I would have to sinkdown and rest for five to ten minutes. I don't know what force urgedme on and kept me going in the face of an absolute conviction that myefforts were utterly futile. I counted us already as good as dead; butstill I dragged myself along until the time came that I could no longerrise, but could only crawl along a few inches at a time, dragging Ajorbeside me. Her sweet voice, now almost inaudible from weakness, implored me to abandon her and save myself--she seemed to think only ofme. Of course I couldn't have left her there alone, no matter how muchI might have desired to do so; but the fact of the matter was that Ididn't desire to leave her. What I said to her then came very simplyand naturally to my lips. It couldn't very well have been otherwise, Iimagine, for with death so close, I doubt if people are much inclinedto heroics. "I would rather not get out at all, Ajor, " I said to her, "than to get out without you. " We were resting against a rocky wall, and Ajor was leaning against me, her head on my breast. I could feelher press closer to me, and one hand stroked my arm in a weak caress;but she didn't say anything, nor were words necessary. 

After a few minutes' more rest, we started on again upon our utterlyhopeless way; but I soon realized that I was weakening rapidly, andpresently I was forced to admit that I was through. "It's no use, Ajor, " I said, "I've come as far as I can. It may be that if I sleep, I can go on again after, " but I knew that that was not true, and thatthe end was near. "Yes, sleep, " said Ajor. "We will sleeptogether--forever. "

She crept close to me as I lay on the hard floor and pillowed her headupon my arm. With the little strength which remained to me, I drew herup until our lips touched, and, then I whispered: "Good-bye!" I musthave lost consciousness almost immediately, for I recall nothing moreuntil I suddenly awoke out of a troubled sleep, during which I dreamedthat I was drowning, to find the cave lighted by what appeared to bediffused daylight, and a tiny trickle of water running down thecorridor and forming a puddle in the little depression in which itchanced that Ajor and I lay. I turned my eyes quickly upon Ajor, fearful for what the light might disclose; but she still breathed, though very faintly. Then I searched about for an explanation of thelight, and soon discovered that it came from about a bend in thecorridor just ahead of us and at the top of a steep incline; andinstantly I realized that Ajor and I had stumbled by night almost tothe portal of salvation. Had chance taken us a few yards further, upeither of the corridors which diverged from ours just ahead of us, wemight have been irrevocably lost; we might still be lost; but at leastwe could die in the light of day, out of the horrid blackness of thisterrible cave. 

I tried to rise, and found that sleep had given me back a portion of mystrength; and then I tasted the water and was further refreshed. Ishook Ajor gently by the shoulder; but she did not open her eyes, andthen I gathered a few drops of water in my cupped palm and let themtrickle between her lips. This revived her so that she raised herlids, and when she saw me, she smiled. 

"What happened?" she asked. "Where are we?"

"We are at the end of the corridor, " I replied, "and daylight is comingin from the outside world just ahead. We are saved, Ajor!"

She sat up then and looked about, and then, quite womanlike, she burstinto tears. It was the reaction, of course; and then too, she was veryweak. I took her in my arms and quieted her as best I could, andfinally, with my help, she got to her feet; for she, as well as I, hadfound some slight recuperation in sleep. Together we staggered upwardtoward the light, and at the first turn we saw an opening a few yardsahead of us and a leaden sky beyond--a leaden sky from which wasfalling a drizzling rain, the author of our little, trickling streamwhich had given us drink when we were most in need of it. 

The cave had been damp and cold; but as we crawled through theaperture, the muggy warmth of the Caspakian air caressed and confrontedus; even the rain was warmer than the atmosphere of those darkcorridors. We had water now, and warmth, and I was sure that Caspakwould soon offer us meat or fruit; but as we came to where we couldlook about, we saw that we were upon the summit of the cliffs, wherethere seemed little reason to expect game. However, there were trees, and among them we soon descried edible fruits with which we broke ourlong fast. 

Chapter 4

We spent two days upon the cliff-top, resting and recuperating. Therewas some small game which gave us meat, and the little pools ofrainwater were sufficient to quench our thirst. The sun came out a fewhours after we emerged from the cave, and in its warmth we soon castoff the gloom which our recent experiences had saddled upon us. 

Upon the morning of the third day we set out to search for a path downto the valley. Below us, to the north, we saw a large pool lying atthe foot of the cliffs, and in it we could discern the women of theBand-lu lying in the shallow waters, while beyond and close to the baseof the mighty barrier-cliffs there was a large party of Band-luwarriors going north to hunt. We had a splendid view from our loftycliff-top. Dimly, to the west, we could see the farther shore of theinland sea, and southwest the large southern island loomed distinctlybefore us. A little east of north was the northern island, which Ajor, shuddering, whispered was the home of the Wieroo--the land of Oo-oh. It lay at the far end of the lake and was barely visible to us, beingfully sixty miles away. 

From our elevation, and in a clearer atmosphere, it would have stoodout distinctly; but the air of Caspak is heavy with moisture, with theresult that distant objects are blurred and indistinct. Ajor also toldme that the mainland east of Oo-oh was her land--the land of the Galu. She pointed out the cliffs at its southern boundary, which mark thefrontier, south of which lies the country of Kro-lu--the archers. Wenow had but to pass through the balance of the Band-lu territory andthat of the Kro-lu to be within the confines of her own land; but thatmeant traversing thirty-five miles of hostile country filled with everyimaginable terror, and possibly many beyond the powers of imagination. I would certainly have given a lot for my plane at that moment, forwith it, twenty minutes would have landed us within the confines ofAjor's country. 

We finally found a place where we could slip over the edge of the cliffonto a narrow ledge which seemed to give evidence of being something ofa game-path to the valley, though it apparently had not been used forsome time. I lowered Ajor at the end of my rifle and then slid overmyself, and I am free to admit that my hair stood on end during theprocess, for the drop was considerable and the ledge appallinglynarrow, with a frightful drop sheer below down to the rocks at the baseof the cliff; but with Ajor there to catch and steady me, I made it allright, and then we set off down the trail toward the valley. Therewere two or three more bad places, but for the most part it was an easydescent, and we came to the highest of the Band-lu caves withoutfurther trouble. Here we went more slowly, lest we should be set uponby some member of the tribe. 

We must have passed about half the Band-lu cave-levels before we wereaccosted, and then a huge fellow stepped out in front of me, barringour further progress. 

"Who are you?" he asked; and he recognized me and I him, for he hadbeen one of those who had led me back into the cave and bound me thenight that I had been captured. From me his gaze went to Ajor. He wasa fine-looking man with clear, intelligent eyes, a good forehead andsuperb physique--by far the highest type of Caspakian I had yet seen, barring Ajor, of course. 

"You are a true Galu, " he said to Ajor, "but this man is of a differentmold. He has the face of a Galu, but his weapons and the strange skinshe wears upon his body are not of the Galus nor of Caspak. Who is he?"

"He is Tom, " replied Ajor succinctly. 

"There is no such people, " asserted the Band-lu quite truthfully, toying with his spear in a most suggestive manner. 

"My name is Tom, " I explained, "and I am from a country beyond Caspak. "I thought it best to propitiate him if possible, because of thenecessity of conserving ammunition as well as to avoid the loud alarmof a shot which might bring other Band-lu warriors upon us. "I am fromAmerica, a land of which you never heard, and I am seeking others of mycountrymen who are in Caspak and from whom I am lost. I have no quarrelwith you or your people. Let us go our way in peace. "

"You are going there?" he asked, and pointed toward the north. 

"I am, " I replied. 

He was silent for several minutes, apparently weighing some thought inhis mind. At last he spoke. "What is that?" he asked. "And what isthat?" He pointed first at my rifle and then to my pistol. 

"They are weapons, " I replied, "weapons which kill at a greatdistance. " I pointed to the women in the pool beneath us. "With this, "I said, tapping my pistol, "I could kill as many of those women as Icared to, without moving a step from where we now stand. "

He looked his incredulity, but I went on. "And with this"--I weighedmy rifle at the balance in the palm of my right hand--"I could slay oneof those distant warriors. " And I waved my left hand toward the tinyfigures of the hunters far to the north. 

The fellow laughed. "Do it, " he cried derisively, "and then it may bethat I shall believe the balance of your strange story. "

"But I do not wish to kill any of them, " I replied. "Why should I?"

"Why not?" he insisted. "They would have killed you when they had youprisoner. They would kill you now if they could get their hands onyou, and they would eat you into the bargain. But I know why you donot try it--it is because you have spoken lies; your weapon will notkill at a great distance. It is only a queerly wrought club. For allI know, you are nothing more than a lowly Bo-lu. "

"Why should you wish me to kill your own people?" I asked. 

"They are no longer my people, " he replied proudly. "Last night, inthe very middle of the night, the call came to me. Like that it cameinto my head"--and he struck his hands together smartly once--"that Ihad risen. I have been waiting for it and expecting it for a longtime; today I am a Krolu. Today I go into the coslupak" (unpeopledcountry, or literally, no man's land) "between the Band-lu and theKro-lu, and there I fashion my bow and my arrows and my shield; there Ihunt the red deer for the leathern jerkin which is the badge of my newestate. When these things are done, I can go to the chief of theKro-lu, and he dare not refuse me. That is why you may kill those lowBand-lu if you wish to live, for I am in a hurry. 

"But why do you wish to kill me?" I asked. 

He looked puzzled and finally gave it up. "I do not know, " headmitted. "It is the way in Caspak. If we do not kill, we shall bekilled, therefore it is wise to kill first whomever does not belong toone's own people. This morning I hid in my cave till the others weregone upon the hunt, for I knew that they would know at once that I hadbecome a Kro-lu and would kill me. They will kill me if they find mein the coslupak; so will the Kro-lu if they come upon me before I havewon my Kro-lu weapons and jerkin. You would kill me if you could, andthat is the reason I know that you speak lies when you say that yourweapons will kill at a great distance. Would they, you would longsince have killed me. Come! I have no more time to waste in words. Iwill spare the woman and take her with me to the Kro-lu, for she iscomely. " And with that he advanced upon me with raised spear. 

My rifle was at my hip at the ready. He was so close that I did notneed to raise it to my shoulder, having but to pull the trigger to sendhim into Kingdom Come whenever I chose; but yet I hesitated. It wasdifficult to bring myself to take a human life. I could feel no enmitytoward this savage barbarian who acted almost as wholly upon instinctas might a wild beast, and to the last moment I was determined to seeksome way to avoid what now seemed inevitable. Ajor stood at myshoulder, her knife ready in her hand and a sneer on her lips at hissuggestion that he would take her with him. 

Just as I thought I should have to fire, a chorus of screams broke fromthe women beneath us. I saw the man halt and glance downward, andfollowing his example my eyes took in the panic and its cause. Thewomen had, evidently, been quitting the pool and slowly returningtoward the caves, when they were confronted by a monstrous cave-lionwhich stood directly between them and their cliffs in the center of thenarrow path that led down to the pool among the tumbled rocks. Screaming, the women were rushing madly back to the pool. 

"It will do them no good, " remarked the man, a trace of excitement inhis voice. "It will do them no good, for the lion will wait until theycome out and take as many as he can carry away; and there is onethere, " he added, a trace of sadness in his tone, "whom I hoped wouldsoon follow me to the Kro-lu. Together have we come up from thebeginning. " He raised his spear above his head and poised it ready tohurl downward at the lion. "She is nearest to him, " he muttered. "Hewill get her and she will never come to me among the Kro-lu, or everthereafter. It is useless! No warrior lives who could hurl a weaponso great a distance. "

But even as he spoke, I was leveling my rifle upon the great brutebelow; and as he ceased speaking, I squeezed the trigger. My bulletmust have struck to a hair the point at which I had aimed, for itsmashed the brute's spine back of his shoulders and tore on through hisheart, dropping him dead in his tracks. For a moment the women were asterrified by the report of the rifle as they had been by the menace ofthe lion; but when they saw that the loud noise had evidently destroyedtheir enemy, they came creeping cautiously back to examine the carcass. 

The man, toward whom I had immediately turned after firing, lest heshould pursue his threatened attack, stood staring at me in amazementand admiration. 

"Why, " he asked, "if you could do that, did you not kill me longbefore?"

"I told you, " I replied, "that I had no quarrel with you. I do notcare to kill men with whom I have no quarrel. "

But he could not seem to get the idea through his head. "I can believenow that you are not of Caspak, " he admitted, "for no Caspakian wouldhave permitted such an opportunity to escape him. " This, however, Ifound later to be an exaggeration, as the tribes of the west coast andeven the Kro-lu of the east coast are far less bloodthirsty than hewould have had me believe. "And your weapon!" he continued. "Youspoke true words when I thought you spoke lies. " And then, suddenly:"Let us be friends!"

I turned to Ajor. "Can I trust him?" I asked. 

"Yes, " she replied. "Why not? Has he not asked to be friends?"

I was not at the time well enough acquainted with Caspakian ways toknow that truthfulness and loyalty are two of the strongestcharacteristics of these primitive people. They are not sufficientlycultured to have become adept in hypocrisy, treason and dissimulation. There are, of course, a few exceptions. 

"We can go north together, " continued the warrior. "I will fight foryou, and you can fight for me. Until death will I serve you, for youhave saved So-al, whom I had given up as dead. " He threw down hisspear and covered both his eyes with the palms of his two hands. Ilooked inquiringly toward Ajor, who explained as best she could thatthis was the form of the Caspakian oath of allegiance. "You need neverfear him after this, " she concluded. 

"What should I do?" I asked. 

"Take his hands down from before his eyes and return his spear to him, "she explained. 

I did as she bade, and the man seemed very pleased. I then asked whatI should have done had I not wished to accept his friendship. Theytold me that had I walked away, the moment that I was out of sight ofthe warrior we would have become deadly enemies again. "But I could soeasily have killed him as he stood there defenseless!" I exclaimed. 

"Yes, " replied the warrior, "but no man with good sense blinds his eyesbefore one whom he does not trust. "

It was rather a decent compliment, and it taught me just how much Imight rely on the loyalty of my new friend. I was glad to have himwith us, for he knew the country and was evidently a fearless warrior. I wished that I might have recruited a battalion like him. 

As the women were now approaching the cliffs, Tomar the warriorsuggested that we make our way to the valley before they couldintercept us, as they might attempt to detain us and were almostcertain to set upon Ajor. So we hastened down the narrow path, reaching the foot of the cliffs but a short distance ahead of thewomen. They called after us to stop; but we kept on at a rapid walk, not wishing to have any trouble with them, which could only result inthe death of some of them. 

We had proceeded about a mile when we heard some one behind us callingTo-mar by name, and when we stopped and looked around, we saw a womanrunning rapidly toward us. As she approached nearer I could see thatshe was a very comely creature, and like all her sex that I had seen inCaspak, apparently young. 

"It is So-al!" exclaimed To-mar. "Is she mad that she follows me thus?"

In another moment the young woman stopped, panting, before us. Shepaid not the slightest attention to Ajor or me; but devouring To-marwith her sparkling eyes, she cried: "I have risen! I have risen!"

"So-al!" was all that the man could say. 

"Yes, " she went on, "the call came to me just before I quit the pool;but I did not know that it had come to you. I can see it in your eyes, To-mar, my To-mar! We shall go on together!" And she threw herselfinto his arms. 

It was a very affecting sight, for it was evident that these two hadbeen mates for a long time and that they had each thought that theywere about to be separated by that strange law of evolution which holdsgood in Caspak and which was slowly unfolding before my incredulousmind. I did not then comprehend even a tithe of the wondrous process, which goes on eternally within the confines of Caprona's barrier cliffsnor am I any too sure that I do even now. 

To-mar explained to So-al that it was I who had killed the cave-lionand saved her life, and that Ajor was my woman and thus entitled to thesame loyalty which was my due. 

At first Ajor and So-al were like a couple of stranger cats on a backfence but soon they began to accept each other under something of anarmed truce, and later became fast friends. So-al was a mightyfine-looking girl, built like a tigress as to strength and sinuosity, but withal sweet and womanly. Ajor and I came to be very fond of her, and she was, I think, equally fond of us. To-mar was very much of aman--a savage, if you will, but none the less a man. 

Finding that traveling in company with To-mar made our journey botheasier and safer, Ajor and I did not continue on our way alone whilethe novitiates delayed their approach to the Kro-lu country in orderthat they might properly fit themselves in the matter of arms andapparel, but remained with them. Thus we became well acquainted--tosuch an extent that we looked forward with regret to the day when theytook their places among their new comrades and we should be forced tocontinue upon our way alone. It was a matter of much concern to To-marthat the Krolu would undoubtedly not receive Ajor and me in a friendlymanner, and that consequently we should have to avoid these people. 

It would have been very helpful to us could we have made friends withthem, as their country abutted directly upon that of the Galus. Theirfriendship would have meant that Ajor's dangers were practicallypassed, and that I had accomplished fully one-half of my long journey. In view of what I had passed through, I often wondered what chance Ihad to complete that journey in search of my friends. The furthersouth I should travel on the west side of the island, the morefrightful would the dangers become as I neared the stamping-grounds ofthe more hideous reptilia and the haunts of the Alus and the Ho-lu, allof which were at the southern half of the island; and then if I shouldnot find the members of my party, what was to become of me? I couldnot live for long in any portion of Caspak with which I was familiar;the moment my ammunition was exhausted, I should be as good as dead. 

There was a chance that the Galus would receive me; but even Ajor couldnot say definitely whether they would or not, and even provided thatthey would, could I retrace my steps from the beginning, after failingto find my own people, and return to the far northern land of Galus? Idoubted it. However, I was learning from Ajor, who was more or less ofa fatalist, a philosophy which was as necessary in Caspak to peace ofmind as is faith to the devout Christian of the outer world. 

Chapter 5

We were sitting before a little fire inside a safe grotto one nightshortly after we had quit the cliff-dwellings of the Band-lu, whenSo-al raised a question which it had never occurred to me to propoundto Ajor. She asked her why she had left her own people and how she hadcome so far south as the country of the Alus, where I had found her. 

At first Ajor hesitated to explain; but at last she consented, and forthe first time I heard the complete story of her origin andexperiences. For my benefit she entered into greater detail ofexplanation than would have been necessary had I been a nativeCaspakian. 

"I am a cos-ata-lo, " commenced Ajor, and then she turned toward me. "Acos-ata-lo, my Tom, is a woman" (lo) "who did not come from an egg andthus on up from the beginning. " (Cor sva jo. ) "I was a babe at mymother's breast. Only among the Galus are such, and then butinfrequently. The Wieroo get most of us; but my mother hid me until Ihad attained such size that the Wieroo could not readily distinguish mefrom one who had come up from the beginning. I knew both my mother andmy father, as only such as I may. My father is high chief among theGalus. His name is Jor, and both he and my mother came up from thebeginning; but one of them, probably my mother, had completed the sevencycles" (approximately seven hundred years), "with the result thattheir offspring might be cos-ata-lo, or born as are all the children ofyour race, my Tom, as you tell me is the fact. I was therefore apartfrom my fellows in that my children would probably be as I, of a higherstate of evolution, and so I was sought by the men of my people; butnone of them appealed to me. I cared for none. The most persistentwas Du-seen, a huge warrior of whom my father stood in considerablefear, since it was quite possible that Du-seen could wrest from him hischieftainship of the Galus. He has a large following of the newerGalus, those most recently come up from the Kro-lu, and as this classis usually much more powerful numerically than the older Galus, and asDu-seen's ambition knows no bounds, we have for a long time beenexpecting him to find some excuse for a break with Jor the High Chief, my father. 

"A further complication lay in the fact that Duseen wanted me, while Iwould have none of him, and then came evidence to my father's ears thathe was in league with the Wieroo; a hunter, returning late at night, came trembling to my father, saying that he had seen Du-seen talkingwith a Wieroo in a lonely spot far from the village, and that plainlyhe had heard the words: 'If you will help me, I will help you--I willdeliver into your hands all cos-ata-lo among the Galus, now andhereafter; but for that service you must slay Jor the High Chief andbring terror and confusion to his followers. '

"Now, when my father heard this, he was angry; but he was alsoafraid--afraid for me, who am cosata-lo. He called me to him and toldme what he had heard, pointing out two ways in which we might frustrateDu-seen. The first was that I go to Du-seen as his mate, after whichhe would be loath to give me into the hands of the Wieroo or to furtherabide by the wicked compact he had made--a compact which would doom hisown offspring, who would doubtless be as am I, their mother. Thealternative was flight until Du-seen should have been overcome andpunished. I chose the latter and fled toward the south. Beyond theconfines of the Galu country is little danger from the Wieroo, who seekordinarily only Galus of the highest orders. There are two excellentreasons for this: One is that from the beginning of time jealousy hadexisted between the Wieroo and the Galus as to which would eventuallydominate the world. It seems generally conceded that that race whichfirst reaches a point of evolution which permits them to produce youngof their own species and of both sexes must dominate all othercreatures. The Wieroo first began to produce their own kind--afterwhich evolution from Galu to Wieroo ceased gradually until now it isunknown; but the Wieroo produce only males--which is why they steal ourfemale young, and by stealing cos-ata-lo they increase their ownchances of eventually reproducing both sexes and at the same timelessen ours. Already the Galus produce both male and female; but socarefully do the Wieroo watch us that few of the males ever grow tomanhood, while even fewer are the females that are not stolen away. Itis indeed a strange condition, for while our greatest enemies hate andfear us, they dare not exterminate us, knowing that they too wouldbecome extinct but for us. 

"Ah, but could we once get a start, I am sure that when all were truecos-ata-lo there would have been evolved at last the true dominant racebefore which all the world would be forced to bow. "

Ajor always spoke of the world as though nothing existed beyond Caspak. She could not seem to grasp the truth of my origin or the fact thatthere were countless other peoples outside her stern barrier-cliffs. She apparently felt that I came from an entirely different world. Where it was and how I came to Caspak from it were matters quite beyondher with which she refused to trouble her pretty head. 

"Well, " she continued, "and so I ran away to hide, intending to passthe cliffs to the south of Galu and find a retreat in the Kro-lucountry. It would be dangerous, but there seemed no other way. 

"The third night I took refuge in a large cave in the cliffs at theedge of my own country; upon the following day I would cross over intothe Kro-lu country, where I felt that I should be reasonably safe fromthe Wieroo, though menaced by countless other dangers. However, to acos-ata-lo any fate is preferable to that of falling into the clutchesof the frightful Wieroo, from whose land none returns. 

"I had been sleeping peacefully for several hours when I was awakenedby a slight noise within the cavern. The moon was shining brightly, illumining the entrance, against which I saw silhouetted the dreadfigure of a Wieroo. There was no escape. The cave was shallow, theentrance narrow. I lay very still, hoping against hope, that thecreature had but paused here to rest and might soon depart withoutdiscovering me; yet all the while I knew that he came seeking me. 

"I waited, scarce breathing, watching the thing creep stealthily towardme, its great eyes luminous in the darkness of the cave's interior, andat last I knew that those eyes were directed upon me, for the Wieroocan see in the darkness better than even the lion or the tiger. But afew feet separated us when I sprang to my feet and dashed madly towardmy menacer in a vain effort to dodge past him and reach the outsideworld. It was madness of course, for even had I succeeded temporarily, the Wieroo would have but followed and swooped down upon me from above. As it was, he reached forth and seized me, and though I struggled, heoverpowered me. In the duel his long, white robe was nearly torn fromhim, and he became very angry, so that he trembled and beat his wingstogether in his rage. 

"He asked me my name; but I would not answer him, and that angered himstill more. At last he dragged me to the entrance of the cave, liftedme in his arms, spread his great wings and leaping into the air, flapped dismally through the night. I saw the moonlit landscapesliding away beneath me, and then we were out above the sea and on ourway to Oo-oh, the country of the Wieroo. 

"The dim outlines of Oo-oh were unfolding below us when there came fromabove a loud whirring of giant wings. The Wieroo and I glanced upsimultaneously, to see a pair of huge jo-oos" (flyingreptiles--pterodactyls) "swooping down upon us. The Wieroo wheeled anddropped almost to sea-level, and then raced southward in an effort tooutdistance our pursuers. The great creatures, notwithstanding theirenormous weight, are swift on their wings; but the Wieroo are swifter. Even with my added weight, the creature that bore me maintained hislead, though he could not increase it. Faster than the fastest wind weraced through the night, southward along the coast. Sometimes we roseto great heights, where the air was chill and the world below but ablur of dim outlines; but always the jo-oos stuck behind us. 

"I knew that we had covered a great distance, for the rush of the windby my face attested the speed of our progress, but I had no idea wherewe were when at last I realized that the Wieroo was weakening. One ofthe jo-oos gained on us and succeeded in heading us, so that my captorhad to turn in toward the coast. Further and further they forced himto the left; lower and lower he sank. More labored was his breathing, and weaker the stroke of his once powerful wings. We were not ten feetabove the ground when they overtook us, and at the edge of a forest. One of them seized the Wieroo by his right wing, and in an effort tofree himself, he loosed his grasp upon me, dropping me to earth. Likea frightened ecca I leaped to my feet and raced for the shelteringsanctuary of the forest, where I knew neither could follow or seize me. Then I turned and looked back to see two great reptiles tear myabductor asunder and devour him on the spot. 

"I was saved; yet I felt that I was lost. How far I was from thecountry of the Galus I could not guess; nor did it seem probable that Iever could make my way in safety to my native land. 

"Day was breaking; soon the carnivora would stalk forth for their firstkill; I was armed only with my knife. About me was a strangelandscape--the flowers, the trees, the grasses, even, were differentfrom those of my northern world, and presently there appeared before mea creature fully as hideous as the Wieroo--a hairy manthing that barelywalked erect. I shuddered, and then I fled. Through the hideousdangers that my forebears had endured in the earlier stages of theirhuman evolution I fled; and always pursuing was the hairy monster thathad discovered me. Later he was joined by others of his kind. Theywere the speechless men, the Alus, from whom you rescued me, my Tom. From then on, you know the story of my adventures, and from the first, I would endure them all again because they led me to you!"

It was very nice of her to say that, and I appreciated it. I felt thatshe was a mighty nice little girl whose friendship anyone might be gladto have; but I wished that when she touched me, those peculiar thrillswould not run through me. It was most discomforting, because itreminded me of love; and I knew that I never could love this half-bakedlittle barbarian. I was very much interested in her account of theWieroo, which up to this time I had considered a purely mythologicalcreature; but Ajor shuddered so at even the veriest mention of the namethat I was loath to press the subject upon her, and so the Wieroo stillremained a mystery to me. 

While the Wieroo interested me greatly, I had little time to thinkabout them, as our waking hours were filled with the necessities ofexistence--the constant battle for survival which is the chiefoccupation of Caspakians. To-mar and So-al were now about fitted fortheir advent into Kro-lu society and must therefore leave us, as wecould not accompany them without incurring great danger ourselves andrunning the chance of endangering them; but each swore to be always ourfriend and assured us that should we need their aid at any time we hadbut to ask it; nor could I doubt their sincerity, since we had been soinstrumental in bringing them safely upon their journey toward theKro-lu village. 

This was our last day together. In the afternoon we should separate, To-mar and So-al going directly to the Kro-lu village, while Ajor and Imade a detour to avoid a conflict with the archers. The former bothshowed evidence of nervous apprehension as the time approached for themto make their entry into the village of their new people, and yet bothwere very proud and happy. They told us that they would be wellreceived as additions to a tribe always are welcomed, and the more soas the distance from the beginning increased, the higher tribes orraces being far weaker numerically than the lower. The southern end ofthe island fairly swarms with the Ho-lu, or apes; next above these arethe Alus, who are slightly fewer in number than the Ho-lu; and againthere are fewer Bolu than Alus, and fewer Sto-lu than Bo-lu. Thus itgoes until the Kro-lu are fewer in number than any of the others; andhere the law reverses, for the Galus outnumber the Kro-lu. As Ajorexplained it to me, the reason for this is that as evolutionpractically ceases with the Galus, there is no less among them on thisscore, for even the cos-ata-lo are still considered Galus and remainwith them. And Galus come up both from the west and east coasts. There are, too, fewer carnivorous reptiles at the north end of theisland, and not so many of the great and ferocious members of the catfamily as take their hideous toll of life among the races further south. 

By now I was obtaining some idea of the Caspakian scheme of evolution, which partly accounted for the lack of young among the races I had sofar seen. Coming up from the beginning, the Caspakian passes, during asingle existence, through the various stages of evolution, or at leastmany of them, through which the human race has passed during thecountless ages since life first stirred upon a new world; but thequestion which continued to puzzle me was: What creates life at thebeginning, cor sva jo?

I had noticed that as we traveled northward from the Alus' country theland had gradually risen until we were now several hundred feet abovethe level of the inland sea. Ajor told me that the Galus country wasstill higher and considerably colder, which accounted for the scarcityof reptiles. The change in form and kinds of the lower animals waseven more marked than the evolutionary stages of man. The diminutiveecca, or small horse, became a rough-coated and sturdy little pony inthe Kro-lu country. I saw a greater number of small lions and tigers, though many of the huge ones still persisted, while the woolly mammothwas more in evidence, as were several varieties of the Labyrinthadonta. These creatures, from which God save me, I should have expected to findfurther south; but for some unaccountable reason they gain theirgreatest bulk in the Kro-lu and Galu countries, though fortunately theyare rare. I rather imagine that they are a very early life which israpidly nearing extinction in Caspak, though wherever they are found, they constitute a menace to all forms of life. 

It was mid-afternoon when To-mar and So-al bade us good-bye. We werenot far from Kro-lu village; in fact, we had approached it much closerthan we had intended, and now Ajor and I were to make a detour towardthe sea while our companions went directly in search of the Kro-luchief. 

Ajor and I had gone perhaps a mile or two and were just about to emergefrom a dense wood when I saw that ahead of us which caused me to drawback into concealment, at the same time pushing Ajor behind me. What Isaw was a party of Band-lu warriors--large, fierce-appearing men. Fromthe direction of their march I saw that they were returning to theircaves, and that if we remained where we were, they would pass withoutdiscovering us. 

Presently Ajor nudged me. "They have a prisoner, " she whispered. "Heis a Kro-lu. "

And then I saw him, the first fully developed Krolu I had seen. He wasa fine-looking savage, tall and straight with a regal carriage. To-marwas a handsome fellow; but this Kro-lu showed plainly in his everyphysical attribute a higher plane of evolution. While To-mar was justentering the Kro-lu sphere, this man, it seemed to me, must be closeindeed to the next stage of his development, which would see him anenvied Galu. 

"They will kill him?" I whispered to Ajor. 

"The dance of death, " she replied, and I shuddered, so recently had Iescaped the same fate. It seemed cruel that one who must have passedsafely up through all the frightful stages of human evolution withinCaspak, should die at the very foot of his goal. I raised my rifle tomy shoulder and took careful aim at one of the Band-lu. If I hit him, I would hit two, for another was directly behind the first. 

Ajor touched my arm. "What would you do?" she asked. "They are allour enemies. "

"I am going to save him from the dance of death, " I replied, "enemy orno enemy, " and I squeezed the trigger. At the report, the two Band-lulunged forward upon their faces. I handed my rifle to Ajor, anddrawing my pistol, stepped out in full view of the startled party. TheBand-lu did not run away as had some of the lower orders of Caspakiansat the sound of the rifle. Instead, the moment they saw me, they letout a series of demoniac war-cries, and raising their spears abovetheir heads, charged me. 

The Kro-lu stood silent and statuesque, watching the proceedings. Hemade no attempt to escape, though his feet were not bound and none ofthe warriors remained to guard him. There were ten of the Band-lucoming for me. I dropped three of them with my pistol as rapidly as aman might count by three, and then my rifle spoke close to my leftshoulder, and another of them stumbled and rolled over and over uponthe ground. Plucky little Ajor! She had never fired a shot before inall her life, though I had taught her to sight and aim and how tosqueeze the trigger instead of pulling it. She had practiced these newaccomplishments often, but little had I thought they would make amarksman of her so quickly. 

With six of their fellows put out of the fight so easily, the remainingsix sought cover behind some low bushes and commenced a council of war. I wished that they would go away, as I had no ammunition to waste, andI was fearful that should they institute another charge, some of themwould reach us, for they were already quite close. Suddenly one ofthem rose and launched his spear. It was the most marvelous exhibitionof speed I have ever witnessed. It seemed to me that he had scarcegained an upright position when the weapon was half-way upon itsjourney, speeding like an arrow toward Ajor. And then it was, withthat little life in danger, that I made the best shot I have ever madein my life! I took no conscious aim; it was as though my subconsciousmind, impelled by a stronger power even than that of self-preservation, directed my hand. Ajor was in danger! Simultaneously with the thoughtmy pistol flew to position, a streak of incandescent powder marked thepath of the bullet from its muzzle; and the spear, its point shattered, was deflected from its path. With a howl of dismay the six Band-lurose from their shelter and raced away toward the south. 

I turned toward Ajor. She was very white and wide-eyed, for theclutching fingers of death had all but seized her; but a little smilecame to her lips and an expression of great pride to her eyes. "MyTom!" she said, and took my hand in hers. That was all--"My Tom!" anda pressure of the hand. Her Tom! Something stirred within my bosom. Was it exaltation or was it consternation? Impossible! I turned awayalmost brusquely. 

"Come!" I said, and strode off toward the Kro-lu prisoner. 

The Kro-lu stood watching us with stolid indifference. I presume thathe expected to be killed; but if he did, he showed no outward sign offear. His eyes, indicating his greatest interest, were fixed upon mypistol or the rifle which Ajor still carried. I cut his bonds with myknife. As I did so, an expression of surprise tinged and animated thehaughty reserve of his countenance. He eyed me quizzically. 

"What are you going to do with me?" he asked. 

"You are free, " I replied. "Go home, if you wish. "

"Why don't you kill me?" he inquired. "I am defenseless. "

"Why should I kill you? I have risked my life and that of this younglady to save your life. Why, therefore should I now take it?" Ofcourse, I didn't say "young lady" as there is no Caspakian equivalentfor that term; but I have to allow myself considerable latitude in thetranslation of Caspakian conversations. To speak always of a beautifulyoung girl as a "she" may be literal; but it seems far from gallant. 

The Kro-lu concentrated his steady, level gaze upon me for at least afull minute. Then he spoke again. 

"Who are you, man of strange skins?" he asked. "Your she is Galu; butyou are neither Galu nor Krolu nor Band-lu, nor any other sort of manwhich I have seen before. Tell me from whence comes so mighty awarrior and so generous a foe. "

"It is a long story, " I replied, "but suffice it to say that I am notof Caspak. I am a stranger here, and--let this sink in--I am not afoe. I have no wish to be an enemy of any man in Caspak, with thepossible exception of the Galu warrior Du-seen. "

"Du-seen!" he exclaimed. "You are an enemy of Du-seen? And why?"

"Because he would harm Ajor, " I replied. "You know him?"

"He cannot know him, " said Ajor. "Du-seen rose from the Kro-lu longago, taking a new name, as all do when they enter a new sphere. Hecannot know him, as there is no intercourse between the Kro-lu and theGalu. "

The warrior smiled. "Du-seen rose not so long ago, " he said, "that Ido not recall him well, and recently he has taken it upon himself toabrogate the ancient laws of Caspak; he had had intercourse with theKro-lu. Du-seen would be chief of the Galus, and he has come to theKro-lu for help. "

Ajor was aghast. The thing was incredible. Never had Kro-lu and Galuhad friendly relations; by the savage laws of Caspak they were deadlyenemies, for only so can the several races maintain their individuality. 

"Will the Kro-lu join him?" asked Ajor. "Will they invade the countryof Jor my father?"

"The younger Kro-lu favor the plan, " replied the warrior, "since theybelieve they will thus become Galus immediately. They hope to span thelong years of change through which they must pass in the ordinarycourse of events and at a single stride become Galus. We of the olderKro-lu tell them that though they occupy the land of the Galu and wearthe skins and ornaments of the golden people, still they will not beGalus till the time arrives that they are ripe to rise. We also tellthem that even then they will never become a true Galu race, sincethere will still be those among them who can never rise. It is allright to raid the Galu country occasionally for plunder, as our peopledo; but to attempt to conquer it and hold it is madness. For my part, I have been content to wait until the call came to me. I feel that itcannot now be long. "

"What is your name?" asked Ajor. 

"Chal-az, " replied the man. 

"You are chief of the Kro-lu?" Ajor continued. 

"No, it is Al-tan who is chief of the Kro-lu of the east, " answeredChal-az. 

"And he is against this plan to invade my father's country?"

"Unfortunately he is rather in favor of it, " replied the man, "since hehas about come to the conclusion that he is batu. He has been chiefever since, before I came up from the Band-lu, and I can see no changein him in all those years. In fact, he still appears to be moreBand-lu than Kro-lu. However, he is a good chief and a mighty warrior, and if Du-seen persuades him to his cause, the Galus may findthemselves under a Kro-lu chieftain before long--Du-seen as well as theothers, for Al-tan would never consent to occupy a subordinateposition, and once he plants a victorious foot in Galu, he will notwithdraw it without a struggle. "

I asked them what batu meant, as I had not before heard the word. Literally translated, it is equivalent to through, finished, done-for, as applied to an individual's evolutionary progress in Caspak, and withthis information was developed the interesting fact that not everyindividual is capable of rising through every stage to that of Galu. Some never progress beyond the Alu stage; others stop as Bo-lu, asSto-lu, as Bandlu or as Kro-lu. The Ho-lu of the first generation mayrise to become Alus; the Alus of the second generation may becomeBo-lu, while it requires three generations of Bo-lu to become Band-lu, and so on until Kro-lu's parent on one side must be of the sixthgeneration. 

It was not entirely plain to me even with this explanation, since Icouldn't understand how there could be different generations of peopleswho apparently had no offspring. Yet I was commencing to get a slightglimmer of the strange laws which govern propagation and evolution inthis weird land. Already I knew that the warm pools which always lieclose to every tribal abiding-place were closely linked with theCaspakian scheme of evolution, and that the daily immersion of thefemales in the greenish slimy water was in response to some naturallaw, since neither pleasure nor cleanliness could be derived from whatseemed almost a religious rite. Yet I was still at sea; nor, seemingly, could Ajor enlighten me, since she was compelled to usewords which I could not understand and which it was impossible for herto explain the meanings of. 

As we stood talking, we were suddenly startled by a commotion in thebushes and among the boles of the trees surrounding us, andsimultaneously a hundred Kro-lu warriors appeared in a rough circleabout us. They greeted Chal-az with a volley of questions as theyapproached slowly from all sides, their heavy bows fitted with long, sharp arrows. Upon Ajor and me they looked with covetousness in theone instance and suspicion in the other; but after they had heardChal-az's story, their attitude was more friendly. A huge savage didall the talking. He was a mountain of a man, yet perfectlyproportioned. 

"This is Al-tan the chief, " said Chal-az by way of introduction. Thenhe told something of my story, and Al-tan asked me many questions ofthe land from which I came. The warriors crowded around close to hearmy replies, and there were many expressions of incredulity as I spokeof what was to them another world, of the yacht which had brought meover vast waters, and of the plane that had borne me Jo-oo-like overthe summit of the barrier-cliffs. It was the mention of thehydroaeroplane which precipitated the first outspoken skepticism, andthen Ajor came to my defense. 

"I saw it with my own eyes!" she exclaimed. "I saw him flying throughthe air in battle with a Jo-oo. The Alus were chasing me, and they sawand ran away. "

"Whose is this she?" demanded Al-tan suddenly, his eyes fixed fiercelyupon Ajor. 

For a moment there was silence. Ajor looked up at me, a hurt andquestioning expression on her face. "Whose she is this?" repeatedAl-tan. 

"She is mine, " I replied, though what force it was that impelled me tosay it I could not have told; but an instant later I was glad that Ihad spoken the words, for the reward of Ajor's proud and happy face wasreward indeed. 

Al-tan eyed her for several minutes and then turned to me. "Can youkeep her?" he asked, just the tinge of a sneer upon his face. 

I laid my palm upon the grip of my pistol and answered that I could. He saw the move, glanced at the butt of the automatic where itprotruded from its holster, and smiled. Then he turned and raising hisgreat bow, fitted an arrow and drew the shaft far back. His warriors, supercilious smiles upon their faces, stood silently watching him. Hisbow was the longest and the heaviest among them all. A mighty manindeed must he be to bend it; yet Al-tan drew the shaft back until thestone point touched his left forefinger, and he did it with consummateease. Then he raised the shaft to the level of his right eye, held itthere for an instant and released it. When the arrow stopped, half itslength protruded from the opposite side of a six-inch tree fifty feetaway. Al-tan and his warriors turned toward me with expressions ofimmense satisfaction upon their faces, and then, apparently for Ajor'sbenefit, the chieftain swaggered to and fro a couple of times, swinginghis great arms and his bulky shoulders for all the world like a drunkenprize-fighter at a beach dancehall. 

I saw that some reply was necessary, and so in a single motion, I drewmy gun, dropped it on the still quivering arrow and pulled the trigger. At the sound of the report, the Kro-lu leaped back and raised theirweapons; but as I was smiling, they took heart and lowered them again, following my eyes to the tree; the shaft of their chief was gone, andthrough the bole was a little round hole marking the path of my bullet. It was a good shot if I do say it myself, "as shouldn't" but necessitymust have guided that bullet; I simply had to make a good shot, that Imight immediately establish my position among those savage and warlikeCaspakians of the sixth sphere. That it had its effect was immediatelynoticeable, but I am none too sure that it helped my cause with Al-tan. Whereas he might have condescended to tolerate me as a harmless andinteresting curiosity, he now, by the change in his expression, appeared to consider me in a new and unfavorable light. Nor can Iwonder, knowing this type as I did, for had I not made him ridiculousin the eyes of his warriors, beating him at his own game? What king, savage or civilized, could condone such impudence? Seeing his blackscowls, I deemed it expedient, especially on Ajor's account, toterminate the interview and continue upon our way; but when I wouldhave done so, Al-tan detained us with a gesture, and his warriorspressed around us. 

"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded, and before Al-tan couldreply, Chal-az raised his voice in our behalf. 

"Is this the gratitude of a Kro-lu chieftain, Al-tan, " he asked, "toone who has served you by saving one of your warriors from theenemy--saving him from the death dance of the Band-lu?"

Al-tan was silent for a moment, and then his brow cleared, and thefaint imitation of a pleasant expression struggled for existence as hesaid: "The stranger will not be harmed. I wished only to detain himthat he may be feasted tonight in the village of Al-tan the Kro-lu. Inthe morning he may go his way. Al-tan will not hinder him. "

I was not entirely reassured; but I wanted to see the interior of theKro-lu village, and anyway I knew that if Al-tan intended treachery Iwould be no more in his power in the morning than I now was--in fact, during the night I might find opportunity to escape with Ajor, while atthe instant neither of us could hope to escape unscathed from theencircling warriors. Therefore, in order to disarm him of any thoughtthat I might entertain suspicion as to his sincerity, I promptly andcourteously accepted his invitation. His satisfaction was evident, andas we set off toward his village, he walked beside me, asking manyquestions as to the country from which I came, its peoples and theircustoms. He seemed much mystified by the fact that we could walkabroad by day or night without fear of being devoured by wild beasts orsavage reptiles, and when I told him of the great armies which wemaintained, his simple mind could not grasp the fact that they existedsolely for the slaughtering of human beings. 

"I am glad, " he said, "that I do not dwell in your country among suchsavage peoples. Here, in Caspak, men fight with men when theymeet--men of different races--but their weapons are first for theslaying of beasts in the chase and in defense. We do not fashionweapons solely for the killing of man as do your peoples. Your countrymust indeed be a savage country, from which you are fortunate to haveescaped to the peace and security of Caspak. "

Here was a new and refreshing viewpoint; nor could I take exception toit after what I had told Altan of the great war which had been ragingin Europe for over two years before I left home. 

On the march to the Kro-lu village we were continually stalked byinnumerable beasts of prey, and three times we were attacked byfrightful creatures; but Altan took it all as a matter of course, rushing forward with raised spear or sending a heavy shaft into thebody of the attacker and then returning to our conversation as thoughno interruption had occurred. Twice were members of his band mauled, and one was killed by a huge and bellicose rhinoceros; but the instantthe action was over, it was as though it never had occurred. The deadman was stripped of his belongings and left where he had died; thecarnivora would take care of his burial. The trophies that theseKro-lu left to the meat-eaters would have turned an English big-gamehunter green with envy. They did, it is true, cut all the edible partsfrom the rhino and carry them home; but already they were pretty wellweighted down with the spoils of the chase, and only the fact that theyare particularly fond of rhino-meat caused them to do so. 

They left the hide on the pieces they selected, as they use it forsandals, shield-covers, the hilts of their knives and various otherpurposes where tough hide is desirable. I was much interested in theirshields, especially after I saw one used in defense against the attackof a saber-tooth tiger. The huge creature had charged us withoutwarning from a clump of dense bushes where it was lying up aftereating. It was met with an avalanche of spears, some of which passedentirely through its body, with such force were they hurled. Thecharge was from a very short distance, requiring the use of the spearrather than the bow and arrow; but after the launching of the spears, the men not directly in the path of the charge sent bolt after boltinto the great carcass with almost incredible rapidity. The beast, screaming with pain and rage, bore down upon Chal-az while I stoodhelpless with my rifle for fear of hitting one of the warriors who wereclosing in upon it. But Chal-az was ready. Throwing aside his bow, hecrouched behind his large oval shield, in the center of which was ahole about six inches in diameter. The shield was held by tight loopsto his left arm, while in his right hand he grasped his heavy knife. Bristling with spears and arrows, the great cat hurled itself upon theshield, and down went Chal-az upon his back with the shield entirelycovering him. The tiger clawed and bit at the heavy rhinoceros hidewith which the shield was faced, while Chal-az, through the round holein the shield's center, plunged his blade repeatedly into the vitals ofthe savage animal. Doubtless the battle would have gone to Chal-azeven though I had not interfered; but the moment that I saw a cleanopening, with no Kro-lu beyond, I raised my rifle and killed the beast. 

When Chal-az arose, he glanced at the sky and remarked that it lookedlike rain. The others already had resumed the march toward thevillage. The incident was closed. For some unaccountable reason thewhole thing reminded me of a friend who once shot a cat in hisbackyard. For three weeks he talked of nothing else. 

It was almost dark when we reached the village--a large palisadedenclosure of several hundred leaf-thatched huts set in groups of fromtwo to seven. The huts were hexagonal in form, and where grouped werejoined so that they resembled the cells of a bee-hive. One hut meant awarrior and his mate, and each additional hut in a group indicated anadditional female. The palisade which surrounded the village was oflogs set close together and woven into a solid wall with tough creeperswhich were planted at their base and trained to weave in and out tobind the logs together. The logs slanted outward at an angle of aboutthirty degrees, in which position they were held by shorter logsembedded in the ground at right angles to them and with their upperends supporting the longer pieces a trifle above their centers ofequilibrium. Along the top of the palisade sharpened stakes had beendriven at all sorts of angles. 

The only opening into the inclosure was through a small aperture threefeet wide and three feet high, which was closed from the inside by logsabout six feet long laid horizontally, one upon another, between theinside face of the palisade and two other braced logs which paralleledthe face of the wall upon the inside. 

As we entered the village, we were greeted by a not unfriendly crowd ofcurious warriors and women, to whom Chal-az generously explained theservice we had rendered him, whereupon they showered us with the mostwell-meant attentions, for Chal-az, it seemed, was a most popularmember of the tribe. Necklaces of lion and tiger-teeth, bits of driedmeat, finely tanned hides and earthen pots, beautifully decorated, theythrust upon us until we were loaded down, and all the while Al-tanglared balefully upon us, seemingly jealous of the attentions heapedupon us because we had served Chal-az. 

At last we reached a hut that they set apart for us, and there wecooked our meat and some vegetables the women brought us, and had milkfrom cows--the first I had had in Caspak--and cheese from the milk ofwild goats, with honey and thin bread made from wheat flour of theirown grinding, and grapes and the fermented juice of grapes. It wasquite the most wonderful meal I had eaten since I quit the Toreador andBowen J. Tyler's colored chef, who could make pork-chops taste likechicken, and chicken taste like heaven. 

Chapter 6

After dinner I rolled a cigaret and stretched myself at ease upon apile of furs before the doorway, with Ajor's head pillowed in my lapand a feeling of great content pervading me. It was the first timesince my plane had topped the barrier-cliffs of Caspak that I had feltany sense of peace or security. My hand wandered to the velvet cheekof the girl I had claimed as mine, and to her luxuriant hair and thegolden fillet which bound it close to her shapely head. Her slenderfingers groping upward sought mine and drew them to her lips, and thenI gathered her in my arms and crushed her to me, smothering her mouthwith a long, long kiss. It was the first time that passion had tingedmy intercourse with Ajor. We were alone, and the hut was ours untilmorning. 

But now from beyond the palisade in the direction of the main gate camethe hallooing of men and the answering calls and queries of the guard. We listened. Returning hunters, no doubt. We heard them enter thevillage amidst the barking dogs. I have forgotten to mention the dogsof Kro-lu. The village swarmed with them, gaunt, wolflike creaturesthat guarded the herd by day when it grazed without the palisade, tendogs to a cow. By night the cows were herded in an outer inclosureroofed against the onslaughts of the carnivorous cats; and the dogs, with the exception of a few, were brought into the village; these fewwell-tested brutes remained with the herd. During the day they fedplentifully upon the beasts of prey which they killed in protection ofthe herd, so that their keep amounted to nothing at all. 

Shortly after the commotion at the gate had subsided, Ajor and I aroseto enter the hut, and at the same time a warrior appeared from one ofthe twisted alleys which, lying between the irregularly placed huts andgroups of huts, form the streets of the Kro-lu village. The fellowhalted before us and addressed me, saying that Al-tan desired mypresence at his hut. The wording of the invitation and the manner ofthe messenger threw me entirely off my guard, so cordial was the oneand respectful the other, and the result was that I went willingly, telling Ajor that I would return presently. I had laid my arms andammunition aside as soon as we had taken over the hut, and I left themwith Ajor now, as I had noticed that aside from their hunting-knivesthe men of Kro-lu bore no weapons about the village streets. There wasan atmosphere of peace and security within that village that I had nothoped to experience within Caspak, and after what I had passed through, it must have cast a numbing spell over my faculties of judgment andreason. I had eaten of the lotus-flower of safety; dangers no longerthreatened for they had ceased to be. 

The messenger led me through the labyrinthine alleys to an open plazanear the center of the village. At one end of this plaza was a longhut, much the largest that I had yet seen, before the door of whichwere many warriors. I could see that the interior was lighted and thata great number of men were gathered within. The dogs about the plazawere as thick as fleas, and those I approached closely evinced a strongdesire to devour me, their noses evidently apprising them of the factthat I was of an alien race, since they paid no attention whatever tomy companion. Once inside the council-hut, for such it appeared to be, I found a large concourse of warriors seated, or rather squatted, around the floor. At one end of the oval space which the warriors leftdown the center of the room stood Al-tan and another warrior whom Iimmediately recognized as a Galu, and then I saw that there were manyGalus present. About the walls were a number of flaming torches stuckin holes in a clay plaster which evidently served the purpose ofpreventing the inflammable wood and grasses of which the hut wascomposed from being ignited by the flames. Lying about among thewarriors or wandering restlessly to and fro were a number of savagedogs. 

The warriors eyed me curiously as I entered, especially the Galus, andthen I was conducted into the center of the group and led forwardtoward Al-tan. As I advanced I felt one of the dogs sniffing at myheels, and of a sudden a great brute leaped upon my back. As I turnedto thrust it aside before its fangs found a hold upon me, I beheld ahuge Airedale leaping frantically about me. The grinning jaws, thehalf-closed eyes, the back-laid ears spoke to me louder than might thewords of man that here was no savage enemy but a joyous friend, andthen I recognized him, and fell to one knee and put my arms about hisneck while he whined and cried with joy. It was Nobs, dear old Nobs. Bowen Tyler's Nobs, who had loved me next to his master. 

"Where is the master of this dog?" I asked, turning toward Al-tan. 

The chieftain inclined his head toward the Galu standing at his side. "He belongs to Du-seen the Galu, " he replied. 

"He belongs to Bowen J. Tyler, Jr. , of Santa Monica, " I retorted, "andI want to know where his master is. "

The Galu shrugged. "The dog is mine, " he said. "He came to mecor-sva-jo, and he is unlike any dog in Caspak, being kind and docileand yet a killer when aroused. I would not part with him. I do notknow the man of whom you speak. "

So this was Du-seen! This was the man from whom Ajor had fled. Iwondered if he knew that she was here. I wondered if they had sent forme because of her; but after they had commenced to question me, my mindwas relieved; they did not mention Ajor. Their interest seemedcentered upon the strange world from which I had come, my journey toCaspak and my intentions now that I had arrived. I answered themfrankly as I had nothing to conceal and assured them that my only wishwas to find my friends and return to my own country. In the GaluDu-seen and his warriors I saw something of the explanation of the term"golden race" which is applied to them, for their ornaments and weaponswere either wholly of beaten gold or heavily decorated with theprecious metal. They were a very imposing set of men--tall andstraight and handsome. About their heads were bands of gold like thatwhich Ajor wore, and from their left shoulders depended theleopard-tails of the Galus. In addition to the deer-skin tunic whichconstituted the major portion of their apparel, each carried a lightblanket of barbaric yet beautiful design--the first evidence of weavingI had seen in Caspak. Ajor had had no blanket, having lost it duringher flight from the attentions of Du-seen; nor was she so heavilyincrusted with gold as these male members of her tribe. 

The audience must have lasted fully an hour when Al-tan signified thatI might return to my hut. All the time Nobs had lain quietly at myfeet; but the instant that I turned to leave, he was up and after me. Duseen called to him; but the terrier never even so much as looked inhis direction. I had almost reached the doorway leading from thecouncil-hall when Al-tan rose and called after me. "Stop!" he shouted. "Stop, stranger! The beast of Du-seen the Galu follows you. "

"The dog is not Du-seen's, " I replied. "He belongs to my friend, as Itold you, and he prefers to stay with me until his master is found. "And I turned again to resume my way. I had taken but a few steps whenI heard a commotion behind me, and at the same moment a man leanedclose and whispered "Kazar!" close to my ear--kazar, the Caspakianequivalent of beware. It was To-mar. As he spoke, he turned quicklyaway as though loath to have others see that he knew me, and at thesame instant I wheeled to discover Du-seen striding rapidly after me. Al-tan followed him, and it was evident that both were angry. 

Du-seen, a weapon half drawn, approached truculently. "The beast ismine, " he reiterated. "Would you steal him?"

"He is not yours nor mine, " I replied, "and I am not stealing him. Ifhe wishes to follow you, he may; I will not interfere; but if he wishesto follow me, he shall; nor shall you prevent. " I turned to Al-tan. "Is not that fair?" I demanded. "Let the dog choose his master. "

Du-seen, without waiting for Al-tan's reply, reached for Nobs andgrasped him by the scruff of the neck. I did not interfere, for Iguessed what would happen; and it did. With a savage growl Nobs turnedlike lightning upon the Galu, wrenched loose from his hold and leapedfor his throat. The man stepped back and warded off the first attackwith a heavy blow of his fist, immediately drawing his knife with whichto meet the Airedale's return. And Nobs would have returned, allright, had not I spoken to him. In a low voice I called him to heel. For just an instant he hesitated, standing there trembling and withbared fangs, glaring at his foe; but he was well trained and had beenout with me quite as much as he had with Bowen--in fact, I had had mostto do with his early training; then he walked slowly and verystiff-legged to his place behind me. 

Du-seen, red with rage, would have had it out with the two of us hadnot Al-tan drawn him to one side and whispered in his ear--upon which, with a grunt, the Galu walked straight back to the opposite end of thehall, while Nobs and I continued upon our way toward the hut and Ajor. As we passed out into the village plaza, I saw Chal-az--we were soclose to one another that I could have reached out and touched him--andour eyes met; but though I greeted him pleasantly and paused to speakto him, he brushed past me without a sign of recognition. I waspuzzled at his behavior, and then I recalled that To-mar, though he hadwarned me, had appeared not to wish to seem friendly with me. I couldnot understand their attitude, and was trying to puzzle out some sortof explanation, when the matter was suddenly driven from my mind by thereport of a firearm. Instantly I broke into a run, my brain in a whirlof forebodings, for the only firearms in the Kro-lu country were thoseI had left in the hut with Ajor. 

That she was in danger I could not but fear, as she was now somethingof an adept in the handling of both the pistol and rifle, a fact whichlargely eliminated the chance that the shot had come from anaccidentally discharged firearm. When I left the hut, I had felt thatshe and I were safe among friends; no thought of danger was in my mind;but since my audience with Al-tan, the presence and bearing of Duseenand the strange attitude of both To-mar and Chal-az had eachcontributed toward arousing my suspicions, and now I ran along thenarrow, winding alleys of the Kro-lu village with my heart fairly in mymouth. 

I am endowed with an excellent sense of direction, which has beengreatly perfected by the years I have spent in the mountains and uponthe plains and deserts of my native state, so that it was with littleor no difficulty that I found my way back to the hut in which I hadleft Ajor. As I entered the doorway, I called her name aloud. Therewas no response. I drew a box of matches from my pocket and struck alight and as the flame flared up, a half-dozen brawny warriors leapedupon me from as many directions; but even in the brief instant that theflare lasted, I saw that Ajor was not within the hut, and that my armsand ammunition had been removed. 

As the six men leaped upon me, an angry growl burst from behind them. I had forgotten Nobs. Like a demon of hate he sprang among thoseKro-lu fighting-men, tearing, rending, ripping with his long tusks andhis mighty jaws. They had me down in an instant, and it goes withoutsaying that the six of them could have kept me there had it not beenfor Nobs; but while I was struggling to throw them off, Nobs wasspringing first upon one and then upon another of them until they wereso put to it to preserve their hides and their lives from him that theycould give me only a small part of their attention. One of them wasassiduously attempting to strike me on the head with his stone hatchet;but I caught his arm and at the same time turned over upon my belly, after which it took but an instant to get my feet under me and risesuddenly. 

As I did so, I kept a grip upon the man's arm, carrying it over oneshoulder. Then I leaned suddenly forward and hurled my antagonist overmy head to a hasty fall at the opposite side of the hut. In the dimlight of the interior I saw that Nobs had already accounted for one ofthe others--one who lay very quiet upon the floor--while the fourremaining upon their feet were striking at him with knives and hatchets. 

Running to one side of the man I had just put out of the fighting, Iseized his hatchet and knife, and in another moment was in the thick ofthe argument. I was no match for these savage warriors with their ownweapons and would soon have gone down to ignominious defeat and deathhad it not been for Nobs, who alone was a match for the four of them. I never saw any creature so quick upon its feet as was that greatAiredale, nor such frightful ferocity as he manifested in his attacks. It was as much the latter as the former which contributed to theundoing of our enemies, who, accustomed though they were to theferocity of terrible creatures, seemed awed by the sight of thisstrange beast from another world battling at the side of his equallystrange master. Yet they were no cowards, and only by teamwork didNobs and I overcome them at last. We would rush for a man, simultaneously, and as Nobs leaped for him upon one side, I wouldstrike at his head with the stone hatchet from the other. 

As the last man went down, I heard the running of many feet approachingus from the direction of the plaza. To be captured now would meandeath; yet I could not attempt to leave the village without firstascertaining the whereabouts of Ajor and releasing her if she were helda captive. That I could escape the village I was not at all sure; butof one thing I was positive; that it would do neither Ajor nor myselfany service to remain where I was and be captured; so with Nobs, bloodybut happy, following at heel, I turned down the first alley and slunkaway in the direction of the northern end of the village. 

Friendless and alone, hunted through the dark labyrinths of this savagecommunity, I seldom have felt more helpless than at that moment; yetfar transcending any fear which I may have felt for my own safety wasmy concern for that of Ajor. What fate had befallen her? Where wasshe, and in whose power? That I should live to learn the answers tothese queries I doubted; but that I should face death gladly in theattempt--of that I was certain. And why? With all my concern for thewelfare of my friends who had accompanied me to Caprona, and of my bestfriend of all, Bowen J. Tyler, Jr. , I never yet had experienced thealmost paralyzing fear for the safety of any other creature which nowthrew me alternately into a fever of despair and into a cold sweat ofapprehension as my mind dwelt upon the fate on one bit of half-savagefemininity of whose very existence even I had not dreamed a few shortweeks before. 

What was this hold she had upon me? Was I bewitched, that my mindrefused to function sanely, and that judgment and reason were dethronedby some mad sentiment which I steadfastly refused to believe was love?I had never been in love. I was not in love now--the very thought waspreposterous. How could I, Thomas Billings, the right-hand man of thelate Bowen J. Tyler, Sr. , one of America's foremost captains ofindustry and the greatest man in California, be in love with a--a--theword stuck in my throat; yet by my own American standards Ajor could benothing else; at home, for all her beauty, for all her delicatelytinted skin, little Ajor by her apparel, by the habits and customs andmanners of her people, by her life, would have been classed a squaw. Tom Billings in love with a squaw! I shuddered at the thought. 

And then there came to my mind, in a sudden, brilliant flash upon thescreen of recollection the picture of Ajor as I had last seen her, andI lived again the delicious moment in which we had clung to oneanother, lips smothering lips, as I left her to go to the council hallof Al-tan; and I could have kicked myself for the snob and the cad thatmy thoughts had proven me--me, who had always prided myself that I wasneither the one nor the other!

These things ran through my mind as Nobs and I made our way through thedark village, the voices and footsteps of those who sought us still inour ears. These and many other things, nor could I escape theincontrovertible fact that the little figure round which myrecollections and my hopes entwined themselves was that ofAjor--beloved barbarian! My reveries were broken in upon by a hoarsewhisper from the black interior of a hut past which we were making ourway. My name was called in a low voice, and a man stepped out besideme as I halted with raised knife. It was Chal-az. 

"Quick!" he warned. "In here! It is my hut, and they will not searchit. "

I hesitated, recalled his attitude of a few minutes before; and asthough he had read my thoughts, he said quickly: "I could not speak toyou in the plaza without danger of arousing suspicions which wouldprevent me aiding you later, for word had gone out that Al-tan hadturned against you and would destroy you--this was after Du-seen theGalu arrived. "

I followed him into the hut, and with Nobs at our heels we passedthrough several chambers into a remote and windowless apartment where asmall lamp sputtered in its unequal battle with the inky darkness. Ahole in the roof permitted the smoke from burning oil egress; yet theatmosphere was far from lucid. Here Chal-az motioned me to a seat upona furry hide spread upon the earthen floor. 

"I am your friend, " he said. "You saved my life; and I am no ingrateas is the batu Al-tan. I will serve you, and there are others here whowill serve you against Al-tan and this renegade Galu, Du-seen. "

"But where is Ajor?" I asked, for I cared little for my own safetywhile she was in danger. 

"Ajor is safe, too, " he answered. "We learned the designs of Al-tanand Du-seen. The latter, learning that Ajor was here, demanded her;and Al-tan promised that he should have her; but when the warriors wentto get her To-mar went with them. Ajor tried to defend herself. Shekilled one of the warriors, and then To-mar picked her up in his armswhen the others had taken her weapons from her. He told the others tolook after the wounded man, who was really already dead, and to seizeyou upon your return, and that he, To-mar, would bear Ajor to Al-tan;but instead of bearing her to Al-tan, he took her to his own hut, whereshe now is with So-al, To-mar's she. It all happened very quickly. To-mar and I were in the council-hut when Du-seen attempted to take thedog from you. I was seeking To-mar for this work. He ran outimmediately and accompanied the warriors to your hut while I remainedto watch what went on within the council-hut and to aid you if youneeded aid. What has happened since you know. "

I thanked him for his loyalty and then asked him to take me to Ajor;but he said that it could not be done, as the village streets werefilled with searchers. In fact, we could hear them passing to and froamong the huts, making inquiries, and at last Chal-az thought it bestto go to the doorway of his dwelling, which consisted of many hutsjoined together, lest they enter and search. 

Chal-az was absent for a long time--several hours which seemed aneternity to me. All sounds of pursuit had long since ceased, and I wasbecoming uneasy because of his protracted absence when I heard himreturning through the other apartments of his dwelling. He wasperturbed when he entered that in which I awaited him, and I saw aworried expression upon his face. 

"What is wrong?" I asked. "Have they found Ajor?"

"No, " he replied; "but Ajor has gone. She learned that you had escapedthem and was told that you had left the village, believing that she hadescaped too. So-al could not detain her. She made her way out overthe top of the palisade, armed with only her knife. "

"Then I must go, " I said, rising. Nobs rose and shook himself. He hadbeen dead asleep when I spoke. 

"Yes, " agreed Chal-az, "you must go at once. It is almost dawn. Du-seen leaves at daylight to search for her. " He leaned close to myear and whispered: "There are many to follow and help you. Al-tan hasagreed to aid Du-seen against the Galus of Jor; but there are many ofus who have combined to rise against Al-tan and prevent this ruthlessdesecration of the laws and customs of the Kro-lu and of Caspak. Wewill rise as Luata has ordained that we shall rise, and only thus. Nobatu may win to the estate of a Galu by treachery and force of armswhile Chal-az lives and may wield a heavy blow and a sharp spear withtrue Kro-lus at his back!"

"I hope that I may live to aid you, " I replied. "If I had my weaponsand my ammunition, I could do much. Do you know where they are?" "No, "he said, "they have disappeared. " And then: "Wait! You cannot goforth half armed, and garbed as you are. You are going into the Galucountry, and you must go as a Galu. Come!" And without waiting for areply, he led me into another apartment, or to be more explicit, another of the several huts which formed his cellular dwelling. 

Here was a pile of skins, weapons, and ornaments. "Remove your strangeapparel, " said Chal-az, "and I will fit you out as a true Galu. I haveslain several of them in the raids of my early days as a Kro-lu, andhere are their trappings. "

I saw the wisdom of his suggestion, and as my clothes were by now soragged as to but half conceal my nakedness, I had no regrets in layingthem aside. Stripped to the skin, I donned the red-deerskin tunic, theleopard-tail, the golden fillet, armlets and leg-ornaments of a Galu, with the belt, scabbard and knife, the shield, spear, bow and arrow andthe long rope which I learned now for the first time is the distinctiveweapon of the Galu warrior. It is a rawhide rope, not dissimilar tothose of the Western plains and cow-camps of my youth. The honda is agolden oval and accurate weight for the throwing of the noose. Thisheavy honda, Chal-az explained, is used as a weapon, being thrown withgreat force and accuracy at an enemy and then coiled in for anothercast. In hunting and in battle, they use both the noose and the honda. If several warriors surround a single foeman or quarry, they rope itwith the noose from several sides; but a single warrior against a loneantagonist will attempt to brain his foe with the metal oval. 

I could not have been more pleased with any weapon, short of a rifle, which he could have found for me, since I have been adept with the ropefrom early childhood; but I must confess that I was less favorablyinclined toward my apparel. In so far as the sensation was concerned, I might as well have been entirely naked, so short and light was thetunic. When I asked Chal-az for the Caspakian name for rope, he toldme ga, and for the first time I understood the derivation of the wordGalu, which means ropeman. 

Entirely outfitted I would not have known myself, so strange was mygarb and my armament. Upon my back were slung my bow, arrows, shield, and short spear; from the center of my girdle depended my knife; at myright hip was my stone hatchet; and at my left hung the coils of mylong rope. By reaching my right hand over my left shoulder, I couldseize the spear or arrows; my left hand could find my bow over my rightshoulder, while a veritable contortionist-act was necessary to place myshield in front of me and upon my left arm. The shield, long and oval, is utilized more as back-armor than as a defense against frontalattack, for the close-set armlets of gold upon the left forearm areprincipally depended upon to ward off knife, spear, hatchet, or arrowfrom in front; but against the greater carnivora and the attacks ofseveral human antagonists, the shield is utilized to its best advantageand carried by loops upon the left arm. 

Fully equipped, except for a blanket, I followed Chal-az from hisdomicile into the dark and deserted alleys of Kro-lu. Silently wecrept along, Nobs silent at heel, toward the nearest portion of thepalisade. Here Chal-az bade me farewell, telling me that he hoped tosee me soon among the Galus, as he felt that "the call soon would come"to him. I thanked him for his loyal assistance and promised thatwhether I reached the Galu country or not, I should always stand readyto repay his kindness to me, and that he could count on me in therevolution against Al-tan. 

Chapter 7

To run up the inclined surface of the palisade and drop to the groundoutside was the work of but a moment, or would have been but for Nobs. I had to put my rope about him after we reached the top, lift him overthe sharpened stakes and lower him upon the outside. To find Ajor inthe unknown country to the north seemed rather hopeless; yet I could dono less than try, praying in the meanwhile that she would come throughunscathed and in safety to her father. 

As Nobs and I swung along in the growing light of the coming day, I wasimpressed by the lessening numbers of savage beasts the farther north Itraveled. With the decrease among the carnivora, the herbivoraincreased in quantity, though anywhere in Caspak they are sufficientlyplentiful to furnish ample food for the meateaters of each locality. The wild cattle, antelope, deer, and horses I passed showed changes inevolution from their cousins farther south. The kine were smaller andless shaggy, the horses larger. North of the Kro-lu village I saw asmall band of the latter of about the size of those of our old Westernplains--such as the Indians bred in former days and to a lesser extenteven now. They were fat and sleek, and I looked upon them withcovetous eyes and with thoughts that any old cow-puncher may wellimagine I might entertain after having hoofed it for weeks; but theywere wary, scarce permitting me to approach within bow-and-arrow range, much less within roping-distance; yet I still had hopes which I neverdiscarded. 

Twice before noon we were stalked and charged by man-eaters; but eventhough I was without firearms, I still had ample protection in Nobs, who evidently had learned something of Caspakian hunt rules under thetutelage of Du-seen or some other Galu, and of course a great deal moreby experience. He always was on the alert for dangerous foes, invariably warning me by low growls of the approach of a largecarnivorous animal long before I could either see or hear it, and thenwhen the thing appeared, he would run snapping at its heels, drawingthe charge away from me until I found safety in some tree; yet neverdid the wily Nobs take an unnecessary chance of a mauling. He woulddart in and away so quickly that not even the lightning-like movementsof the great cats could reach him. I have seen him tantalize them thusuntil they fairly screamed in rage. 

The greatest inconvenience the hunters caused me was the delay, forthey have a nasty habit of keeping one treed for an hour or more ifbalked in their designs; but at last we came in sight of a line ofcliffs running east and west across our path as far as the eye couldsee in either direction, and I knew that we reached the naturalboundary which marks the line between the Kro-lu and Galu countries. The southern face of these cliffs loomed high and forbidding, rising toan altitude of some two hundred feet, sheer and precipitous, without abreak that the eye could perceive. How I was to find a crossing Icould not guess. Whether to search to the east toward the stillloftier barrier-cliffs fronting upon the ocean, or westward in thedirection of the inland sea was a question which baffled me. Werethere many passes or only one? I had no way of knowing. I could buttrust to chance. It never occurred to me that Nobs had made thecrossing at least once, possibly a greater number of times, and that hemight lead me to the pass; and so it was with no idea of assistancethat I appealed to him as a man alone with a dumb brute so often does. 

"Nobs, " I said, "how the devil are we going to cross those cliffs?"

I do not say that he understood me, even though I realize that anAiredale is a mighty intelligent dog; but I do swear that he seemed tounderstand me, for he wheeled about, barking joyously and trotted offtoward the west; and when I didn't follow him, he ran back to mebarking furiously, and at last taking hold of the calf of my leg in aneffort to pull me along in the direction he wished me to go. Now, asmy legs were naked and Nobs' jaws are much more powerful than herealizes, I gave in and followed him, for I knew that I might as wellgo west as east, as far as any knowledge I had of the correct directionwent. 

We followed the base of the cliffs for a considerable distance. Theground was rolling and tree-dotted and covered with grazing animals, alone, in pairs and in herds--a motley aggregation of the modern andextinct herbivore of the world. A huge woolly mastodon stood swayingto and fro in the shade of a giant fern--a mighty bull with enormousupcurving tusks. Near him grazed an aurochs bull with a cow and acalf, close beside a lone rhinoceros asleep in a dust-hole. Deer, antelope, bison, horses, sheep, and goats were all in sight at the sametime, and at a little distance a great megatherium reared up on itshuge tail and massive hind feet to tear the leaves from a tall tree. The forgotten past rubbed flanks with the present--while Tom Billings, modern of the moderns, passed in the garb of pre-Glacial man, andbefore him trotted a creature of a breed scarce sixty years old. Nobswas a parvenu; but it failed to worry him. 

As we neared the inland sea we saw more flying reptiles and severalgreat amphibians, but none of them attacked us. As we were topping arise in the middle of the afternoon, I saw something that brought me toa sudden stop. Calling Nobs in a whisper, I cautioned him to silenceand kept him at heel while I threw myself flat and watched, from behinda sheltering shrub, a body of warriors approaching the cliff from thesouth. I could see that they were Galus, and I guessed that Du-seenled them. They had taken a shorter route to the pass and so hadoverhauled me. I could see them plainly, for they were no greatdistance away, and saw with relief that Ajor was not with them. 

The cliffs before them were broken and ragged, those coming from theeast overlapping the cliffs from the west. Into the defile formed bythis overlapping the party filed. I could see them climbing upward fora few minutes, and then they disappeared from view. When the last ofthem had passed from sight, I rose and bent my steps in the directionof the pass--the same pass toward which Nobs had evidently been leadingme. I went warily as I approached it, for fear the party might havehalted to rest. If they hadn't halted, I had no fear of beingdiscovered, for I had seen that the Galus marched without point, flankers or rear guard; and when I reached the pass and saw a narrow, one-man trail leading upward at a stiff angle, I wished that I werechief of the Galus for a few weeks. A dozen men could hold off foreverin that narrow pass all the hordes which might be brought up from thesouth; yet there it lay entirely unguarded. 

The Galus might be a great people in Caspak; but they were pitifullyinefficient in even the simpler forms of military tactics. I wassurprised that even a man of the Stone Age should be so lacking inmilitary perspicacity. Du-seen dropped far below par in my estimationas I saw the slovenly formation of his troop as it passed through anenemy country and entered the domain of the chief against whom he hadrisen in revolt; but Du-seen must have known Jor the chief and knownthat Jor would not be waiting for him at the pass. Nevertheless hetook unwarranted chances. With one squad of a home-guard company Icould have conquered Caspak. 

Nobs and I followed to the summit of the pass, and there we saw theparty defiling into the Galu country, the level of which was not, on anaverage, over fifty feet below the summit of the cliffs and about ahundred and fifty feet above the adjacent Kro-lu domain. Immediatelythe landscape changed. The trees, the flowers and the shrubs were of ahardier type, and I realized that at night the Galu blanket might bealmost a necessity. Acacia and eucalyptus predominated among thetrees; yet there were ash and oak and even pine and fir and hemlock. The tree-life was riotous. The forests were dense and peopled byenormous trees. From the summit of the cliff I could see forestsrising hundreds of feet above the level upon which I stood, and even atthe distance they were from me I realized that the boles were ofgigantic size. 

At last I had come to the Galu country. Though not conceived inCaspak, I had indeed come up cor-sva jo--from the beginning I had comeup through the hideous horrors of the lower Caspakian spheres ofevolution, and I could not but feel something of the elation and pridewhich had filled To-mar and So-al when they realized that the call hadcome to them and they were about to rise from the estate of Band-lus tothat of Kro-lus. I was glad that I was not batu. 

But where was Ajor? Though my eyes searched the wide landscape beforeme, I saw nothing other than the warriors of Du-seen and the beasts ofthe fields and the forests. Surrounded by forests, I could see wideplains dotting the country as far as the eye could reach; but nowherewas a sign of a small Galu she--the beloved she whom I would have givenmy right hand to see. 

Nobs and I were hungry; we had not eaten since the preceding night, andbelow us was game-deer, sheep, anything that a hungry hunter mightcrave; so down the steep trail we made our way, and then upon my bellywith Nobs crouching low behind me, I crawled toward a small herd of reddeer feeding at the edge of a plain close beside a forest. There wasample cover, what with solitary trees and dotting bushes so that Ifound no difficulty in stalking up wind to within fifty feet of myquarry--a large, sleek doe unaccompanied by a fawn. Greatly then did Iregret my rifle. Never in my life had I shot an arrow, but I knew howit was done, and fitting the shaft to my string, I aimed carefully andlet drive. At the same instant I called to Nobs and leaped to me feet. 

The arrow caught the doe full in the side, and in the same moment Nobswas after her. She turned to flee with the two of us pursuing her, Nobs with his great fangs bared and I with my short spear poised for acast. The balance of the herd sprang quickly away; but the hurt doelagged, and in a moment Nobs was beside her and had leaped at herthroat. He had her down when I came up, and I finished her with myspear. It didn't take me long to have a fire going and a steakbroiling, and while I was preparing for my own feast, Nobs was fillinghimself with raw venison. Never have I enjoyed a meal so heartily. 

For two days I searched fruitlessly back and forth from the inland seaalmost to the barrier cliffs for some trace of Ajor, and always Itrended northward; but I saw no sign of any human being, not even theband of Galu warriors under Du-seen; and then I commenced to havemisgivings. Had Chal-az spoken the truth to me when he said that Ajorhad quit the village of the Kro-lu? Might he not have been acting uponthe orders of Al-tan, in whose savage bosom might have lurked somesmall spark of shame that he had attempted to do to death one who hadbefriended a Kro-lu warrior--a guest who had brought no harm upon theKro-lu race--and thus have sent me out upon a fruitless mission in thehope that the wild beasts would do what Al-tan hesitated to do? I didnot know; but the more I thought upon it, the more convinced I becamethat Ajor had not quitted the Kro-lu village; but if not, what hadbrought Du-seen forth without her? There was a puzzler, and once againI was all at sea. 

On the second day of my experience of the Galu country I came upon abunch of as magnificent horses as it has ever been my lot to see. Theywere dark bays with blazed faces and perfect surcingles of white abouttheir barrels. Their forelegs were white to the knees. In height theystood almost sixteen hands, the mares being a trifle smaller than thestallions, of which there were three or four in this band of a hundred, which comprised many colts and half-grown horses. Their markings werealmost identical, indicating a purity of strain that might havepersisted since long ages ago. If I had coveted one of the littleponies of the Kro-lu country, imagine my state of mind when I came uponthese magnificent creatures! No sooner had I espied them than Idetermined to possess one of them; nor did it take me long to select abeautiful young stallion--a four-year-old, I guessed him. 

The horses were grazing close to the edge of the forest in which Nobsand I were concealed, while the ground between us and them was dottedwith clumps of flowering brush which offered perfect concealment. Thestallion of my choice grazed with a filly and two yearlings a littleapart from the balance of the herd and nearest to the forest and to me. At my whispered "Charge!" Nobs flattened himself to the ground, and Iknew that he would not again move until I called him, unless dangerthreatened me from the rear. Carefully I crept forward toward myunsuspecting quarry, coming undetected to the concealment of a bush notmore than twenty feet from him. Here I quietly arranged my noose, spreading it flat and open upon the ground. 

To step to one side of the bush and throw directly from the ground, which is the style I am best in, would take but an instant, and in thatinstant the stallion would doubtless be under way at top speed in theopposite direction. Then he would have to wheel about when I surprisedhim, and in doing so, he would most certainly rise slightly upon hishind feet and throw up his head, presenting a perfect target for mynoose as he pivoted. 

Yes, I had it beautifully worked out, and I waited until he should turnin my direction. At last it became evident that he was doing so, whenapparently without cause, the filly raised her head, neighed andstarted off at a trot in the opposite direction, immediately followed, of course, by the colts and my stallion. It looked for a moment asthough my last hope was blasted; but presently their fright, if frightit was, passed, and they resumed grazing again a hundred yards fartheron. This time there was no bush within fifty feet of them, and I wasat a loss as to how to get within safe roping-distance. Anywhere underforty feet I am an excellent roper, at fifty feet I am fair; but overthat I knew it would be a matter of luck if I succeeded in getting mynoose about that beautiful arched neck. 

As I stood debating the question in my mind, I was almost upon thepoint of making the attempt at the long throw. I had plenty of rope, this Galu weapon being fully sixty feet long. How I wished for thecollies from the ranch! At a word they would have circled this littlebunch and driven it straight down to me; and then it flashed into mymind that Nobs had run with those collies all one summer, that he hadgone down to the pasture with them after the cows every evening anddone his part in driving them back to the milking-barn, and had done itintelligently; but Nobs had never done the thing alone, and it had beena year since he had done it at all. However, the chances were more infavor of my foozling the long throw than that Nobs would fall down inhis part if I gave him the chance. 

Having come to a decision, I had to creep back to Nobs and get him, andthen with him at my heels return to a large bush near the four horses. Here we could see directly through the bush, and pointing the animalsout to Nobs I whispered: "Fetch 'em, boy!"

In an instant he was gone, circling wide toward the rear of the quarry. They caught sight of him almost immediately and broke into a trot awayfrom him; but when they saw that he was apparently giving them a wideberth they stopped again, though they stood watching him, withhigh-held heads and quivering nostrils. It was a beautiful sight. Andthen Nobs turned in behind them and trotted slowly back toward me. Hedid not bark, nor come rushing down upon them, and when he had comecloser to them, he proceeded at a walk. The splendid creatures seemedmore curious than fearful, making no effort to escape until Nobs wasquite close to them; then they trotted slowly away, but at right angles. 

And now the fun and trouble commenced. Nobs, of course, attempted toturn them, and he seemed to have selected the stallion to work upon, for he paid no attention to the others, having intelligence enough toknow that a lone dog could run his legs off before he could round upfour horses that didn't wish to be rounded up. The stallion, however, had notions of his own about being headed, and the result was as prettya race as one would care to see. Gad, how that horse could run! Heseemed to flatten out and shoot through the air with the very minimumof exertion, and at his forefoot ran Nobs, doing his best to turn him. He was barking now, and twice he leaped high against the stallion'sflank; but this cost too much effort and always lost him ground, aseach time he was hurled heels over head by the impact; yet before theydisappeared over a rise in the ground I was sure that Nob's persistencewas bearing fruit; it seemed to me that the horse was giving way atrifle to the right. Nobs was between him and the main herd, to whichthe yearling and filly had already fled. 

As I stood waiting for Nobs' return, I could not but speculate upon mychances should I be attacked by some formidable beast. I was somedistance from the forest and armed with weapons in the use of which Iwas quite untrained, though I had practiced some with the spear sinceleaving the Kro-lu country. I must admit that my thoughts were notpleasant ones, verging almost upon cowardice, until I chanced to thinkof little Ajor alone in this same land and armed only with a knife! Iwas immediately filled with shame; but in thinking the matter oversince, I have come to the conclusion that my state of mind wasinfluenced largely by my approximate nakedness. If you have neverwandered about in broad daylight garbed in a bit of red-deer skin ininadequate length, you can have no conception of the sensation offutility that overwhelms one. Clothes, to a man accustomed to wearingclothes, impart a certain self-confidence; lack of them induces panic. 

But no beast attacked me, though I saw several menacing forms passingthrough the dark aisles of the forest. At last I commenced to worryover Nobs' protracted absence and to fear that something had befallenhim. I was coiling my rope to start out in search of him, when I sawthe stallion leap into view at almost the same spot behind which he haddisappeared, and at his heels ran Nobs. Neither was running so fast orfuriously as when last I had seen them. 

The horse, as he approached me, I could see was laboring hard; yet hekept gamely to his task, and Nobs, too. The splendid fellow wasdriving the quarry straight toward me. I crouched behind my bush andlaid my noose in readiness to throw. As the two approached myhiding-place, Nobs reduced his speed, and the stallion, evidently onlytoo glad of the respite, dropped into a trot. It was at this gait thathe passed me; my rope-hand flew forward; the honda, well down, held thenoose open, and the beautiful bay fairly ran his head into it. 

Instantly he wheeled to dash off at right angles. I braced myself withthe rope around my hip and brought him to a sudden stand. Rearing andstruggling, he fought for his liberty while Nobs, panting and withlolling tongue, came and threw himself down near me. He seemed to knowthat his work was done and that he had earned his rest. The stallionwas pretty well spent, and after a few minutes of struggling he stoodwith feet far spread, nostrils dilated and eyes wide, watching me as Iedged toward him, taking in the slack of the rope as I advanced. Adozen times he reared and tried to break away; but always I spokesoothingly to him and after an hour of effort I succeeded in reachinghis head and stroking his muzzle. Then I gathered a handful of grassand offered it to him, and always I talked to him in a quiet andreassuring voice. 

I had expected a battle royal; but on the contrary I found his taming amatter of comparative ease. Though wild, he was gentle to a degree, and of such remarkable intelligence that he soon discovered that I hadno intention of harming him. After that, all was easy. Before thatday was done, I had taught him to lead and to stand while I stroked hishead and flanks, and to eat from my hand, and had the satisfaction ofseeing the light of fear die in his large, intelligent eyes. 

The following day I fashioned a hackamore from a piece which I cut fromthe end of my long Galu rope, and then I mounted him fully prepared fora struggle of titanic proportions in which I was none too sure that hewould not come off victor; but he never made the slightest effort tounseat me, and from then on his education was rapid. No horse everlearned more quickly the meaning of the rein and the pressure of theknees. I think he soon learned to love me, and I know that I lovedhim; while he and Nobs were the best of pals. I called him Ace. I hada friend who was once in the French flying-corps, and when Ace lethimself out, he certainly flew. 

I cannot explain to you, nor can you understand, unless you too are ahorseman, the exhilarating feeling of well-being which pervaded me fromthe moment that I commenced riding Ace. I was a new man, imbued with asense of superiority that led me to feel that I could go forth andconquer all Caspak single-handed. Now, when I needed meat, I ran itdown on Ace and roped it, and when some great beast with which we couldnot cope threatened us, we galloped away to safety; but for the mostpart the creatures we met looked upon us in terror, for Ace and I incombination presented a new and unusual beast beyond their experienceand ken. 

For five days I rode back and forth across the southern end of the Galucountry without seeing a human being; yet all the time I was workingslowly toward the north, for I had determined to comb the territorythoroughly in search of Ajor; but on the fifth day as I emerged from aforest, I saw some distance ahead of me a single small figure pursuedby many others. Instantly I recognized the quarry as Ajor. The entireparty was fully a mile away from me, and they were crossing my path atright angles. Ajor a few hundred yards in advance of those whofollowed her. One of her pursuers was far in advance of the others, and was gaining upon her rapidly. With a word and a pressure of theknees I sent Ace leaping out into the open, and with Nobs running closealongside, we raced toward her. 

At first none of them saw us; but as we neared Ajor, the pack behindthe foremost pursuer discovered us and set up such a howl as I neverbefore have heard. They were all Galus, and I soon recognized theforemost as Du-seen. He was almost upon Ajor now, and with a sense ofterror such as I had never before experienced, I saw that he ran withhis knife in his hand, and that his intention was to slay rather thancapture. I could not understand it, but I could only urge Ace togreater speed, and most nobly did the wondrous creature respond to mydemands. If ever a four-footed creature approximated flying, it wasAce that day. 

Du-seen, intent upon his brutal design, had as yet not noticed us. Hewas within a pace of Ajor when Ace and I dashed between them, and I, leaning down to the left, swept my little barbarian into the hollow ofan arm and up on the withers of my glorious Ace. We had snatched herfrom the very clutches of Du-seen, who halted, mystified and raging. Ajor, too, was mystified, as we had come up from diagonally behind herso that she had no idea that we were near until she was swung to Ace'sback. The little savage turned with drawn knife to stab me, thinkingthat I was some new enemy, when her eyes found my face and sherecognized me. With a little sob she threw her arms about my neck, gasping: "My Tom! My Tom!"

And then Ace sank suddenly into thick mud to his belly, and Ajor and Iwere thrown far over his head. He had run into one of those numeroussprings which cover Caspak. Sometimes they are little lakes, again buttiny pools, and often mere quagmires of mud, as was this one overgrownwith lush grasses which effectually hid its treacherous identity. Itis a wonder that Ace did not break a leg, so fast he was going when hefell; but he didn't, though with four good legs he was unable to wallowfrom the mire. Ajor and I had sprawled face down in the coveringgrasses and so had not sunk deeply; but when we tried to rise, we foundthat there was not footing, and presently we saw that Du-seen and hisfollowers were coming down upon us. There was no escape. It wasevident that we were doomed. 

"Slay me!" begged Ajor. "Let me die at thy loved hands rather thanbeneath the knife of this hateful thing, for he will kill me. He hassworn to kill me. Last night he captured me, and when later he wouldhave his way with me, I struck him with my fists and with my knife Istabbed him, and then I escaped, leaving him raging in pain andthwarted desire. Today they searched for me and found me; and as Ifled, Du-seen ran after me crying that he would slay me. Kill me, myTom, and then fall upon thine own spear, for they will kill youhorribly if they take you alive. "

I couldn't kill her--not at least until the last moment; and I told herso, and that I loved her, and that until death came, I would live andfight for her. 

Nobs had followed us into the bog and had done fairly well at first, but when he neared us he too sank to his belly and could only flounderabout. We were in this predicament when Du-seen and his followersapproached the edge of the horrible swamp. I saw that Al-tan was withhim and many other Kro-lu warriors. The alliance against Jor the chiefhad, therefore, been consummated, and this horde was already marchingupon the Galu city. I sighed as I thought how close I had been tosaving not only Ajor but her father and his people from defeat anddeath. 

Beyond the swamp was a dense wood. Could we have reached this, wewould have been safe; but it might as well have been a hundred milesaway as a hundred yards across that hidden lake of sticky mud. Uponthe edge of the swamp Du-seen and his horde halted to revile us. Theycould not reach us with their hands; but at a command from Du-seen theyfitted arrows to their bows, and I saw that the end had come. Ajorhuddled close to me, and I took her in my arms. "I love you, Tom, " shesaid, "only you. " Tears came to my eyes then, not tears of self-pityfor my predicament, but tears from a heart filled with a great love--aheart that sees the sun of its life and its love setting even as itrises. 

The renegade Galus and their Kro-lu allies stood waiting for the wordfrom Du-seen that would launch that barbed avalanche of death upon us, when there broke from the wood beyond the swamp the sweetest music thatever fell upon the ears of man--the sharp staccato of at least twoscore rifles fired rapidly at will. Down went the Galu and Kro-luwarriors like tenpins before that deadly fusillade. 

What could it mean? To me it meant but one thing, and that was thatHollis and Short and the others had scaled the cliffs and made theirway north to the Galu country upon the opposite side of the island intime to save Ajor and me from almost certain death. I didn't have tohave an introduction to them to know that the men who held those rifleswere the men of my own party; and when, a few minutes later, they cameforth from their concealment, my eyes verified my hopes. There theywere, every man-jack of them; and with them were a thousand straight, sleek warriors of the Galu race; and ahead of the others came two menin the garb of Galus. Each was tall and straight and wonderfullymuscled; yet they differed as Ace might differ from a perfect specimenof another species. As they approached the mire, Ajor held forth herarms and cried, "Jor, my chief! My father!" and the elder of the tworushed in knee-deep to rescue her, and then the other came close andlooked into my face, and his eyes went wide, and mine too, and I cried:"Bowen! For heaven's sake, Bowen Tyler!"

It was he. My search was ended. Around me were all my company and theman we had searched a new world to find. They cut saplings from theforest and laid a road into the swamp before they could get us all out, and then we marched back to the city of Jor the Galu chief, and therewas great rejoicing when Ajor came home again mounted upon the glossyback of the stallion Ace. 

Tyler and Hollis and Short and all the rest of us Americans nearlyworked our jaws loose on the march back to the village, and for daysafterward we kept it up. They told me how they had crossed the barriercliffs in five days, working twenty-four hours a day in threeeight-hour shifts with two reliefs to each shift alternatinghalf-hourly. Two men with electric drills driven from the dynamosaboard the Toreador drilled two holes four feet apart in the face ofthe cliff and in the same horizontal planes. The holes slantedslightly downward. Into these holes the iron rods brought as a part ofour equipment and for just this purpose were inserted, extending abouta foot beyond the face of the rock, across these two rods a plank waslaid, and then the next shift, mounting to the new level, bored twomore holes five feet above the new platform, and so on. 

During the nights the searchlights from the Toreador were kept playingupon the cliff at the point where the drills were working, and at therate of ten feet an hour the summit was reached upon the fifth day. Ropes were lowered, blocks lashed to trees at the top, and crudeelevators rigged, so that by the night of the fifth day the entireparty, with the exception of the few men needed to man the Toreador, were within Caspak with an abundance of arms, ammunition and equipment. 

From then on, they fought their way north in search of me, after a vainand perilous effort to enter the hideous reptile-infested country tothe south. Owing to the number of guns among them, they had not lost aman; but their path was strewn with the dead creatures they had beenforced to slay to win their way to the north end of the island, wherethey had found Bowen and his bride among the Galus of Jor. 

The reunion between Bowen and Nobs was marked by a frantic display uponNobs' part, which almost stripped Bowen of the scanty attire that theGalu custom had vouchsafed him. When we arrived at the Galu city, LysLa Rue was waiting to welcome us. She was Mrs. Tyler now, as themaster of the Toreador had married them the very day that thesearch-party had found them, though neither Lys nor Bowen would admitthat any civil or religious ceremony could have rendered more sacredthe bonds with which God had united them. 

Neither Bowen nor the party from the Toreador had seen any sign ofBradley and his party. They had been so long lost now that any hopesfor them must be definitely abandoned. The Galus had heard rumors ofthem, as had the Western Kro-lu and Band-lu; but none had seen aught ofthem since they had left Fort Dinosaur months since. 

We rested in Jor's village for a fortnight while we prepared for thesouthward journey to the point where the Toreador was to lie off shorein wait for us. During these two weeks Chal-az came up from the Krolucountry, now a full-fledged Galu. He told us that the remnants ofAl-tan's party had been slain when they attempted to re-enter Kro-lu. Chal-az had been made chief, and when he rose, had left the tribe undera new leader whom all respected. 

Nobs stuck close to Bowen; but Ace and Ajor and I went out upon manylong rides through the beautiful north Galu country. Chal-az hadbrought my arms and ammunition up from Kro-lu with him; but my clotheswere gone; nor did I miss them once I became accustomed to the freeattire of the Galu. 

At last came the time for our departure; upon the following morning wewere to set out toward the south and the Toreador and dear oldCalifornia. I had asked Ajor to go with us; but Jor her father hadrefused to listen to the suggestion. No pleas could swerve him fromhis decision: Ajor, the cos-ata-lo, from whom might spring a new andgreater Caspakian race, could not be spared. I might have any othershe among the Galus; but Ajor--no!

The poor child was heartbroken; and as for me, I was slowly realizingthe hold that Ajor had upon my heart and wondered how I should getalong without her. As I held her in my arms that last night, I triedto imagine what life would be like without her, for at last there hadcome to me the realization that I loved her--loved my little barbarian;and as I finally tore myself away and went to my own hut to snatch afew hours' sleep before we set off upon our long journey on the morrow, I consoled myself with the thought that time would heal the wound andthat back in my native land I should find a mate who would be all andmore to me than little Ajor could ever be--a woman of my own race andmy own culture. 

Morning came more quickly than I could have wished. I rose andbreakfasted, but saw nothing of Ajor. It was best, I thought, that Igo thus without the harrowing pangs of a last farewell. The partyformed for the march, an escort of Galu warriors ready to accompany us. I could not even bear to go to Ace's corral and bid him farewell. Thenight before, I had given him to Ajor, and now in my mind the twoseemed inseparable. 

And so we marched away, down the street flanked with its stone housesand out through the wide gateway in the stone wall which surrounds thecity and on across the clearing toward the forest through which we mustpass to reach the northern boundary of Galu, beyond which we would turnsouth. At the edge of the forest I cast a backward glance at the citywhich held my heart, and beside the massive gateway I saw that whichbrought me to a sudden halt. It was a little figure leaning againstone of the great upright posts upon which the gates swing--a crumpledlittle figure; and even at this distance I could see its shouldersheave to the sobs that racked it. It was the last straw. 

Bowen was near me. "Good-bye old man, " I said. "I'm going back. "

He looked at me in surprise. "Good-bye, old man, " he said, and graspedmy hand. "I thought you'd do it in the end. "

And then I went back and took Ajor in my arms and kissed the tears fromher eyes and a smile to her lips while together we watched the last ofthe Americans disappear into the forest. 

[Transcriber's note: I have made the following changes to the text:

 PAGE LINE ORIGINAL CHANGED TO

 75 15 later latter 108 14 in is 123 24 the he 131 13 plans planes 131 28 new few 132 24 Donosaur Dinosaur]