"Chapter 1\n\nI am forced to admit that even though I had traveled a long distance to\nplace Bowen Tyler's manuscript in the hands of his father, I was still\na trifle skeptical as to its sincerity, since I could not but recall\nthat it had not been many years since Bowen had been one of the most\nnotorious practical jokers of his alma mater.  The truth was that as I\nsat in the Tyler library at Santa Monica I commenced to feel a trifle\nfoolish and to wish that I had merely forwarded the manuscript by\nexpress instead of bearing it personally, for I confess that I do not\nenjoy being laughed at.  I have a well-developed sense of humor--when\nthe joke is not on me.\n\nMr. Tyler, Sr., was expected almost hourly.  The last steamer in from\nHonolulu had brought information of the date of the expected sailing of\nhis yacht _Toreador_, which was now twenty-four hours overdue.  Mr.\nTyler's assistant secretary, who had been left at home, assured me that\nthere was no doubt but that the _Toreador_ had sailed as promised, since\nhe knew his employer well enough to be positive that nothing short of\nan act of God would prevent his doing what he had planned to do.  I was\nalso aware of the fact that the sending apparatus of the _Toreador_'s\nwireless equipment was sealed, and that it would only be used in event\nof dire necessity.  There was, therefore, nothing to do but wait, and\nwe waited.\n\nWe discussed the manuscript and hazarded guesses concerning it and the\nstrange events it narrated.  The torpedoing of the liner upon which\nBowen J. Tyler, Jr., had taken passage for France to join the American\nAmbulance was a well-known fact, and I had further substantiated by\nwire to the New York office of the owners, that a Miss La Rue had been\nbooked for passage.  Further, neither she nor Bowen had been mentioned\namong the list of survivors; nor had the body of either of them been\nrecovered.\n\nTheir rescue by the English tug was entirely probable; the capture of\nthe enemy _U-33_ by the tug's crew was not beyond the range of\npossibility; and their adventures during the perilous cruise which the\ntreachery and deceit of Benson extended until they found themselves in\nthe waters of the far South Pacific with depleted stores and poisoned\nwater-casks, while bordering upon the fantastic, appeared logical\nenough as narrated, event by event, in the manuscript.\n\nCaprona has always been considered a more or less mythical land, though\nit is vouched for by an eminent navigator of the eighteenth century;\nbut Bowen's narrative made it seem very real, however many miles of\ntrackless ocean lay between us and it.  Yes, the narrative had us\nguessing.  We were agreed that it was most improbable; but neither of\nus could say that anything which it contained was beyond the range of\npossibility.  The weird flora and fauna of Caspak were as possible\nunder the thick, warm atmospheric conditions of the super-heated crater\nas they were in the Mesozoic era under almost exactly similar\nconditions, which were then probably world-wide.  The assistant\nsecretary had heard of Caproni and his discoveries, but admitted that\nhe never had taken much stock in the one nor the other.  We were agreed\nthat the one statement most difficult of explanation was that which\nreported the entire absence of human young among the various tribes\nwith which Tyler had had intercourse.  This was the one irreconcilable\nstatement of the manuscript.  A world of adults!  It was impossible.\n\nWe speculated upon the probable fate of Bradley and his party of\nEnglish sailors.  Tyler had found the graves of two of them; how many\nmore might have perished!  And Miss La Rue--could a young girl long\nhave survived the horrors of Caspak after having been separated from\nall of her own kind?  The assistant secretary wondered if Nobs still\nwas with her, and then we both smiled at this tacit acceptance of the\ntruth of the whole uncanny tale:\n\n\"I suppose I'm a fool,\" remarked the assistant secretary; \"but by\nGeorge, I can't help believing it, and I can see that girl now, with\nthe big Airedale at her side protecting her from the terrors of a\nmillion years ago.  I can visualize the entire scene--the apelike\nGrimaldi men huddled in their filthy caves; the huge pterodactyls\nsoaring through the heavy air upon their bat-like wings; the mighty\ndinosaurs moving their clumsy hulks beneath the dark shadows of\npreglacial forests--the dragons which we considered myths until science\ntaught us that they were the true recollections of the first man,\nhanded down through countless ages by word of mouth from father to son\nout of the unrecorded dawn of humanity.\"\n\n\"It is stupendous--if true,\" I replied.  \"And to think that possibly\nthey are still there--Tyler and Miss La Rue--surrounded by hideous\ndangers, and that possibly Bradley still lives, and some of his party!\nI can't help hoping all the time that Bowen and the girl have found the\nothers; the last Bowen knew of them, there were six left, all told--the\nmate Bradley, the engineer Olson, and Wilson, Whitely, Brady and\nSinclair.  There might be some hope for them if they could join forces;\nbut separated, I'm afraid they couldn't last long.\"\n\n\"If only they hadn't let the German prisoners capture the _U-33_!  Bowen\nshould have had better judgment than to have trusted them at all.  The\nchances are von Schoenvorts succeeded in getting safely back to Kiel\nand is strutting around with an Iron Cross this very minute.  With a\nlarge supply of oil from the wells they discovered in Caspak, with\nplenty of water and ample provisions, there is no reason why they\ncouldn't have negotiated the submerged tunnel beneath the barrier\ncliffs and made good their escape.\"\n\n\"I don't like 'em,\" said the assistant secretary; \"but sometimes you\ngot to hand it to 'em.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I growled, \"and there's nothing I'd enjoy more than _handing it\nto them_!\" And then the telephone-bell rang.\n\nThe assistant secretary answered, and as I watched him, I saw his jaw\ndrop and his face go white.  \"My God!\" he exclaimed as he hung up the\nreceiver as one in a trance.  \"It can't be!\"\n\n\"What?\" I asked.\n\n\"Mr. Tyler is dead,\" he answered in a dull voice.  \"He died at sea,\nsuddenly, yesterday.\"\n\nThe next ten days were occupied in burying Mr. Bowen J. Tyler, Sr., and\narranging plans for the succor of his son.  Mr. Tom Billings, the late\nMr. Tyler's secretary, did it all.  He is force, energy, initiative and\ngood judgment combined and personified.  I never have beheld a more\ndynamic young man.  He handled lawyers, courts and executors as a\nsculptor handles his modeling clay.  He formed, fashioned and forced\nthem to his will.  He had been a classmate of Bowen Tyler at college,\nand a fraternity brother, and before that he had been an impoverished\nand improvident cow-puncher on one of the great Tyler ranches.  Tyler,\nSr., had picked him out of thousands of employees and made him; or\nrather Tyler had given him the opportunity, and then Billings had made\nhimself.  Tyler, Jr., as good a judge of men as his father, had taken\nhim into his friendship, and between the two of them they had turned\nout a man who would have died for a Tyler as quickly as he would have\nfor his flag.  Yet there was none of the sycophant or fawner in\nBillings; ordinarily I do not wax enthusiastic about men, but this man\nBillings comes as close to my conception of what a regular man should\nbe as any I have ever met.  I venture to say that before Bowen J. Tyler\nsent him to college he had never heard the word _ethics_, and yet I am\nequally sure that in all his life he never has transgressed a single\ntenet of the code of ethics of an American gentleman.\n\nTen days after they brought Mr. Tyler's body off the _Toreador_, we\nsteamed out into the Pacific in search of Caprona.  There were forty in\nthe party, including the master and crew of the _Toreador_; and Billings\nthe indomitable was in command.  We had a long and uninteresting search\nfor Caprona, for the old map upon which the assistant secretary had\nfinally located it was most inaccurate.  When its grim walls finally\nrose out of the ocean's mists before us, we were so far south that it\nwas a question as to whether we were in the South Pacific or the\nAntarctic.  Bergs were numerous, and it was very cold.\n\nAll during the trip Billings had steadfastly evaded questions as to how\nwe were to enter Caspak after we had found Caprona.  Bowen Tyler's\nmanuscript had made it perfectly evident to all that the subterranean\noutlet of the Caspakian River was the only means of ingress or egress\nto the crater world beyond the impregnable cliffs.  Tyler's party had\nbeen able to navigate this channel because their craft had been a\nsubmarine; but the _Toreador_ could as easily have flown over the cliffs\nas sailed under them.  Jimmy Hollis and Colin Short whiled away many an\nhour inventing schemes for surmounting the obstacle presented by the\nbarrier cliffs, and making ridiculous wagers as to which one Tom\nBillings had in mind; but immediately we were all assured that we had\nraised Caprona, Billings called us together.\n\n\"There was no use in talking about these things,\" he said, \"until we\nfound the island.  At best it can be but conjecture on our part until\nwe have been able to scrutinize the coast closely.  Each of us has\nformed a mental picture of the Capronian seacoast from Bowen's\nmanuscript, and it is not likely that any two of these pictures\nresemble each other, or that any of them resemble the coast as we shall\npresently find it.  I have in view three plans for scaling the cliffs,\nand the means for carrying out each is in the hold.  There is an\nelectric drill with plenty of waterproof cable to reach from the ship's\ndynamos to the cliff-top when the _Toreador_ is anchored at a safe\ndistance from shore, and there is sufficient half-inch iron rod to\nbuild a ladder from the base to the top of the cliff.  It would be a\nlong, arduous and dangerous work to bore the holes and insert the rungs\nof the ladder from the bottom upward; yet it can be done.\n\n\"I also have a life-saving mortar with which we might be able to throw\na line over the summit of the cliffs; but this plan would necessitate\none of us climbing to the top with the chances more than even that the\nline would cut at the summit, or the hooks at the upper end would slip.\n\n\"My third plan seems to me the most feasible.  You all saw a number of\nlarge, heavy boxes lowered into the hold before we sailed.  I know you\ndid, because you asked me what they contained and commented upon the\nlarge letter 'H' which was painted upon each box.  These boxes contain\nthe various parts of a hydro-aeroplane.  I purpose assembling this upon\nthe strip of beach described in Bowen's manuscript--the beach where he\nfound the dead body of the apelike man--provided there is sufficient\nspace above high water; otherwise we shall have to assemble it on deck\nand lower it over the side.  After it is assembled, I shall carry\ntackle and ropes to the cliff-top, and then it will be comparatively\nsimple to hoist the search-party and its supplies in safety.  Or I can\nmake a sufficient number of trips to land the entire party in the\nvalley beyond the barrier; all will depend, of course, upon what my\nfirst reconnaissance reveals.\"\n\nThat afternoon we steamed slowly along the face of Caprona's towering\nbarrier.\n\n\"You see now,\" remarked Billings as we craned our necks to scan the\nsummit thousands of feet above us, \"how futile it would have been to\nwaste our time in working out details of a plan to surmount those.\" And\nhe jerked his thumb toward the cliffs.  \"It would take weeks, possibly\nmonths, to construct a ladder to the top.  I had no conception of their\nformidable height.  Our mortar would not carry a line halfway to the\ncrest of the lowest point.  There is no use discussing any plan other\nthan the hydro-aeroplane.  We'll find the beach and get busy.\"\n\nLate the following morning the lookout announced that he could discern\nsurf about a mile ahead; and as we approached, we all saw the line of\nbreakers broken by a long sweep of rolling surf upon a narrow beach.\nThe launch was lowered, and five of us made a landing, getting a good\nducking in the ice-cold waters in the doing of it; but we were rewarded\nby the finding of the clean-picked bones of what might have been the\nskeleton of a high order of ape or a very low order of man, lying close\nto the base of the cliff.  Billings was satisfied, as were the rest of\nus, that this was the beach mentioned by Bowen, and we further found\nthat there was ample room to assemble the sea-plane.\n\nBillings, having arrived at a decision, lost no time in acting, with\nthe result that before mid-afternoon we had landed all the large boxes\nmarked \"H\" upon the beach, and were busily engaged in opening them.\nTwo days later the plane was assembled and tuned.  We loaded tackles\nand ropes, water, food and ammunition in it, and then we each implored\nBillings to let us be the one to accompany him.  But he would take no\none.  That was Billings; if there was any especially difficult or\ndangerous work to be done, that one man could do, Billings always did\nit himself.  If he needed assistance, he  never  called  for\nvolunteers--just selected the man or men he considered best qualified\nfor the duty.  He said that he considered the principles underlying all\nvolunteer service fundamentally wrong, and that it seemed to him that\ncalling for volunteers reflected upon the courage and loyalty of the\nentire command.\n\nWe rolled the plane down to the water's edge, and Billings mounted the\npilot's seat.  There was a moment's delay as he assured himself that he\nhad everything necessary.  Jimmy Hollis went over his armament and\nammunition to see that nothing had been omitted.  Besides pistol and\nrifle, there was the machine-gun mounted in front of him on the plane,\nand ammunition for all three.  Bowen's account of the terrors of Caspak\nhad impressed us all with the necessity for proper means of defense.\n\nAt last all was ready.  The motor was started, and we pushed the plane\nout into the surf.  A moment later, and she was skimming seaward.\nGently she rose from the surface of the water, executed a wide spiral\nas she mounted rapidly, circled once far above us and then disappeared\nover the crest of the cliffs.  We all stood silent and expectant, our\neyes glued upon the towering summit above us.  Hollis, who was now in\ncommand, consulted his wrist-watch at frequent intervals.\n\n\"Gad,\" exclaimed Short, \"we ought to be hearing from him pretty soon!\"\n\nHollis laughed nervously.  \"He's been gone only ten minutes,\" he\nannounced.\n\n\"Seems like an hour,\" snapped Short.  \"What's that?  Did you hear that?\nHe's firing!  It's the machine-gun!  Oh, Lord; and here we are as\nhelpless as a lot of old ladies ten thousand miles away!  We can't do a\nthing.  We don't know what's happening.  Why didn't he let one of us go\nwith him?\"\n\nYes, it was the machine-gun.  We would hear it distinctly for at least\na minute.  Then came silence.  That was two weeks ago.  We have had no\nsign nor signal from Tom Billings since.\n\n\n\nChapter 2\n\nI'll never forget my first impressions of Caspak as I circled in, high\nover the surrounding cliffs.  From the plane I looked down through a\nmist upon the blurred landscape beneath me.  The hot, humid atmosphere\nof Caspak condenses as it is fanned by the cold Antarctic air-currents\nwhich sweep across the crater's top, sending a tenuous ribbon of vapor\nfar out across the Pacific.  Through this the picture gave one the\nsuggestion of a colossal impressionistic canvas in greens and browns\nand scarlets and yellows surrounding the deep blue of the inland\nsea--just blobs of color taking form through the tumbling mist.\n\nI dived close to the cliffs and skirted them for several miles without\nfinding the least indication of a suitable landing-place; and then I\nswung back at a lower level, looking for a clearing close to the bottom\nof the mighty escarpment; but I could find none of sufficient area to\ninsure safety.  I was flying pretty low by this time, not only looking\nfor landing places but watching the myriad life beneath me.  I was down\npretty well toward the south end of the island, where an arm of the\nlake reaches far inland, and I could see the surface of the water\nliterally black with creatures of some sort.  I was too far up to\nrecognize individuals, but the general impression was of a vast army of\namphibious monsters.  The land was almost equally alive with crawling,\nleaping, running, flying things.  It was one of the latter which nearly\ndid for me while my attention was fixed upon the weird scene below.\n\nThe first intimation I had of it was the sudden blotting out of the\nsunlight from above, and as I glanced quickly up, I saw a most terrific\ncreature swooping down upon me.  It must have been fully eighty feet\nlong from the end of its long, hideous beak to the tip of its thick,\nshort tail, with an equal spread of wings.  It was coming straight for\nme and hissing frightfully--I could hear it above the whir of the\npropeller.  It was coming straight down toward the muzzle of the\nmachine-gun and I let it have it right in the breast; but still it came\nfor me, so that I had to dive and turn, though I was dangerously close\nto earth.\n\nThe thing didn't miss me by a dozen feet, and when I rose, it wheeled\nand followed me, but only to the cooler air close to the level of the\ncliff-tops; there it turned again and dropped.  Something--man's\nnatural love of battle and the chase, I presume--impelled me to pursue\nit, and so I too circled and dived.  The moment I came down into the\nwarm atmosphere of Caspak, the creature came for me again, rising above\nme so that it might swoop down upon me.  Nothing could better have\nsuited my armament, since my machine-gun was pointed upward at an angle\nof about 45 degrees  and could not be either depressed or elevated by the\npilot.  If I had brought someone along with me, we could have raked the\ngreat reptile from almost any position, but as the creature's mode of\nattack was always from above, he always found me ready with a hail of\nbullets.  The battle must have lasted a minute or more before the thing\nsuddenly turned completely over in the air and fell to the ground.\n\nBowen and I roomed together at college, and I learned a lot from him\noutside my regular course.  He was a pretty good scholar despite his\nlove of fun, and his particular hobby was paleontology.  He used to\ntell me about the various forms of animal and vegetable life which had\ncovered the globe during former eras, and so I was pretty well\nacquainted with the fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals of\npaleolithic times.  I knew that the thing that had attacked me was some\nsort of pterodactyl which should have been extinct millions of years\nago.  It was all that I needed to realize that Bowen had exaggerated\nnothing in his manuscript.\n\nHaving disposed of my first foe, I set myself once more to search for a\nlanding-place near to the base of the cliffs beyond which my party\nawaited me.  I knew how anxious they would be for word from me, and I\nwas equally anxious to relieve their minds and also to get them and our\nsupplies well within Caspak, so that we might set off about our\nbusiness of finding and rescuing Bowen Tyler; but the pterodactyl's\ncarcass had scarcely fallen before I was surrounded by at least a dozen\nof the hideous things, some large, some small, but all bent upon my\ndestruction.  I could not cope with them all, and so I rose rapidly\nfrom among them to the cooler strata wherein they dared not follow; and\nthen I recalled that Bowen's narrative distinctly indicated that the\nfarther north one traveled in Caspak, the fewer were the terrible\nreptiles which rendered human life impossible at the southern end of\nthe island.\n\nThere seemed nothing now but to search out a more northerly\nlanding-place and then return to the _Toreador_ and transport my\ncompanions, two by two, over the cliffs and deposit them at the\nrendezvous.  As I flew north, the temptation to explore overcame me.  I\nknew that I could easily cover Caspak and return to the beach with less\npetrol than I had in my tanks; and there was the hope, too, that I\nmight find Bowen or some of his party.  The broad expanse of the inland\nsea lured me out over its waters, and as I crossed, I saw at either\nextremity of the great body of water an island--one to the south and\none to the north; but I did not alter my course to examine either\nclosely, leaving that to a later time.\n\nThe further shore of the sea revealed a much narrower strip of land\nbetween the cliffs and the water than upon the western side; but it was\na hillier and more open country.  There were splendid landing-places,\nand in the distance, toward the north, I thought I descried a village;\nbut of that I was not positive.  However, as I approached the land, I\nsaw a number of human figures apparently pursuing one who fled across a\nbroad expanse of meadow.  As I dropped lower to have a better look at\nthese people, they caught the whirring of my propellers and looked\naloft.  They paused an instant--pursuers and pursued; and then they\nbroke and raced for the shelter of the nearest wood.  Almost\ninstantaneously a huge bulk swooped down upon me, and as I looked up, I\nrealized that there were flying reptiles even in this part of Caspak.\nThe creature dived for my right wing so quickly that nothing but a\nsheer drop could have saved me.  I was already close to the ground, so\nthat my maneuver was extremely dangerous; but I was in a fair way of\nmaking it successfully when I saw that I was too closely approaching a\nlarge tree.  My effort to dodge the tree and the pterodactyl at the\nsame time resulted disastrously.  One wing touched an upper branch; the\nplane tipped and swung around, and then, out of control, dashed into\nthe branches of the tree, where it came to rest, battered and torn,\nforty feet above the ground.\n\nHissing loudly, the huge reptile swept close above the tree in which my\nplane had lodged, circled twice over me and then flapped away toward\nthe south.  As I guessed then and was to learn later, forests are the\nsurest sanctuary from these hideous creatures, which, with their\nenormous spread of wing and their great weight, are as much out of\nplace among trees as is a seaplane.\n\nFor a minute or so I clung there to my battered flyer, now useless\nbeyond redemption, my brain numbed by the frightful catastrophe that\nhad befallen me.  All my plans for the succor of Bowen and Miss La Rue\nhad depended upon this craft, and in a few brief minutes my own selfish\nlove of adventure had wrecked their hopes and mine.  And what effect it\nmight have upon the future of the balance of the rescuing expedition I\ncould not even guess.  Their lives, too, might be sacrificed to my\nsuicidal foolishness.  That I was doomed seemed inevitable; but I can\nhonestly say that the fate of my friends concerned me more greatly than\ndid my own.\n\nBeyond the barrier cliffs my party was even now nervously awaiting my\nreturn.  Presently apprehension and fear would claim them--and they\nwould never know!  They would attempt to scale the cliffs--of that I\nwas sure; but I was not so positive that they would succeed; and after\na while they would turn back, what there were left of them, and go\nsadly and mournfully upon their return journey to home.  Home!  I set\nmy jaws and tried to forget the word, for I knew that I should never\nagain see home.\n\nAnd what of Bowen and his girl?  I had doomed them too.  They would\nnever even know that an attempt had been made to rescue them.  If they\nstill lived, they might some day come upon the ruined remnants of this\ngreat plane hanging in its lofty sepulcher and hazard vain guesses and\nbe filled with wonder; but they would never know; and I could not but\nbe glad that they would not know that Tom Billings had sealed their\ndeath-warrants by his criminal selfishness.\n\nAll these useless regrets were getting me in a bad way; but at last I\nshook myself and tried to put such things out of my mind and take hold\nof conditions as they existed and do my level best to wrest victory\nfrom defeat.  I was badly shaken up and bruised, but considered myself\nmighty lucky to escape with my life.  The plane hung at a precarious\nangle, so that it was with difficulty and considerable danger that I\nclimbed from it into the tree and then to the ground.\n\nMy predicament was grave.  Between me and my friends lay an inland sea\nfully sixty miles wide at this point and an estimated land-distance of\nsome three hundred miles around the northern end of the sea, through\nsuch hideous dangers as I am perfectly free to admit had me pretty well\nbuffaloed.  I had seen quite enough of Caspak this day to assure me\nthat Bowen had in no way exaggerated its perils.  As a matter of fact,\nI am inclined to believe that he had become so accustomed to them\nbefore he started upon his manuscript that he rather slighted them.  As\nI stood there beneath that tree--a tree which should have been part of\na coal-bed countless ages since--and looked out across a sea teeming\nwith frightful life--life which should have been fossil before God\nconceived of Adam--I would not have given a minim of stale beer for my\nchances of ever seeing my friends or the outside world again; yet then\nand there I swore to fight my way as far through this hideous land as\ncircumstances would permit.  I had plenty of ammunition, an automatic\npistol and a heavy rifle--the latter one of twenty added to our\nequipment on the strength of Bowen's description of the huge beasts of\nprey which ravaged Caspak.  My greatest danger lay in the hideous\nreptilia whose low nervous organizations permitted their carnivorous\ninstincts to function for several minutes after they had ceased to live.\n\nBut to these things I gave less thought than to the sudden frustration\nof all our plans.  With the bitterest of thoughts I condemned myself\nfor the foolish weakness that had permitted me to be drawn from the\nmain object of my flight into premature and useless exploration.  It\nseemed to me then that I must be totally eliminated from further search\nfor Bowen, since, as I estimated it, the three hundred miles of\nCaspakian territory I must traverse to reach the base of the cliffs\nbeyond which my party awaited me were practically impassable for a\nsingle individual unaccustomed to Caspakian life and ignorant of all\nthat lay before him.  Yet I could not give up hope entirely.  My duty\nlay clear before me; I must follow it while life remained to me, and so\nI set forth toward the north.\n\nThe country through which I took my way was as lovely as it was\nunusual--I had almost said unearthly, for the plants, the trees, the\nblooms were not of the earth that I knew.  They were larger, the colors\nmore brilliant and the shapes startling, some almost to grotesqueness,\nthough even such added to the charm and romance of the landscape as the\ngiant cacti render weirdly beautiful the waste spots of the sad Mohave.\nAnd over all the sun shone huge and round and red, a monster sun above\na monstrous world, its light dispersed by the humid air of Caspak--the\nwarm, moist air which lies sluggish upon the breast of this great\nmother of life, Nature's mightiest incubator.\n\nAll about me, in every direction, was life.  It moved through the\ntree-tops and among the boles; it displayed itself in widening and\nintermingling circles upon the bosom of the sea; it leaped from the\ndepths; I could hear it in a dense wood at my right, the murmur of it\nrising and falling in ceaseless volumes of sound, riven at intervals by\na horrid scream or a thunderous roar which shook the earth; and always\nI was haunted by that inexplicable sensation that unseen eyes were\nwatching me, that soundless feet dogged my trail.  I am neither nervous\nnor highstrung; but the burden of responsibility upon me weighed\nheavily, so that I was more cautious than is my wont.  I turned often\nto right and left and rear lest I be surprised, and I carried my rifle\nat the ready in my hand.  Once I could have sworn that among the many\ncreatures dimly perceived amidst the shadows of the wood I saw a human\nfigure dart from one cover to another, but I could not be sure.\n\nFor the most part I skirted the wood, making occasional detours rather\nthan enter those forbidding depths of gloom, though many times I was\nforced to pass through arms of the forest which extended to the very\nshore of the inland sea.  There was so sinister a suggestion in the\nuncouth sounds and the vague glimpses of moving things within the\nforest, of the menace of strange beasts and possibly still stranger\nmen, that I always breathed more freely when I had passed once more\ninto open country.\n\nI had traveled northward for perhaps an hour, still haunted by the\nconviction that I was being stalked by some creature which kept always\nhidden among the trees and shrubbery to my right and a little to my\nrear, when for the hundredth time I was attracted by a sound from that\ndirection, and turning, saw some animal running rapidly through the\nforest toward me.  There was no longer any effort on its part at\nconcealment; it came on through the underbrush swiftly, and I was\nconfident that whatever it was, it had finally gathered the courage to\ncharge me boldly.  Before it finally broke into plain view, I became\naware that it was not alone, for a few yards in its rear a second thing\nthrashed through the leafy jungle.  Evidently I was to be attacked in\nforce by a pair of hunting beasts or men.\n\nAnd then through the last clump of waving ferns broke the figure of the\nforemost creature, which came leaping toward me on light feet as I\nstood with my rifle to my shoulder covering the point at which I had\nexpected it would emerge.  I must have looked foolish indeed if my\nsurprise and consternation were in any way reflected upon my\ncountenance as I lowered my rifle and gazed incredulous at the lithe\nfigure of the girl speeding swiftly in my direction.  But I did not\nhave long to stand thus with lowered weapon, for as she came, I saw her\ncast an affrighted glance over her shoulder, and at the same moment\nthere broke from the jungle at the same spot at which I had seen her,\nthe hugest cat I had ever looked upon.\n\nAt first I took the beast for a saber-tooth tiger, as it was quite the\nmost fearsome-appearing beast one could imagine; but it was not that\ndread monster of the past, though quite formidable enough to satisfy\nthe most fastidious thrill-hunter.  On it came, grim and terrible, its\nbaleful eyes glaring above its distended jaws, its lips curled in a\nfrightful snarl which exposed a whole mouthful of formidable teeth.  At\nsight of me it had abandoned its impetuous rush and was now sneaking\nslowly toward us; while the girl, a long knife in her hand, took her\nstand bravely at my left and a little to my rear.  She had called\nsomething to me in a strange tongue as she raced toward me, and now she\nspoke again; but what she said I could not then, of course, know--only\nthat her tones were sweet, well modulated and free from any suggestion\nof panic.\n\nFacing the huge cat, which I now saw was an enormous panther, I waited\nuntil I could place a shot where I felt it would do the most good, for\nat best a frontal shot at any of the large carnivora is a ticklish\nmatter.  I had some advantage in that the beast was not charging; its\nhead was held low and its back exposed; and so at forty yards I took\ncareful aim at its spine at the junction of neck and shoulders.  But at\nthe same instant, as though sensing my intention, the great creature\nlifted its head and leaped forward in full charge.  To fire at that\nsloping forehead I knew would be worse than useless, and so I quickly\nshifted my aim and pulled the trigger, hoping against hope that the\nsoft-nosed bullet and the heavy charge of powder would have sufficient\nstopping effect to give me time to place a second shot.\n\nIn answer to the report of the rifle I had the satisfaction of seeing\nthe brute spring into the air, turning a complete somersault; but it\nwas up again almost instantly, though in the brief second that it took\nit to scramble to its feet and get its bearings, it exposed its left\nside fully toward me, and a second bullet went crashing through its\nheart.  Down it went for the second time--and then up and at me.  The\nvitality of these creatures of Caspak is one of the marvelous features\nof this strange world and bespeaks the low nervous organization of the\nold paleolithic life which has been so long extinct in other portions\nof the world.\n\nI put a third bullet into the beast at three paces, and then I thought\nthat I was done for; but it rolled over and stopped at my feet, stone\ndead.  I found that my second bullet had torn its heart almost\ncompletely away, and yet it had lived to charge ferociously upon me,\nand but for my third shot would doubtless have slain me before it\nfinally expired--or as Bowen Tyler so quaintly puts it, before it knew\nthat it was dead.\n\nWith the panther quite evidently conscious of the fact that dissolution\nhad overtaken it, I turned toward the girl, who was regarding me with\nevident admiration and not a little awe, though I must admit that my\nrifle claimed quite as much of her attention as did I.  She was quite\nthe most wonderful animal that I have ever looked upon, and what few of\nher charms her apparel hid, it quite effectively succeeded in\naccentuating.  A bit of soft, undressed leather was caught over her\nleft shoulder and beneath her right breast, falling upon her left side\nto her hip and upon the right to a metal band which encircled her leg\nabove the knee and to which the lowest point of the hide was attached.\nAbout her waist was a loose leather belt, to the center of which was\nattached the scabbard belonging to her knife.  There was a single\narmlet between her right shoulder and elbow, and a series of them\ncovered her left forearm from elbow to wrist.  These, I learned later,\nanswered the purpose of a shield against knife attack when the left arm\nis raised in guard across the breast or face.\n\nHer masses of heavy hair were held in place by a broad metal band which\nbore a large triangular ornament directly in the center of her\nforehead.  This ornament appeared to be a huge turquoise, while the\nmetal of all her ornaments was beaten, virgin gold, inlaid in intricate\ndesign with bits of mother-of-pearl and tiny pieces of stone of various\ncolors.  From the left shoulder depended a leopard's tail, while her\nfeet were shod with sturdy little sandals.  The knife was her only\nweapon.  Its blade was of iron, the grip was wound with hide and\nprotected by a guard of three out-bowing strips of flat iron, and upon\nthe top of the hilt was a knob of gold.\n\nI took in much of this in the few seconds during which we stood facing\neach other, and I also observed another salient feature of her\nappearance: she was frightfully dirty!  Her face and limbs and garment\nwere streaked with mud and perspiration, and yet even so, I felt that I\nhad never looked upon so perfect and beautiful a creature as she.  Her\nfigure beggars description, and equally so, her face.  Were I one of\nthese writer-fellows, I should probably say that her features were\nGrecian, but being neither a writer nor a poet I can do her greater\njustice by saying that she combined all of the finest lines that one\nsees in the typical American girl's face rather than the pronounced\nsheeplike physiognomy of the Greek goddess.  No, even the dirt couldn't\nhide that fact; she was beautiful beyond compare.\n\nAs we stood looking at each other, a slow smile came to her face,\nparting her symmetrical lips and disclosing a row of strong white teeth.\n\n\"Galu?\" she asked with rising inflection.\n\nAnd remembering that I read in Bowen's manuscript that Galu seemed to\nindicate a higher type of man, I answered by pointing to myself and\nrepeating the word.  Then she started off on a regular catechism, if I\ncould judge by her inflection, for I certainly understood no word of\nwhat she said.  All the time the girl kept glancing toward the forest,\nand at last she touched my arm and pointed in that direction.\n\nTurning, I saw a hairy figure of a manlike thing standing watching us,\nand presently another and another emerged from the jungle and joined\nthe leader until there must have been at least twenty of them.  They\nwere entirely naked.  Their bodies were covered with hair, and though\nthey stood upon their feet without touching their hands to the ground,\nthey had a very ape-like appearance, since they stooped forward and had\nvery long arms and quite apish features.  They were not pretty to look\nupon with their close-set eyes, flat noses, long upper lips and\nprotruding yellow fangs.\n\n\"_Alus_!\" said the girl.\n\nI had reread Bowen's adventures so often that I knew them almost by\nheart, and so now I knew that I was looking upon the last remnant of\nthat ancient man-race--the Alus of a forgotten period--the speechless\nman of antiquity.\n\n\"_Kazor_!\" cried the girl, and at the same moment the Alus came jabbering\ntoward us.  They made strange growling, barking noises, as with much\nbaring of fangs they advanced upon us.  They were armed only with\nnature's weapons--powerful muscles and giant fangs; yet I knew that\nthese were quite sufficient to overcome us had we nothing better to\noffer in defense, and so I drew my pistol and fired at the leader.  He\ndropped like a stone, and the others turned and fled.  Once again the\ngirl smiled her slow smile and stepping closer, caressed the barrel of\nmy automatic.  As she did so, her fingers came in contact with mine,\nand a sudden thrill ran through me, which I attributed to the fact that\nit had been so long since I had seen a woman of any sort or kind.\n\nShe said something to me in her low, liquid tones; but I could not\nunderstand her, and then she pointed toward the north and started away.\nI followed her, for my way was north too; but had it been south I still\nshould have followed, so hungry was I for human companionship in this\nworld of beasts and reptiles and half-men.\n\nWe walked along, the girl talking a great deal and seeming mystified\nthat I could not understand her.  Her silvery laugh rang merrily when I\nin turn essayed to speak to her, as though my language was the\nquaintest thing she ever had heard.  Often after fruitless attempts to\nmake me understand she would hold her palm toward me, saying, \"_Galu_!\"\nand then touch my breast or arm and cry, \"_Alu_, _alu_!\" I knew what she\nmeant, for I had learned from Bowen's narrative the negative gesture\nand the two words which she repeated.  She meant that I was no Galu, as\nI claimed, but an Alu, or speechless one.  Yet every time she said this\nshe laughed again, and so infectious were her tones that I could only\njoin her.  It was only natural, too, that she should be mystified by my\ninability to comprehend her or to make her comprehend me, for from the\nclub-men, the lowest human type in Caspak to have speech, to the golden\nrace of Galus, the tongues of the various tribes are identical--except\nfor amplifications in the rising scale of evolution.  She, who is a\nGalu, can understand one of the Bo-lu and make herself understood to\nhim, or to a hatchet-man, a spear-man or an archer.  The Ho-lus, or\napes, the Alus and myself were the only creatures of human semblance\nwith which she could hold no converse; yet it was evident that her\nintelligence told her that I was neither Ho-lu nor Alu, neither\nanthropoid ape nor speechless man.\n\nYet she did not despair, but set out to teach me her language; and had\nit not been that I worried so greatly over the fate of Bowen and my\ncompanions of the _Toreador_, I could have wished the period of\ninstruction prolonged.\n\nI never have been what one might call a ladies' man, though I like\ntheir company immensely, and during my college days and since have made\nvarious friends among the sex.  I think that I rather appeal to a\ncertain type of girl for the reason that I never make love to them; I\nleave that to the numerous others who do it infinitely better than I\ncould hope to, and take my pleasure out of girls' society in what seem\nto be more rational ways--dancing, golfing, boating, riding, tennis,\nand the like.  Yet in the company of this half-naked little savage I\nfound a new pleasure that was entirely distinct from any that I ever\nhad experienced.  When she touched me, I thrilled as I had never before\nthrilled in contact with another woman.  I could not quite understand\nit, for I am sufficiently sophisticated to know that this is a symptom\nof love and I certainly did not love this filthy little barbarian with\nher broken, unkempt nails and her skin so besmeared with mud and the\ngreen of crushed foliage that it was difficult to say what color it\noriginally had been.  But if she was outwardly uncouth, her clear eyes\nand strong white, even teeth, her silvery laugh and her queenly\ncarriage, bespoke an innate fineness which dirt could not quite\nsuccessfully conceal.\n\nThe sun was low in the heavens when we came upon a little river which\nemptied into a large bay at the foot of low cliffs.  Our journey so far\nhad been beset with constant danger, as is every journey in this\nfrightful land.  I have not bored you with a recital of the wearying\nsuccessions of attacks by the multitude of creatures which were\nconstantly crossing our path or deliberately stalking us.  We were\nalways upon the alert; for here, to paraphrase, eternal vigilance is\nindeed the price of life.\n\nI had managed to progress a little in the acquisition of a knowledge of\nher tongue, so that I knew many of the animals and reptiles by their\nCaspakian names, and trees and ferns and grasses.  I knew the words for\n_sea_ and _river_ and _cliff_, for _sky_ and _sun_ and _cloud_.  Yes, I was getting\nalong finely, and then it occurred to me that I didn't know my\ncompanion's name; so I pointed to myself and said, \"Tom,\" and to her\nand raised my eyebrows in interrogation.  The girl ran her fingers into\nthat mass of hair and looked puzzled.  I repeated the action a dozen\ntimes.\n\n\"Tom,\" she said finally in that clear, sweet, liquid voice.  \"Tom!\"\n\nI had never thought much of my name before; but when she spoke it, it\nsounded to me for the first time in my life like a mighty nice name,\nand then she brightened suddenly and tapped her own breast and said:\n\"Ajor!\"\n\n\"Ajor!\" I repeated, and she laughed and struck her palms together.\n\nWell, we knew each other's names now, and that was some satisfaction.\nI rather liked hers--Ajor!  And she seemed to like mine, for she\nrepeated it.\n\nWe came to the cliffs beside the little river where it empties into the\nbay with the great inland sea beyond.  The cliffs were weather-worn and\nrotted, and in one place a deep hollow ran back beneath the overhanging\nstone for several feet, suggesting shelter for the night.  There were\nloose rocks strewn all about with which I might build a barricade\nacross the entrance to the cave, and so I halted there and pointed out\nthe place to Ajor, trying to make her understand that we would spend\nthe night there.\n\nAs soon as she grasped my meaning, she assented with the Caspakian\nequivalent of an affirmative nod, and then touching my rifle, motioned\nme to follow her to the river.  At the bank she paused, removed her\nbelt and dagger, dropping them to the ground at her side; then\nunfastening the lower edge of her garment from the metal leg-band to\nwhich it was attached, slipped it off her left shoulder and let it drop\nto the ground around her feet.  It was done so naturally, so simply and\nso quickly that it left me gasping like a fish out of water.  Turning,\nshe flashed a smile at me and then dived into the river, and there she\nbathed while I stood guard over her.  For five or ten minutes she\nsplashed about, and when she emerged her glistening skin was smooth and\nwhite and beautiful.  Without means of drying herself, she simply\nignored what to me would have seemed a necessity, and in a moment was\narrayed in her simple though effective costume.\n\nIt was now within an hour of darkness, and as I was nearly famished, I\nled the way back about a quarter of a mile to a low meadow where we had\nseen antelope and small horses a short time before.  Here I brought\ndown a young buck, the report of my rifle sending the balance of the\nherd scampering for the woods, where they were met by a chorus of\nhideous roars as the carnivora took advantage of their panic and leaped\namong them.\n\nWith my hunting-knife I removed a hind-quarter, and then we returned to\ncamp.  Here I gathered a great quantity of wood from fallen trees, Ajor\nhelping me; but before I built a fire, I also gathered sufficient loose\nrock to build my barricade against the frightful terrors of the night\nto come.\n\nI shall never forget the expression upon Ajor's face as she saw me\nstrike a match and light the kindling beneath our camp-fire.  It was\nsuch an expression as might transform a mortal face with awe as its\nowner beheld the mysterious workings of divinity.  It was evident that\nAjor was quite unfamiliar with modern methods of fire-making.  She had\nthought my rifle and pistol wonderful; but these tiny slivers of wood\nwhich from a magic rub brought flame to the camp hearth were indeed\nmiracles to her.\n\nAs the meat roasted above the fire, Ajor and I tried once again to\ntalk; but though copiously filled with incentive, gestures and sounds,\nthe conversation did not flourish notably.  And then Ajor took up in\nearnest the task of teaching me her language.  She commenced, as I\nlater learned, with the simplest form of speech known to Caspak or for\nthat matter to the world--that employed by the Bo-lu.  I found it far\nfrom difficult, and even though it was a great handicap upon my\ninstructor that she could not speak my language, she did remarkably\nwell and demonstrated that she possessed ingenuity and intelligence of\na high order.\n\nAfter we had eaten, I added to the pile of firewood so that I could\nreplenish the fire before the entrance to our barricade, believing this\nas good a protection against the carnivora as we could have; and then\nAjor and I sat down before it, and the lesson proceeded, while from all\nabout us came the weird and awesome noises of the Caspakian night--the\nmoaning and the coughing and roaring of the tigers, the panthers and\nthe lions, the barking and the dismal howling of a wolf, jackal and\nhyaenadon, the shrill shrieks of stricken prey and the hissing of the\ngreat reptiles; the voice of man alone was silent.\n\nBut though the voice of this choir-terrible rose and fell from far and\nnear in all directions, reaching at time such a tremendous volume of\nsound that the earth shook to it, yet so engrossed was I in my lesson\nand in my teacher that often I was deaf to what at another time would\nhave filled me with awe.  The face and voice of the beautiful girl who\nleaned so eagerly toward me as she tried to explain the meaning of some\nword or correct my pronunciation of another quite entirely occupied my\nevery faculty of perception.  The firelight shone upon her animated\nfeatures and sparkling eyes; it accentuated the graceful motions of her\ngesturing arms and hands; it sparkled from her white teeth and from her\ngolden ornaments, and glistened on the smooth firmness of her perfect\nskin.  I am afraid that often I was more occupied with admiration of\nthis beautiful animal than with a desire for knowledge; but be that as\nit may, I nevertheless learned much that evening, though part of what I\nlearned had naught to do with any new language.\n\nAjor seemed determined that I should speak Caspakian as quickly as\npossible, and I thought I saw in her desire a little of that\nall-feminine trait which has come down through all the ages from the\nfirst lady of the world--curiosity.  Ajor desired that I should speak\nher tongue in order that she might satisfy a curiosity concerning me\nthat was filling her to a point where she was in danger of bursting; of\nthat I was positive.  She was a regular little animated question-mark.\nShe bubbled over with interrogations which were never to be satisfied\nunless I learned to speak her tongue.  Her eyes sparkled with\nexcitement; her hand flew in expressive gestures; her little tongue\nraced with time; yet all to no avail.  I could say _man_ and _tree_ and\n_cliff_ and _lion_ and a number of other words in perfect Caspakian; but\nsuch a vocabulary was only tantalizing; it did not lend itself well to\na very general conversation, and the result was that Ajor would wax so\nwroth that she would clench her little fists and beat me on the breast\nas hard as ever she could, and then she would sink back laughing as the\nhumor of the situation captured her.\n\nShe was trying to teach me some verbs by going through the actions\nherself as she repeated the proper word.  We were very much\nengrossed--so much so that we were giving no heed to what went on\nbeyond our cave--when Ajor stopped very suddenly, crying:  \"_Kazor_!\" Now\nshe had been trying to teach me that _ju_ meant _stop_; so when she cried\n_kazor_ and at the same time stopped, I thought for a moment that this\nwas part of my lesson--for the moment I forgot that _kazor_ means _beware_.\nI therefore repeated the word after her; but when I saw the expression\nin her eyes as they were directed past me and saw her point toward the\nentrance to the cave, I turned quickly--to see a hideous face at the\nsmall aperture leading out into the night.  It was the fierce and\nsnarling countenance of a gigantic bear.  I have hunted silvertips in\nthe White Mountains of Arizona and thought them quite the largest and\nmost formidable of big game; but from the appearance of the head of\nthis awful creature I judged that the largest grizzly I had ever seen\nwould shrink by comparison to the dimensions of a Newfoundland dog.\n\nOur fire was just within the cave, the smoke rising through the\napertures between the rocks that I had piled in such a way that they\narched inward toward the cliff at the top.  The opening by means of\nwhich we were to reach the outside was barricaded with a few large\nfragments which did not by any means close it entirely; but through the\napertures thus left no large animal could gain ingress.  I had depended\nmost, however, upon our fire, feeling that none of the dangerous\nnocturnal beasts of prey would venture close to the flames.  In this,\nhowever, I was quite evidently in error, for the great bear stood with\nhis nose not a foot from the blaze, which was now low, owing to the\nfact that I had been so occupied with my lesson and my teacher that I\nhad neglected to replenish it.\n\nAjor whipped out her futile little knife and pointed to my rifle.  At\nthe same time she spoke in a quite level voice entirely devoid of\nnervousness or any evidence of fear or panic.  I knew she was exhorting\nme to fire upon the beast; but this I did not wish to do other than as\na last resort, for I was quite sure that even my heavy bullets would\nnot more than further enrage him--in which case he might easily force\nan entrance to our cave.\n\nInstead of firing, I piled some more wood upon the fire, and as the\nsmoke and blaze arose in the beast's face, it backed away, growling\nmost frightfully; but I still could see two ugly points of light\nblazing in the outer darkness and hear its growls rumbling terrifically\nwithout.  For some time the creature stood there watching the entrance\nto our frail sanctuary while I racked my brains in futile endeavor to\nplan some method of defense or escape.  I knew full well that should\nthe bear make a determined effort to get at us, the rocks I had piled\nas a barrier would come tumbling down about his giant shoulders like a\nhouse of cards, and that he would walk directly in upon us.\n\nAjor, having less knowledge of the effectiveness of firearms than I,\nand therefore greater confidence in them, entreated me to shoot the\nbeast; but I knew that the chance that I could stop it with a single\nshot was most remote, while that I should but infuriate it was real and\npresent; and so I waited for what seemed an eternity, watching those\ndevilish points of fire glaring balefully at us, and listening to the\never-increasing volume of those seismic growls which seemed to rumble\nupward from the bowels of the earth, shaking the very cliffs beneath\nwhich we cowered, until at last I saw that the brute was again\napproaching the aperture.  It availed me nothing that I piled the blaze\nhigh with firewood, until Ajor and I were near to roasting; on came\nthat mighty engine of destruction until once again the hideous face\nyawned its fanged yawn directly within the barrier's opening.  It stood\nthus a moment, and then the head was withdrawn.  I breathed a sigh of\nrelief, the thing had altered its intention and was going on in search\nof other and more easily procurable prey; the fire had been too much\nfor it.\n\nBut my joy was short-lived, and my heart sank once again as a moment\nlater I saw a mighty paw insinuated into the opening--a paw as large\naround as a large dishpan.  Very gently the paw toyed with the great\nrock that partly closed the entrance, pushed and pulled upon it and\nthen very deliberately drew it outward and to one side.  Again came the\nhead, and this time much farther into the cavern; but still the great\nshoulders would not pass through the opening.  Ajor moved closer to me\nuntil her shoulder touched my side, and I thought I felt a slight\ntremor run through her body, but otherwise she gave no indication of\nfear.  Involuntarily I threw my left arm about her and drew her to me\nfor an instant.  It was an act of reassurance rather than a caress,\nthough I must admit that again and even in the face of death I thrilled\nat the contact with her; and then I released her and threw my rifle to\nmy shoulder, for at last I had reached the conclusion that nothing more\ncould be gained by waiting.  My only hope was to get as many shots into\nthe creature as I could before it was upon me.  Already it had torn\naway a second rock and was in the very act of forcing its huge bulk\nthrough the opening it had now made.\n\nSo now I took careful aim between its eyes; my right fingers closed\nfirmly and evenly upon the small of the stock, drawing back my\ntrigger-finger by the muscular action of the hand.  The bullet could\nnot fail to hit its mark!  I held my breath lest I swerve the muzzle a\nhair by my breathing.  I was as steady and cool as I ever had been upon\na target-range, and I had the full consciousness of a perfect hit in\nanticipation; I knew that I could not miss.  And then, as the bear\nsurged forward toward me, the hammer fell--futilely, upon an imperfect\ncartridge.\n\nAlmost simultaneously I heard from without a perfectly hellish roar;\nthe bear gave voice to a series of growls far transcending in volume\nand ferocity anything that he had yet essayed and at the same time\nbacked quickly from the cave.  For an instant I couldn't understand\nwhat had happened to cause this sudden retreat when his prey was\npractically within his clutches.  The idea that the harmless clicking\nof the hammer had frightened him was too ridiculous to entertain.\nHowever, we had not long to wait before we could at least guess at the\ncause of the diversion, for from without came mingled growls and roars\nand the sound of great bodies thrashing about until the earth shook.\nThe bear had been attacked in the rear by some other mighty beast, and\nthe two were now locked in a titanic struggle for supremacy.  With\nbrief respites, during which we could hear the labored breathing of the\ncontestants, the battle continued for the better part of an hour until\nthe sounds of combat grew gradually less and finally ceased entirely.\n\nAt Ajor's suggestion, made by signs and a few of the words we knew in\ncommon, I moved the fire directly to the entrance to the cave so that a\nbeast would have to pass directly through the flames to reach us, and\nthen we sat and waited for the victor of the battle to come and claim\nhis reward; but though we sat for a long time with our eyes glued to\nthe opening, we saw no sign of any beast.\n\nAt last I signed to Ajor to lie down, for I knew that she must have\nsleep, and I sat on guard until nearly morning, when the girl awoke and\ninsisted that I take some rest; nor would she be denied, but dragged me\ndown as she laughingly menaced me with her knife.\n\n\n\nChapter 3\n\nWhen I awoke, it was daylight, and I found Ajor squatting before a fine\nbed of coals roasting a large piece of antelope-meat.  Believe me, the\nsight of the new day and the delicious odor of the cooking meat filled\nme with renewed happiness and hope that had been all but expunged by\nthe experience of the previous night; and perhaps the slender figure of\nthe bright-faced girl proved also a potent restorative.  She looked up\nand smiled at me, showing those perfect teeth, and dimpling with\nevident happiness--the most adorable picture that I had ever seen.  I\nrecall that it was then I first regretted that she was only a little\nuntutored savage and so far beneath me in the scale of evolution.\n\nHer first act was to beckon me to follow her outside, and there she\npointed to the explanation of our rescue from the bear--a huge\nsaber-tooth tiger, its fine coat and its flesh torn to ribbons, lying\ndead a few paces from our cave, and beside it, equally mangled, and\ndisemboweled, was the carcass of a huge cave-bear.  To have had one's\nlife saved by a saber-tooth tiger, and in the twentieth century into\nthe bargain, was an experience that was to say the least unique; but it\nhad happened--I had the proof of it before my eyes.\n\nSo enormous are the great carnivora of Caspak that they must feed\nperpetually to support their giant thews, and the result is that they\nwill eat the meat of any other creature and will attack anything that\ncomes within their ken, no matter how formidable the quarry.  From\nlater observation--I mention this as worthy the attention of\npaleontologists and naturalists--I came to the conclusion that such\ncreatures as the cave-bear, the cave-lion and the saber-tooth tiger, as\nwell as the larger carnivorous reptiles make, ordinarily, two kills a\nday--one in the morning and one after night.  They immediately devour\nthe entire carcass, after which they lie up and sleep for a few hours.\nFortunately their numbers are comparatively few; otherwise there would\nbe no other life within Caspak.  It is their very voracity that keeps\ntheir numbers down to a point which permits other forms of life to\npersist, for even in the season of love the great males often turn upon\ntheir own mates and devour them, while both males and females\noccasionally devour their young.  How the human and semihuman races\nhave managed to survive during all the countless ages that these\nconditions must have existed here is quite beyond me.\n\nAfter breakfast Ajor and I set out once more upon our northward\njourney.  We had gone but a little distance when we were attacked by a\nnumber of apelike creatures armed with clubs.  They seemed a little\nhigher in the scale than the Alus.  Ajor told me they were Bo-lu, or\nclubmen.  A revolver-shot killed one and scattered the others; but\nseveral times later during the day we were menaced by them, until we\nhad left their country and entered that of the Sto-lu, or hatchet-men.\nThese people were less hairy and more man-like; nor did they appear so\nanxious to destroy us.  Rather they were curious, and followed us for\nsome distance examining us most closely.  They called out to us, and\nAjor answered them; but her replies did not seem to satisfy them, for\nthey gradually became threatening, and I think they were preparing to\nattack us when a small deer that had been hiding in some low brush\nsuddenly broke cover and dashed across our front.  We needed meat, for\nit was near one o'clock and I was getting hungry; so I drew my pistol\nand with a single shot dropped the creature in its tracks.  The effect\nupon the Bo-lu was electrical.  Immediately they abandoned all thoughts\nof war, and turning, scampered for the forest which fringed our path.\n\nThat night we spent beside a little stream in the Sto-lu country.  We\nfound a tiny cave in the rock bank, so hidden away that only chance\ncould direct a beast of prey to it, and after we had eaten of the\ndeer-meat and some fruit which Ajor gathered, we crawled into the\nlittle hole, and with sticks and stones which I had gathered for the\npurpose I erected a strong barricade inside the entrance.  Nothing\ncould reach us without swimming and wading through the stream, and I\nfelt quite secure from attack.  Our quarters were rather cramped.  The\nceiling was so low that we could not stand up, and the floor so narrow\nthat it was with difficulty that we both wedged into it together; but\nwe were very tired, and so we made the most of it; and so great was the\nfeeling of security that I am sure I fell asleep as soon as I had\nstretched myself beside Ajor.\n\nDuring the three days which followed, our progress was exasperatingly\nslow.  I doubt if we made ten miles in the entire three days.  The\ncountry was hideously savage, so that we were forced to spend hours at\na time in hiding from one or another of the great beasts which menaced\nus continually.  There were fewer reptiles; but the quantity of\ncarnivora seemed to have increased, and the reptiles that we did see\nwere perfectly gigantic.  I shall never forget one enormous specimen\nwhich we came upon browsing upon water-reeds at the edge of the great\nsea.  It stood well over twelve feet high at the rump, its highest\npoint, and with its enormously long tail and neck it was somewhere\nbetween seventy-five and a hundred feet in length.  Its head was\nridiculously small; its body was unarmored, but its great bulk gave it\na most formidable appearance.  My experience of Caspakian life led me\nto believe that the gigantic creature would but have to see us to\nattack us, and so I raised my rifle and at the same time drew away\ntoward some brush which offered concealment; but Ajor only laughed, and\npicking up a stick, ran toward the great thing, shouting.  The little\nhead was raised high upon the long neck as the animal stupidly looked\nhere and there in search of the author of the disturbance.  At last its\neyes discovered tiny little Ajor, and then she hurled the stick at the\ndiminutive head.  With a cry that sounded not unlike the bleat of a\nsheep, the colossal creature shuffled into the water and was soon\nsubmerged.\n\nAs I slowly recalled my collegiate studies and paleontological readings\nin Bowen's textbooks, I realized that I had looked upon nothing less\nthan a diplodocus of the Upper Jurassic; but how infinitely different\nwas the true, live thing from the crude restorations of Hatcher and\nHolland!  I had had the idea that the diplodocus was a land-animal, but\nevidently it is partially amphibious.  I have seen several since my\nfirst encounter, and in each case the creature took to the sea for\nconcealment as soon as it was disturbed.  With the exception of its\ngigantic tail, it has no weapon of defense; but with this appendage it\ncan lash so terrific a blow as to lay low even a giant cave-bear,\nstunned and broken.  It is a stupid, simple, gentle beast--one of the\nfew within Caspak which such a description might even remotely fit.\n\nFor three nights we slept in trees, finding no caves or other places of\nconcealment.  Here we were free from the attacks of the large land\ncarnivora; but the smaller flying reptiles, the snakes, leopards, and\npanthers were a constant menace, though by no means as much to be\nfeared as the huge beasts that roamed the surface of the earth.\n\nAt the close of the third day Ajor and I were able to converse with\nconsiderable fluency, and it was a great relief to both of us,\nespecially to Ajor.  She now did nothing but ask questions whenever I\nwould let her, which could not be all the time, as our preservation\ndepended largely upon the rapidity with which I could gain knowledge of\nthe geography and customs of Caspak, and accordingly I had to ask\nnumerous questions myself.\n\nI enjoyed immensely hearing and answering her, so naive were many of\nher queries and so filled with wonder was she at the things I told her\nof the world beyond the lofty barriers of Caspak; not once did she seem\nto doubt me, however marvelous my statements must have seemed; and\ndoubtless they were the cause of marvel to Ajor, who before had never\ndreamed that any life existed beyond Caspak and the life she knew.\n\nArtless though many of her questions were, they evidenced a keen\nintellect and a shrewdness which seemed far beyond her years or her\nexperience.  Altogether I was finding my little savage a mighty\ninteresting and companionable person, and I often thanked the kind fate\nthat directed the crossing of our paths.  From her I learned much of\nCaspak, but there still remained the mystery that had proved so\nbaffling to Bowen Tyler--the total absence of young among the ape, the\nsemihuman and the human races with which both he and I had come in\ncontact upon opposite shores of the inland sea.  Ajor tried to explain\nthe matter to me, though it was apparent that she could not conceive\nhow so natural a condition should demand explanation.  She told me that\namong the Galus there were a few babies, that she had once been a baby\nbut that most of her people \"came up,\" as he put it, \"_cor sva jo_,\" or\nliterally, \"from the beginning\"; and as they all did when they used\nthat phrase, she would wave a broad gesture toward the south.\n\n\"For long,\" she explained, leaning very close to me and whispering the\nwords into my ear while she cast apprehensive glances about and mostly\nskyward, \"for long my mother kept me hidden lest the Wieroo, passing\nthrough the air by night, should come and take me away to Oo-oh.\"  And\nthe child shuddered as she voiced the word.  I tried to get her to tell\nme more; but her terror was so real when she spoke of the Wieroo and\nthe land of Oo-oh where they dwell that I at last desisted, though I\ndid learn that the Wieroo carried off only female babes and\noccasionally women of the Galus who had \"come up from the beginning.\"\nIt was all very mysterious and unfathomable, but I got the idea that\nthe Wieroo were creatures of imagination--the demons or gods of her\nrace, omniscient and omnipresent.  This led me to assume that the Galus\nhad a religious sense, and further questioning brought out the fact\nthat such was the case.  Ajor spoke in tones of reverence of Luata, the\ngod of heat and life.  The word is derived from two others:  _Lua_,\nmeaning sun, and _ata_, meaning variously _eggs_, _life_, _young_, and\n_reproduction_.  She told me that they worshiped Luata in several forms,\nas fire, the sun, eggs and other material objects which suggested heat\nand reproduction.\n\nI had noticed that whenever I built a fire, Ajor outlined in the air\nbefore her with a forefinger an isosceles triangle, and that she did\nthe same in the morning when she first viewed the sun.  At first I had\nnot connected her act with anything in particular, but after we learned\nto converse and she had explained a little of her religious\nsuperstitions, I realized that she was making the sign of the triangle\nas a Roman Catholic makes the sign of the cross.  Always the short side\nof the triangle was uppermost.  As she explained all this to me, she\npointed to the decorations on her golden armlets, upon the knob of her\ndagger-hilt and upon the band which encircled her right leg above the\nknee--always was the design partly made up of isosceles triangles, and\nwhen she explained the significance of this particular geometric\nfigure, I at once grasped its appropriateness.\n\nWe were now in the country of the Band-lu, the spearmen of Caspak.\nBowen had remarked in his narrative that these people were analogous to\nthe so-called Cro-Magnon race of the Upper Paleolithic, and I was\ntherefore very anxious to see them.  Nor was I to be disappointed; I\nsaw them, all right!  We had left the Sto-lu country and literally\nfought our way through cordons of wild beasts for two days when we\ndecided to make camp a little earlier than usual, owing to the fact\nthat we had reached a line of cliffs running east and west in which\nwere numerous likely cave-lodgings.  We were both very tired, and the\nsight of these caverns, several of which could be easily barricaded,\ndecided us to halt until the following morning.  It took but a few\nminutes' exploration to discover one particular cavern high up the face\nof the cliff which seemed ideal for our purpose.  It opened upon a\nnarrow ledge where we could build our cook-fire; the opening was so\nsmall that we had to lie flat and wriggle through it to gain ingress,\nwhile the interior was high-ceiled and spacious.  I lighted a faggot\nand looked about; but as far as I could see, the chamber ran back into\nthe cliff.\n\nLaying aside my rifle, pistol and heavy ammunition-belt, I left Ajor in\nthe cave while I went down to gather firewood.  We already had meat and\nfruits which we had gathered just before reaching the cliffs, and my\ncanteen was filled with fresh water.  Therefore, all we required was\nfuel, and as I always saved Ajor's strength when I could, I would not\npermit her to accompany me.  The poor girl was very tired; but she\nwould have gone with me until she dropped, I know, so loyal was she.\nShe was the best comrade in the world, and sometimes I regretted and\nsometimes I was glad that she was not of my own caste, for had she\nbeen, I should unquestionably have fallen in love with her.  As it was,\nwe traveled together like two boys, with huge respect for each other\nbut no softer sentiment.\n\nThere was little timber close to the base of the cliffs, and so I was\nforced to enter the wood some two hundred yards distant.  I realize now\nhow foolhardy was my act in such a land as Caspak, teeming with danger\nand with death; but there is a certain amount of fool in every man; and\nwhatever proportion of it I own must have been in the ascendant that\nday, for the truth of the matter is that I went down into those woods\nabsolutely defenseless; and I paid the price, as people usually do for\ntheir indiscretions.  As I searched around in the brush for likely\npieces of firewood, my head bowed and my eyes upon the ground, I\nsuddenly felt a great weight hurl itself upon me.  I struggled to my\nknees and seized my assailant, a huge, naked man--naked except for a\nbreechcloth of snakeskin, the head hanging down to the knees.  The\nfellow was armed with a stone-shod spear, a stone knife and a hatchet.\nIn his black hair were several gay-colored feathers.  As we struggled\nto and fro, I was slowly gaining advantage of him, when a score of his\nfellows came running up and overpowered me.\n\nThey bound my hands behind me with long rawhide thongs and then\nsurveyed me critically.  I found them fine-looking specimens of\nmanhood, for the most part.  There were some among them who bore a\nresemblance to the Sto-lu and were hairy; but the majority had massive\nheads and not unlovely features.  There was little about them to\nsuggest the ape, as in the Sto-lu, Bo-lu and Alus.  I expected them to\nkill me at once, but they did not.  Instead they questioned me; but it\nwas evident that they did not believe my story, for they scoffed and\nlaughed.\n\n\"The Galus have turned you out,\" they cried.  \"If you go back to them,\nyou will die.  If you remain here, you will die.  We shall kill you;\nbut first we shall have a dance and you shall dance with us--the dance\nof death.\"\n\nIt sounded quite reassuring!  But I knew that I was not to be killed\nimmediately, and so I took heart.  They led me toward the cliffs, and\nas we approached them, I glanced up and was sure that I saw Ajor's\nbright eyes peering down upon us from our lofty cave; but she gave no\nsign if she saw me; and we passed on, rounded the end of the cliffs and\nproceeded along the opposite face of them until we came to a section\nliterally honeycombed with caves.  All about, upon the ground and\nswarming the ledges before the entrances, were hundreds of members of\nthe tribe.  There were many women but no babes or children, though I\nnoticed that the females had better developed breasts than any that I\nhad seen among the hatchet-men, the club-men, the Alus or the apes.  In\nfact, among the lower orders of Caspakian man the female breast is but\na rudimentary organ, barely suggested in the apes and Alus, and only a\nlittle more defined in the Bo-lu and Sto-lu, though always increasingly\nso until it is found about half developed in the females of the\nspear-men; yet never was there an indication that the females had\nsuckled young; nor were there any young among them.  Some of the\nBand-lu women were quite comely.  The figures of all, both men and\nwomen, were symmetrical though heavy, and though there were some who\nverged strongly upon the Sto-lu type, there were others who were\npositively handsome and whose bodies were quite hairless.  The Alus are\nall bearded, but among the Bo-lu the beard disappears in the women.\nThe Sto-lu men show a sparse beard, the Band-lu none; and there is\nlittle hair upon the bodies of their women.\n\nThe members of the tribe showed great interest in me, especially in my\nclothing, the like of which, of course, they never had seen.  They\npulled and hauled upon me, and some of them struck me; but for the most\npart they were not inclined to brutality.  It was only the hairier\nones, who most closely resembled the Sto-lu, who maltreated me.  At\nlast my captors led me into a great cave in the mouth of which a fire\nwas burning.  The floor was littered with filth, including the bones of\nmany animals, and the atmosphere reeked with the stench of human bodies\nand putrefying flesh.  Here they fed me, releasing my arms, and I ate\nof half-cooked aurochs steak and a stew which may have been made of\nsnakes, for many of the long, round pieces of meat suggested them most\nnauseatingly.\n\nThe meal completed, they led me well within the cavern, which they\nlighted with torches stuck in various crevices in the light of which I\nsaw, to my astonishment, that the walls were covered with paintings and\netchings.  There were aurochs, red deer, saber-tooth tiger, cave-bear,\nhyaenadon and many other examples of the fauna of Caspak done in\ncolors, usually of four shades of brown, or scratched upon the surface\nof the rock.  Often they were super-imposed upon each other until it\nrequired careful examination to trace out the various outlines.  But\nthey all showed a rather remarkable aptitude for delineation which\nfurther fortified Bowen's comparisons between these people and the\nextinct Cro-Magnons whose ancient art is still preserved in the caverns\nof Niaux and Le Portel.  The Band-lu, however, did not have the bow and\narrow, and in this respect they differ from their extinct progenitors,\nor descendants, of Western Europe.\n\nShould any of my friends chance to read the story of my adventures upon\nCaprona, I hope they will not be bored by these diversions, and if they\nare, I can only say that I am writing my memoirs for my own edification\nand therefore setting down those things which interested me\nparticularly at the time.  I have no desire that the general public\nshould ever have access to these pages; but it is possible that my\nfriends may, and also certain savants who are interested; and to them,\nwhile I do not apologize for my philosophizing, I humbly explain that\nthey are witnessing the gropings of a finite mind after the infinite,\nthe search for explanations of the inexplicable.\n\nIn a far recess of the cavern my captors bade me halt.  Again my hands\nwere secured, and this time my feet as well.  During the operation they\nquestioned me, and I was mighty glad that the marked similarity between\nthe various tribal tongues of Caspak enabled us to understand each\nother perfectly, even though they were unable to believe or even to\ncomprehend the truth of my origin and the circumstances of my advent in\nCaspak; and finally they left me saying that they would come for me\nbefore the dance of death upon the morrow.  Before they departed with\ntheir torches, I saw that I had not been conducted to the farthest\nextremity of the cavern, for a dark and gloomy corridor led beyond my\nprison room into the heart of the cliff.\n\nI could not but marvel at the immensity of this great underground\ngrotto.  Already I had traversed several hundred yards of it, from many\npoints of which other corridors diverged.  The whole cliff must be\nhoneycombed with apartments and passages of which this community\noccupied but a comparatively small part, so that the possibility of the\nmore remote passages being the lair of savage beasts that have other\nmeans of ingress and egress than that used by the Band-lu filled me\nwith dire forebodings.\n\nI believe that I am not ordinarily hysterically apprehensive; yet I\nmust confess that under the conditions with which I was confronted, I\nfelt my nerves to be somewhat shaken.  On the morrow I was to die some\nsort of nameless death for the diversion of a savage horde, but the\nmorrow held fewer terrors for me than the present, and I submit to any\nfair-minded man if it is not a terrifying thing to lie bound hand and\nfoot in the Stygian blackness of an immense cave peopled by unknown\ndangers in a land overrun by hideous beasts and reptiles of the\ngreatest ferocity.  At any moment, perhaps at this very moment, some\nsilent-footed beast of prey might catch my scent where it laired in\nsome contiguous passage, and might creep stealthily upon me.  I craned\nmy neck about, and stared through the inky darkness for the twin spots\nof blazing hate which I knew would herald the coming of my executioner.\nSo real were the imaginings of my overwrought brain that I broke into a\ncold sweat in absolute conviction that some beast was close before me;\nyet the hours dragged, and no sound broke the grave-like stillness of\nthe cavern.\n\nDuring that period of eternity many events of my life passed before my\nmental vision, a vast parade of friends and occurrences which would be\nblotted out forever on the morrow.  I cursed myself for the foolish act\nwhich had taken me from the search-party that so depended upon me, and\nI wondered what progress, if any, they had made.  Were they still\nbeyond the barrier cliffs, awaiting my return?  Or had they found a way\ninto Caspak?  I felt that the latter would be the truth, for the party\nwas not made up of men easily turned from a purpose.  Quite probable it\nwas that they were already searching for me; but that they would ever\nfind a trace of me I doubted.  Long since, had I come to the conclusion\nthat it was beyond human prowess to circle the shores of the inland sea\nof Caspak in the face of the myriad menaces which lurked in every\nshadow by day and by night.  Long since, had I given up any hope of\nreaching the point where I had made my entry into the country, and so I\nwas now equally convinced that our entire expedition had been worse\nthan futile before ever it was conceived, since Bowen J.  Tyler and his\nwife could not by any possibility have survived during all these long\nmonths; no more could Bradley and his party of seamen be yet in\nexistence.  If the superior force and equipment of my party enabled\nthem to circle the north end of the sea, they might some day come upon\nthe broken wreck of my plane hanging in the great tree to the south;\nbut long before that, my bones would be added to the litter upon the\nfloor of this mighty cavern.\n\nAnd through all my thoughts, real and fanciful, moved the image of a\nperfect girl, clear-eyed and strong and straight and beautiful, with\nthe carriage of a queen and the supple, undulating grace of a leopard.\nThough I loved my friends, their fate seemed of less importance to me\nthan the fate of this little barbarian stranger for whom, I had\nconvinced myself many a time, I felt no greater sentiment than passing\nfriendship for a fellow-wayfarer in this land of horrors.  Yet I so\nworried and fretted about her and her future that at last I quite\nforgot my own predicament, though I still struggled intermittently with\nmy bonds in vain endeavor to free myself; as much, however, that I might\nhasten to her protection as that I might escape the fate which had been\nplanned for me.  And while I was thus engaged and had for the moment\nforgotten my apprehensions concerning prowling beasts, I was startled\ninto tense silence by a distinct and unmistakable sound coming from the\ndark corridor farther toward the heart of the cliff--the sound of\npadded feet moving stealthily in my direction.\n\nI believe that never before in all my life, even amidst the terrors of\nchildhood nights, have I suffered such a sensation of extreme horror as\nI did that moment in which I realized that I must lie bound and\nhelpless while some horrid beast of prey crept upon me to devour me in\nthat utter darkness of the Band-lu pits of Caspak.  I reeked with cold\nsweat, and my flesh crawled--I could feel it crawl.  If ever I came\nnearer to abject cowardice, I do not recall the instance; and yet it\nwas not that I was afraid to die, for I had long since given myself up\nas lost--a few days of Caspak must impress anyone with the utter\nnothingness of life.  The waters, the land, the air teem with it, and\nalways it is being devoured by some other form of life.  Life is the\ncheapest thing in Caspak, as it is the cheapest thing on earth and,\ndoubtless, the cheapest cosmic production.  No, I was not afraid to\ndie; in fact, I prayed for death, that I might be relieved of the\nfrightfulness of the interval of life which remained to me--the\nwaiting, the awful waiting, for that fearsome beast to reach me and to\nstrike.\n\nPresently it was so close that I could hear its breathing, and then it\ntouched me and leaped quickly back as though it had come upon me\nunexpectedly.  For long moments no sound broke the sepulchral silence\nof the cave.  Then I heard a movement on the part of the creature near\nme, and again it touched me, and I felt something like a hairless hand\npass over my face and down until it touched the collar of my flannel\nshirt.  And then, subdued, but filled with pent emotion, a voice cried:\n\"Tom!\"\n\nI think I nearly fainted, so great was the reaction.  \"Ajor!\"  I\nmanaged to say.  \"Ajor, my girl, can it be you?\"\n\n\"Oh, Tom!\" she cried again in a trembly little voice and flung herself\nupon me, sobbing softly.  I had not known that Ajor could cry.\n\nAs she cut away my bonds, she told me that from the entrance to our\ncave she had seen the Band-lu coming out of the forest with me, and she\nhad followed until they took me into the cave, which she had seen was\nupon the opposite side of the cliff in which ours was located; and\nthen, knowing that she could do nothing for me until after the Band-lu\nslept, she had hastened to return to our cave.  With difficulty she had\nreached it, after having been stalked by a cave-lion and almost seized.\nI trembled at the risk she had run.\n\nIt had been her intention to wait until after midnight, when most of\nthe carnivora would have made their kills, and then attempt to reach\nthe cave in which I was imprisoned and rescue me.  She explained that\nwith my rifle and pistol--both of which she assured me she could use,\nhaving watched me so many times--she planned upon frightening the\nBand-lu and forcing them to give me up.  Brave little girl!  She would\nhave risked her life willingly to save me.  But some time after she\nreached our cave she heard voices from the far recesses within, and\nimmediately concluded that we had but found another entrance to the\ncaves which the Band-lu occupied upon the other face of the cliff.\nThen she had set out through those winding passages and in total\ndarkness had groped her way, guided solely by a marvelous sense of\ndirection, to where I lay.  She had had to proceed with utmost caution\nlest she fall into some abyss in the darkness and in truth she had\nthrice come upon sheer drops and had been forced to take the most\nfrightful risks to pass them.  I shudder even now as I contemplate what\nthis girl passed through for my sake and how she enhanced her peril in\nloading herself down with the weight of my arms and ammunition and the\nawkwardness of the long rifle which she was unaccustomed to bearing.\n\nI could have knelt and kissed her hand in reverence and gratitude; nor\nam I ashamed to say that that is precisely what I did after I had been\nfreed from my bonds and heard the story of her trials.  Brave little\nAjor!  Wonder-girl out of the dim, unthinkable past!  Never before had\nshe been kissed; but she seemed to sense something of the meaning of\nthe new caress, for she leaned forward in the dark and pressed her own\nlips to my forehead.  A sudden urge surged through me to seize her and\nstrain her to my bosom and cover her hot young lips with the kisses of\na real love, but I did not do so, for I knew that I did not love her;\nand to have kissed her thus, with passion, would have been to inflict a\ngreat wrong upon her who had offered her life for mine.\n\nNo, Ajor should be as safe with me as with her own mother, if she had\none, which I was inclined to doubt, even though she told me that she\nhad once been a babe and hidden by her mother.  I had come to doubt if\nthere was such a thing as a mother in Caspak, a mother such as we know.\nFrom the Bo-lu to the Kro-lu there is no word which corresponds with\nour word mother.  They speak of _ata_ and _cor sva jo:, meaning\n_reproduction_ and _from the beginning_, and point toward the south; but no\none has a mother.\n\nAfter considerable difficulty we gained what we thought was our cave,\nonly to find that it was not, and then we realized that we were lost in\nthe labyrinthine mazes of the great cavern.  We retraced our steps and\nsought the point from which we had started, but only succeeded in\nlosing ourselves the more.  Ajor was aghast--not so much from fear of\nour predicament; but that she should have failed in the functioning of\nthat wonderful sense she possessed in common with most other creatures\nCaspakian, which makes it possible for them to move unerringly from\nplace to place without compass or guide.\n\nHand in hand we crept along, searching for an opening into the outer\nworld, yet realizing that at each step we might be burrowing more\ndeeply into the heart of the great cliff, or circling futilely in the\nvague wandering that could end only in death.  And the darkness!  It\nwas almost palpable, and utterly depressing.  I had matches, and in\nsome of the more difficult places I struck one; but we couldn't afford\nto waste them, and so we groped our way slowly along, doing the best we\ncould to keep to one general direction in the hope that it would\neventually lead us to an opening into the outer world.  When I struck\nmatches, I noticed that the walls bore no paintings; nor was there\nother sign that man had penetrated this far within the cliff, nor any\nspoor of animals of other kinds.\n\nIt would be difficult to guess at the time we spent wandering through\nthose black corridors, climbing steep ascents, feeling our way along\nthe edges of bottomless pits, never knowing at what moment we might be\nplunged into some abyss and always haunted by the ever-present terror\nof death by starvation and thirst.  As difficult as it was, I still\nrealized that it might have been infinitely worse had I had another\ncompanion than Ajor--courageous, uncomplaining, loyal little Ajor!  She\nwas tired and hungry and thirsty, and she must have been discouraged;\nbut she never faltered in her cheerfulness.  I asked her if she was\nafraid, and she replied that here the Wieroo could not get her, and\nthat if she died of hunger, she would at least die with me and she was\nquite content that such should be her end.  At the time I attributed\nher attitude to something akin to a doglike devotion to a new master\nwho had been kind to her.  I can take oath to the fact that I did not\nthink it was anything more.\n\nWhether we had been imprisoned in the cliff for a day or a week I could\nnot say; nor even now do I know.  We became very tired and hungry; the\nhours dragged; we slept at least twice, and then we rose and stumbled\non, always weaker and weaker.  There were ages during which the trend\nof the corridors was always upward.  It was heartbreaking work for\npeople in the state of exhaustion in which we then were, but we clung\ntenaciously to it.  We stumbled and fell; we sank through pure physical\ninability to retain our feet; but always we managed to rise at last and\ngo on.  At first, wherever it had been possible, we had walked hand in\nhand lest we become separated, and later, when I saw that Ajor was\nweakening rapidly, we went side by side, I supporting her with an arm\nabout her waist.  I still retained the heavy burden of my armament; but\nwith the rifle slung to my back, my hands were free.  When I too showed\nindisputable evidences of exhaustion, Ajor suggested that I lay aside\nmy arms and ammunition; but I told her that as it would mean certain\ndeath for me to traverse Caspak without them, I might as well take the\nchance of dying here in the cave with them, for there was the other\nchance that we might find our way to liberty.\n\nThere came a time when Ajor could no longer walk, and then it was that\nI picked her up in my arms and carried her.  She begged me to leave\nher, saying that after I found an exit, I could come back and get her;\nbut she knew, and she knew that I knew, that if ever I did leave her, I\ncould never find her again.  Yet she insisted.  Barely had I sufficient\nstrength to take a score of steps at a time; then I would have to sink\ndown and rest for five to ten minutes.  I don't know what force urged\nme on and kept me going in the face of an absolute conviction that my\nefforts were utterly futile.  I counted us already as good as dead; but\nstill I dragged myself along until the time came that I could no longer\nrise, but could only crawl along a few inches at a time, dragging Ajor\nbeside me.  Her sweet voice, now almost inaudible from weakness,\nimplored me to abandon her and save myself--she seemed to think only of\nme.  Of course I couldn't have left her there alone, no matter how much\nI might have desired to do so; but the fact of the matter was that I\ndidn't desire to leave her.  What I said to her then came very simply\nand naturally to my lips.  It couldn't very well have been otherwise, I\nimagine, for with death so close, I doubt if people are much inclined\nto heroics.  \"I would rather not get out at all, Ajor,\" I said to her,\n\"than to get out without you.\"  We were resting against a rocky wall,\nand Ajor was leaning against me, her head on my breast.  I could feel\nher press closer to me, and one hand stroked my arm in a weak caress;\nbut she didn't say anything, nor were words necessary.\n\nAfter a few minutes' more rest, we started on again upon our utterly\nhopeless way; but I soon realized that I was weakening rapidly, and\npresently I was forced to admit that I was through.  \"It's no use,\nAjor,\" I said, \"I've come as far as I can.  It may be that if I sleep,\nI can go on again after,\" but I knew that that was not true, and that\nthe end was near.  \"Yes, sleep,\" said Ajor.  \"We will sleep\ntogether--forever.\"\n\nShe crept close to me as I lay on the hard floor and pillowed her head\nupon my arm.  With the little strength which remained to me, I drew her\nup until our lips touched, and, then I whispered: \"Good-bye!\"  I must\nhave lost consciousness almost immediately, for I recall nothing more\nuntil I suddenly awoke out of a troubled sleep, during which I dreamed\nthat I was drowning, to find the cave lighted by what appeared to be\ndiffused daylight, and a tiny trickle of water running down the\ncorridor and forming a puddle in the little depression in which it\nchanced that Ajor and I lay.  I turned my eyes quickly upon Ajor,\nfearful for what the light might disclose; but she still breathed,\nthough very faintly.  Then I searched about for an explanation of the\nlight, and soon discovered that it came from about a bend in the\ncorridor just ahead of us and at the top of a steep incline; and\ninstantly I realized that Ajor and I had stumbled by night almost to\nthe portal of salvation.  Had chance taken us a few yards further, up\neither of the corridors which diverged from ours just ahead of us, we\nmight have been irrevocably lost; we might still be lost; but at least\nwe could die in the light of day, out of the horrid blackness of this\nterrible cave.\n\nI tried to rise, and found that sleep had given me back a portion of my\nstrength; and then I tasted the water and was further refreshed.  I\nshook Ajor gently by the shoulder; but she did not open her eyes, and\nthen I gathered a few drops of water in my cupped palm and let them\ntrickle between her lips.  This revived her so that she raised her\nlids, and when she saw me, she smiled.\n\n\"What happened?\" she asked.  \"Where are we?\"\n\n\"We are at the end of the corridor,\" I replied, \"and daylight is coming\nin from the outside world just ahead.  We are saved, Ajor!\"\n\nShe sat up then and looked about, and then, quite womanlike, she burst\ninto tears.  It was the reaction, of course; and then too, she was very\nweak.  I took her in my arms and quieted her as best I could, and\nfinally, with my help, she got to her feet; for she, as well as I, had\nfound some slight recuperation in sleep.  Together we staggered upward\ntoward the light, and at the first turn we saw an opening a few yards\nahead of us and a leaden sky beyond--a leaden sky from which was\nfalling a drizzling rain, the author of our little, trickling stream\nwhich had given us drink when we were most in need of it.\n\nThe cave had been damp and cold; but as we crawled through the\naperture, the muggy warmth of the Caspakian air caressed and confronted\nus; even the rain was warmer than the atmosphere of those dark\ncorridors.  We had water now, and warmth, and I was sure that Caspak\nwould soon offer us meat or fruit; but as we came to where we could\nlook about, we saw that we were upon the summit of the cliffs, where\nthere seemed little reason to expect game.  However, there were trees,\nand among them we soon descried edible fruits with which we broke our\nlong fast.\n\n\n\nChapter 4\n\nWe spent two days upon the cliff-top, resting and recuperating.  There\nwas some small game which gave us meat, and the little pools of\nrainwater were sufficient to quench our thirst.  The sun came out a few\nhours after we emerged from the cave, and in its warmth we soon cast\noff the gloom which our recent experiences had saddled upon us.\n\nUpon the morning of the third day we set out to search for a path down\nto the valley.  Below us, to the north, we saw a large pool lying at\nthe foot of the cliffs, and in it we could discern the women of the\nBand-lu lying in the shallow waters, while beyond and close to the base\nof the mighty barrier-cliffs there was a large party of Band-lu\nwarriors going north to hunt.  We had a splendid view from our lofty\ncliff-top.  Dimly, to the west, we could see the farther shore of the\ninland sea, and southwest the large southern island loomed distinctly\nbefore us.  A little east of north was the northern island, which Ajor,\nshuddering, whispered was the home of the Wieroo--the land of Oo-oh.\nIt lay at the far end of the lake and was barely visible to us, being\nfully sixty miles away.\n\nFrom our elevation, and in a clearer atmosphere, it would have stood\nout distinctly; but the air of Caspak is heavy with moisture, with the\nresult that distant objects are blurred and indistinct.  Ajor also told\nme that the mainland east of Oo-oh was her land--the land of the Galu.\nShe pointed out the cliffs at its southern boundary, which mark the\nfrontier, south of which lies the country of Kro-lu--the archers.  We\nnow had but to pass through the balance of the Band-lu territory and\nthat of the Kro-lu to be within the confines of her own land; but that\nmeant traversing thirty-five miles of hostile country filled with every\nimaginable terror, and possibly many beyond the powers of imagination.\nI would certainly have given a lot for my plane at that moment, for\nwith it, twenty minutes would have landed us within the confines of\nAjor's country.\n\nWe finally found a place where we could slip over the edge of the cliff\nonto a narrow ledge which seemed to give evidence of being something of\na game-path to the valley, though it apparently had not been used for\nsome time.  I lowered Ajor at the end of my rifle and then slid over\nmyself, and I am free to admit that my hair stood on end during the\nprocess, for the drop was considerable and the ledge appallingly\nnarrow, with a frightful drop sheer below down to the rocks at the base\nof the cliff; but with Ajor there to catch and steady me, I made it all\nright, and then we set off down the trail toward the valley.  There\nwere two or three more bad places, but for the most part it was an easy\ndescent, and we came to the highest of the Band-lu caves without\nfurther trouble.  Here we went more slowly, lest we should be set upon\nby some member of the tribe.\n\nWe must have passed about half the Band-lu cave-levels before we were\naccosted, and then a huge fellow stepped out in front of me, barring\nour further progress.\n\n\"Who are you?\" he asked; and he recognized me and I him, for he had\nbeen one of those who had led me back into the cave and bound me the\nnight that I had been captured.  From me his gaze went to Ajor.  He was\na fine-looking man with clear, intelligent eyes, a good forehead and\nsuperb physique--by far the highest type of Caspakian I had yet seen,\nbarring Ajor, of course.\n\n\"You are a true Galu,\" he said to Ajor, \"but this man is of a different\nmold.  He has the face of a Galu, but his weapons and the strange skins\nhe wears upon his body are not of the Galus nor of Caspak.  Who is he?\"\n\n\"He is Tom,\" replied Ajor succinctly.\n\n\"There is no such people,\" asserted the Band-lu quite truthfully,\ntoying with his spear in a most suggestive manner.\n\n\"My name is Tom,\" I explained, \"and I am from a country beyond Caspak.\"\nI thought it best to propitiate him if possible, because of the\nnecessity of conserving ammunition as well as to avoid the loud alarm\nof a shot which might bring other Band-lu warriors upon us.  \"I am from\nAmerica, a land of which you never heard, and I am seeking others of my\ncountrymen who are in Caspak and from whom I am lost. I have no quarrel\nwith you or your people.  Let us go our way in peace.\"\n\n\"You are going there?\" he asked, and pointed toward the north.\n\n\"I am,\" I replied.\n\nHe was silent for several minutes, apparently weighing some thought in\nhis mind.  At last he spoke.  \"What is that?\" he asked.  \"And what is\nthat?\"  He pointed first at my rifle and then to my pistol.\n\n\"They are weapons,\" I replied, \"weapons which kill at a great\ndistance.\" I pointed to the women in the pool beneath us.  \"With this,\"\nI said, tapping my pistol, \"I could kill as many of those women as I\ncared to, without moving a step from where we now stand.\"\n\nHe looked his incredulity, but I went on.  \"And with this\"--I weighed\nmy rifle at the balance in the palm of my right hand--\"I could slay one\nof those distant warriors.\"  And I waved my left hand toward the tiny\nfigures of the hunters far to the north.\n\nThe fellow laughed.  \"Do it,\" he cried derisively, \"and then it may be\nthat I shall believe the balance of your strange story.\"\n\n\"But I do not wish to kill any of them,\" I replied.  \"Why should I?\"\n\n\"Why not?\" he insisted.  \"They would have killed you when they had you\nprisoner.  They would kill you now if they could get their hands on\nyou, and they would eat you into the bargain.  But I know why you do\nnot try it--it is because you have spoken lies; your weapon will not\nkill at a great distance.  It is only a queerly wrought club.  For all\nI know, you are nothing more than a lowly Bo-lu.\"\n\n\"Why should you wish me to kill your own people?\" I asked.\n\n\"They are no longer my people,\" he replied proudly.  \"Last night, in\nthe very middle of the night, the call came to me.  Like that it came\ninto my head\"--and he struck his hands together smartly once--\"that I\nhad risen.  I have been waiting for it and expecting it for a long\ntime; today I am a Kro-lu.  Today I go into the coslupak\" (unpeopled\ncountry, or literally, no man's land) \"between the Band-lu and the\nKro-lu, and there I fashion my bow and my arrows and my shield; there I\nhunt the red deer for the leathern jerkin which is the badge of my new\nestate.  When these things are done, I can go to the chief of the\nKro-lu, and he dare not refuse me.  That is why you may kill those low\nBand-lu if you wish to live, for I am in a hurry.\n\n\"But why do you wish to kill me?\" I asked.\n\nHe looked puzzled and finally gave it up.  \"I do not know,\" he\nadmitted.  \"It is the way in Caspak.  If we do not kill, we shall be\nkilled, therefore it is wise to kill first whomever does not belong to\none's own people.  This morning I hid in my cave till the others were\ngone upon the hunt, for I knew that they would know at once that I had\nbecome a Kro-lu and would kill me.  They will kill me if they find me\nin the coslupak; so will the Kro-lu if they come upon me before I have\nwon my Kro-lu weapons and jerkin.  You would kill me if you could, and\nthat is the reason I know that you speak lies when you say that your\nweapons will kill at a great distance.  Would they, you would long\nsince have killed me.  Come!  I have no more time to waste in words.  I\nwill spare the woman and take her with me to the Kro-lu, for she is\ncomely.\"  And with that he advanced upon me with raised spear.\n\nMy rifle was at my hip at the ready.  He was so close that I did not\nneed to raise it to my shoulder, having but to pull the trigger to send\nhim into Kingdom Come whenever I chose; but yet I hesitated.  It was\ndifficult to bring myself to take a human life.  I could feel no enmity\ntoward this savage barbarian who acted almost as wholly upon instinct\nas might a wild beast, and to the last moment I was determined to seek\nsome way to avoid what now seemed inevitable.  Ajor stood at my\nshoulder, her knife ready in her hand and a sneer on her lips at his\nsuggestion that he would take her with him.\n\nJust as I thought I should have to fire, a chorus of screams broke from\nthe women beneath us.  I saw the man halt and glance downward, and\nfollowing his example my eyes took in the panic and its cause.  The\nwomen had, evidently, been quitting the pool and slowly returning\ntoward the caves, when they were confronted by a monstrous cave-lion\nwhich stood directly between them and their cliffs in the center of the\nnarrow path that led down to the pool among the tumbled rocks.\nScreaming, the women were rushing madly back to the pool.\n\n\"It will do them no good,\" remarked the man, a trace of excitement in\nhis voice.  \"It will do them no good, for the lion will wait until they\ncome out and take as many as he can carry away; and there is one\nthere,\" he added, a trace of sadness in his tone, \"whom I hoped would\nsoon follow me to the Kro-lu.  Together have we come up from the\nbeginning.\"  He raised his spear above his head and poised it ready to\nhurl downward at the lion.  \"She is nearest to him,\" he muttered.  \"He\nwill get her and she will never come to me among the Kro-lu, or ever\nthereafter.  It is useless!  No warrior lives who could hurl a weapon\nso great a distance.\"\n\nBut even as he spoke, I was leveling my rifle upon the great brute\nbelow; and as he ceased speaking, I squeezed the trigger.  My bullet\nmust have struck to a hair the point at which I had aimed, for it\nsmashed the brute's spine back of his shoulders and tore on through his\nheart, dropping him dead in his tracks.  For a moment the women were as\nterrified by the report of the rifle as they had been by the menace of\nthe lion; but when they saw that the loud noise had evidently destroyed\ntheir enemy, they came creeping cautiously back to examine the carcass.\n\nThe man, toward whom I had immediately turned after firing, lest he\nshould pursue his threatened attack, stood staring at me in amazement\nand admiration.\n\n\"Why,\" he asked, \"if you could do that, did you not kill me long\nbefore?\"\n\n\"I told you,\" I replied, \"that I had no quarrel with you.  I do not\ncare to kill men with whom I have no quarrel.\"\n\nBut he could not seem to get the idea through his head.  \"I can believe\nnow that you are not of Caspak,\" he admitted, \"for no Caspakian would\nhave permitted such an opportunity to escape him.\" This, however, I\nfound later to be an exaggeration, as the tribes of the west coast and\neven the Kro-lu of the east coast are far less bloodthirsty than he\nwould have had me believe.  \"And your weapon!\" he continued.  \"You\nspoke true words when I thought you spoke lies.\"  And then, suddenly:\n\"Let us be friends!\"\n\nI turned to Ajor.  \"Can I trust him?\" I asked.\n\n\"Yes,\" she replied.  \"Why not?  Has he not asked to be friends?\"\n\nI was not at the time well enough acquainted with Caspakian ways to\nknow that truthfulness and loyalty are two of the strongest\ncharacteristics of these primitive people.  They are not sufficiently\ncultured to have become adept in hypocrisy, treason and dissimulation.\nThere are, of course, a few exceptions.\n\n\"We can go north together,\" continued the warrior.  \"I will fight for\nyou, and you can fight for me.  Until death will I serve you, for you\nhave saved So-al, whom I had given up as dead.\"  He threw down his\nspear and covered both his eyes with the palms of his two hands.  I\nlooked inquiringly toward Ajor, who explained as best she could that\nthis was the form of the Caspakian oath of allegiance.  \"You need never\nfear him after this,\" she concluded.\n\n\"What should I do?\" I asked.\n\n\"Take his hands down from before his eyes and return his spear to him,\"\nshe explained.\n\nI did as she bade, and the man seemed very pleased.  I then asked what\nI should have done had I not wished to accept his friendship.  They\ntold me that had I walked away, the moment that I was out of sight of\nthe warrior we would have become deadly enemies again.  \"But I could so\neasily have killed him as he stood there defenseless!\" I exclaimed.\n\n\"Yes,\" replied the warrior, \"but no man with good sense blinds his eyes\nbefore one whom he does not trust.\"\n\nIt was rather a decent compliment, and it taught me just how much I\nmight rely on the loyalty of my new friend.  I was glad to have him\nwith us, for he knew the country and was evidently a fearless warrior.\nI wished that I might have recruited a battalion like him.\n\nAs the women were now approaching the cliffs, To-mar the warrior\nsuggested that we make our way to the valley before they could\nintercept us, as they might attempt to detain us and were almost\ncertain to set upon Ajor.  So we hastened down the narrow path,\nreaching the foot of the cliffs but a short distance ahead of the\nwomen.  They called after us to stop; but we kept on at a rapid walk,\nnot wishing to have any trouble with them, which could only result in\nthe death of some of them.\n\nWe had proceeded about a mile when we heard some one behind us calling\nTo-mar by name, and when we stopped and looked around, we saw a woman\nrunning rapidly toward us.  As she approached nearer I could see that\nshe was a very comely creature, and like all her sex that I had seen in\nCaspak, apparently young.\n\n\"It is So-al!\" exclaimed To-mar.  \"Is she mad that she follows me thus?\"\n\nIn another moment the young woman stopped, panting, before us.  She\npaid not the slightest attention to Ajor or me; but devouring To-mar\nwith her sparkling eyes, she cried:  \"I have risen!  I have risen!\"\n\n\"So-al!\" was all that the man could say.\n\n\"Yes,\" she went on, \"the call came to me just before I quit the pool;\nbut I did not know that it had come to you.  I can see it in your eyes,\nTo-mar, my To-mar!  We shall go on together!\"  And she threw herself\ninto his arms.\n\nIt was a very affecting sight, for it was evident that these two had\nbeen mates for a long time and that they had each thought that they\nwere about to be separated by that strange law of evolution which holds\ngood in Caspak and which was slowly unfolding before my incredulous\nmind.  I did not then comprehend even a tithe of the wondrous process,\nwhich goes on eternally within the confines of Caprona's barrier cliffs\nnor am I any too sure that I do even now.\n\nTo-mar explained to So-al that it was I who had killed the cave-lion\nand saved her life, and that Ajor was my woman and thus entitled to the\nsame loyalty which was my due.\n\nAt first Ajor and So-al were like a couple of stranger cats on a back\nfence but soon they began to accept each other under something of an\narmed truce, and later became fast friends.  So-al was a mighty\nfine-looking girl, built like a tigress as to strength and sinuosity,\nbut withal sweet and womanly.  Ajor and I came to be very fond of her,\nand she was, I think, equally fond of us.  To-mar was very much of a\nman--a savage, if you will, but none the less a man.\n\nFinding that traveling in company with To-mar made our journey both\neasier and safer, Ajor and I did not continue on our way alone while\nthe novitiates delayed their approach to the Kro-lu country in order\nthat they might properly fit themselves in the matter of arms and\napparel, but remained with them.  Thus we became well acquainted--to\nsuch an extent that we looked forward with regret to the day when they\ntook their places among their new comrades and we should be forced to\ncontinue upon our way alone.  It was a matter of much concern to To-mar\nthat the Kro-lu would undoubtedly not receive Ajor and me in a friendly\nmanner, and that consequently we should have to avoid these people.\n\nIt would have been very helpful to us could we have made friends with\nthem, as their country abutted directly upon that of the Galus.  Their\nfriendship would have meant that Ajor's dangers were practically\npassed, and that I had accomplished fully one-half of my long journey.\nIn view of what I had passed through, I often wondered what chance I\nhad to complete that journey in search of my friends.  The further\nsouth I should travel on the west side of the island, the more\nfrightful would the dangers become as I neared the stamping-grounds of\nthe more hideous reptilia and the haunts of the Alus and the Ho-lu, all\nof which were at the southern half of the island; and then if I should\nnot find the members of my party, what was to become of me?  I could\nnot live for long in any portion of Caspak with which I was familiar;\nthe moment my ammunition was exhausted, I should be as good as dead.\n\nThere was a chance that the Galus would receive me; but even Ajor could\nnot say definitely whether they would or not, and even provided that\nthey would, could I retrace my steps from the beginning, after failing\nto find my own people, and return to the far northern land of Galus?  I\ndoubted it.  However, I was learning from Ajor, who was more or less of\na fatalist, a philosophy which was as necessary in Caspak to peace of\nmind as is faith to the devout Christian of the outer world.\n\n\n\nChapter 5\n\nWe were sitting before a little fire inside a safe grotto one night\nshortly after we had quit the cliff-dwellings of the Band-lu, when\nSo-al raised a question which it had never occurred to me to propound\nto Ajor.  She asked her why she had left her own people and how she had\ncome so far south as the country of the Alus, where I had found her.\n\nAt first Ajor hesitated to explain; but at last she consented, and for\nthe first time I heard the complete story of her origin and\nexperiences.  For my benefit she entered into greater detail of\nexplanation than would have been necessary had I been a native\nCaspakian.\n\n\"I am a cos-ata-lo,\" commenced Ajor, and then she turned toward me.  \"A\ncos-ata-lo, my Tom, is a woman\" (lo) \"who did not come from an egg and\nthus on up from the beginning.\"  (Cor sva jo.)  \"I was a babe at my\nmother's breast.  Only among the Galus are such, and then but\ninfrequently.  The Wieroo get most of us; but my mother hid me until I\nhad attained such size that the Wieroo could not readily distinguish me\nfrom one who had come up from the beginning.  I knew both my mother and\nmy father, as only such as I may.  My father is high chief among the\nGalus.  His name is Jor, and both he and my mother came up from the\nbeginning; but one of them, probably my mother, had completed the seven\ncycles\" (approximately seven hundred years), \"with the result that\ntheir offspring might be cos-ata-lo, or born as are all the children of\nyour race, my Tom, as you tell me is the fact.  I was therefore apart\nfrom my fellows in that my children would probably be as I, of a higher\nstate of evolution, and so I was sought by the men of my people; but\nnone of them appealed to me.  I cared for none.  The most persistent\nwas Du-seen, a huge warrior of whom my father stood in considerable\nfear, since it was quite possible that Du-seen could wrest from him his\nchieftainship of the Galus.  He has a large following of the newer\nGalus, those most recently come up from the Kro-lu, and as this class\nis usually much more powerful numerically than the older Galus, and as\nDu-seen's ambition knows no bounds, we have for a long time been\nexpecting him to find some excuse for a break with Jor the High Chief,\nmy father.\n\n\"A further complication lay in the fact that Du-seen wanted me, while I\nwould have none of him, and then came evidence to my father's ears that\nhe was in league with the Wieroo; a hunter, returning late at night,\ncame trembling to my father, saying that he had seen Du-seen talking\nwith a Wieroo in a lonely spot far from the village, and that plainly\nhe had heard the words:  'If you will help me, I will help you--I will\ndeliver into your hands all cos-ata-lo among the Galus, now and\nhereafter; but for that service you must slay Jor the High Chief and\nbring terror and confusion to his followers.'\n\n\"Now, when my father heard this, he was angry; but he was also\nafraid--afraid for me, who am cos-ata-lo.  He called me to him and told\nme what he had heard, pointing out two ways in which we might frustrate\nDu-seen.  The first was that I go to Du-seen as his mate, after which\nhe would be loath to give me into the hands of the Wieroo or to further\nabide by the wicked compact he had made--a compact which would doom his\nown offspring, who would doubtless be as am I, their mother.  The\nalternative was flight until Du-seen should have been overcome and\npunished.  I chose the latter and fled toward the south.  Beyond the\nconfines of the Galu country is little danger from the Wieroo, who seek\nordinarily only Galus of the highest orders.  There are two excellent\nreasons for this:  One is that from the beginning of time jealousy has\nexisted between the Wieroo and the Galus as to which would eventually\ndominate the world.  It seems generally conceded that that race which\nfirst reaches a point of evolution which permits them to produce young\nof their own species and of both sexes must dominate all other\ncreatures.  The Wieroo first began to produce their own kind--after\nwhich evolution from Galu to Wieroo ceased gradually until now it is\nunknown; but the Wieroo produce only males--which is why they steal our\nfemale young, and by stealing cos-ata-lo they increase their own\nchances of eventually reproducing both sexes and at the same time\nlessen ours.  Already the Galus produce both male and female; but so\ncarefully do the Wieroo watch us that few of the males ever grow to\nmanhood, while even fewer are the females that are not stolen away.  It\nis indeed a strange condition, for while our greatest enemies hate and\nfear us, they dare not exterminate us, knowing that they too would\nbecome extinct but for us.\n\n\"Ah, but could we once get a start, I am sure that when all were true\ncos-ata-lo there would have been evolved at last the true dominant race\nbefore which all the world would be forced to bow.\"\n\nAjor always spoke of the world as though nothing existed beyond Caspak.\nShe could not seem to grasp the truth of my origin or the fact that\nthere were countless other peoples outside her stern barrier-cliffs.\nShe apparently felt that I came from an entirely different world.\nWhere it was and how I came to Caspak from it were matters quite beyond\nher with which she refused to trouble her pretty head.\n\n\"Well,\" she continued, \"and so I ran away to hide, intending to pass\nthe cliffs to the south of Galu and find a retreat in the Kro-lu\ncountry.  It would be dangerous, but there seemed no other way.\n\n\"The third night I took refuge in a large cave in the cliffs at the\nedge of my own country; upon the following day I would cross over into\nthe Kro-lu country, where I felt that I should be reasonably safe from\nthe Wieroo, though menaced by countless other dangers.  However, to a\ncos-ata-lo any fate is preferable to that of falling into the clutches\nof the frightful Wieroo, from whose land none returns.\n\n\"I had been sleeping peacefully for several hours when I was awakened\nby a slight noise within the cavern.  The moon was shining brightly,\nillumining the entrance, against which I saw silhouetted the dread\nfigure of a Wieroo.  There was no escape.  The cave was shallow, the\nentrance narrow.  I lay very still, hoping against hope, that the\ncreature had but paused here to rest and might soon depart without\ndiscovering me; yet all the while I knew that he came seeking me.\n\n\"I waited, scarce breathing, watching the thing creep stealthily toward\nme, its great eyes luminous in the darkness of the cave's interior, and\nat last I knew that those eyes were directed upon me, for the Wieroo\ncan see in the darkness better than even the lion or the tiger.  But a\nfew feet separated us when I sprang to my feet and dashed madly toward\nmy menacer in a vain effort to dodge past him and reach the outside\nworld.  It was madness of course, for even had I succeeded temporarily,\nthe Wieroo would have but followed and swooped down upon me from above.\nAs it was, he reached forth and seized me, and though I struggled, he\noverpowered me.  In the duel his long, white robe was nearly torn from\nhim, and he became very angry, so that he trembled and beat his wings\ntogether in his rage.\n\n\"He asked me my name; but I would not answer him, and that angered him\nstill more.  At last he dragged me to the entrance of the cave, lifted\nme in his arms, spread his great wings and leaping into the air,\nflapped dismally through the night.  I saw the moonlit landscape\nsliding away beneath me, and then we were out above the sea and on our\nway to Oo-oh, the country of the Wieroo.\n\n\"The dim outlines of Oo-oh were unfolding below us when there came from\nabove a loud whirring of giant wings.  The Wieroo and I glanced up\nsimultaneously, to see a pair of huge jo-oos\" (flying\nreptiles--pterodactyls) \"swooping down upon us.  The Wieroo wheeled and\ndropped almost to sea-level, and then raced southward in an effort to\noutdistance our pursuers.  The great creatures, notwithstanding their\nenormous weight, are swift on their wings; but the Wieroo are swifter.\nEven with my added weight, the creature that bore me maintained his\nlead, though he could not increase it.  Faster than the fastest wind we\nraced through the night, southward along the coast.  Sometimes we rose\nto great heights, where the air was chill and the world below but a\nblur of dim outlines; but always the jo-oos stuck behind us.\n\n\"I knew that we had covered a great distance, for the rush of the wind\nby my face attested the speed of our progress, but I had no idea where\nwe were when at last I realized that the Wieroo was weakening.  One of\nthe jo-oos gained on us and succeeded in heading us, so that my captor\nhad to turn in toward the coast.  Further and further they forced him\nto the left; lower and lower he sank.  More labored was his breathing,\nand weaker the stroke of his once powerful wings.  We were not ten feet\nabove the ground when they overtook us, and at the edge of a forest.\nOne of them seized the Wieroo by his right wing, and in an effort to\nfree himself, he loosed his grasp upon me, dropping me to earth.  Like\na frightened ecca I leaped to my feet and raced for the sheltering\nsanctuary of the forest, where I knew neither could follow or seize me.\nThen I turned and looked back to see two great reptiles tear my\nabductor asunder and devour him on the spot.\n\n\"I was saved; yet I felt that I was lost.  How far I was from the\ncountry of the Galus I could not guess; nor did it seem probable that I\never could make my way in safety to my native land.\n\n\"Day was breaking; soon the carnivora would stalk forth for their first\nkill; I was armed only with my knife.  About me was a strange\nlandscape--the flowers, the trees, the grasses, even, were different\nfrom those of my northern world, and presently there appeared before me\na creature fully as hideous as the Wieroo--a hairy manthing that barely\nwalked erect.  I shuddered, and then I fled.  Through the hideous\ndangers that my forebears had endured in the earlier stages of their\nhuman evolution I fled; and always pursuing was the hairy monster that\nhad discovered me.  Later he was joined by others of his kind.  They\nwere the speechless men, the Alus, from whom you rescued me, my Tom.\nFrom then on, you know the story of my adventures, and from the first,\nI would endure them all again because they led me to you!\"\n\nIt was very nice of her to say that, and I appreciated it.  I felt that\nshe was a mighty nice little girl whose friendship anyone might be glad\nto have; but I wished that when she touched me, those peculiar thrills\nwould not run through me.  It was most discomforting, because it\nreminded me of love; and I knew that I never could love this half-baked\nlittle barbarian.  I was very much interested in her account of the\nWieroo, which up to this time I had considered a purely mythological\ncreature; but Ajor shuddered so at even the veriest mention of the name\nthat I was loath to press the subject upon her, and so the Wieroo still\nremained a mystery to me.\n\nWhile the Wieroo interested me greatly, I had little time to think\nabout them, as our waking hours were filled with the necessities of\nexistence--the constant battle for survival which is the chief\noccupation of Caspakians.  To-mar and So-al were now about fitted for\ntheir advent into Kro-lu society and must therefore leave us, as we\ncould not accompany them without incurring great danger ourselves and\nrunning the chance of endangering them; but each swore to be always our\nfriend and assured us that should we need their aid at any time we had\nbut to ask it; nor could I doubt their sincerity, since we had been so\ninstrumental in bringing them safely upon their journey toward the\nKro-lu village.\n\nThis was our last day together.  In the afternoon we should separate,\nTo-mar and So-al going directly to the Kro-lu village, while Ajor and I\nmade a detour to avoid a conflict with the archers.  The former both\nshowed evidence of nervous apprehension as the time approached for them\nto make their entry into the village of their new people, and yet both\nwere very proud and happy.  They told us that they would be well\nreceived as additions to a tribe always are welcomed, and the more so\nas the distance from the beginning increased, the higher tribes or\nraces being far weaker numerically than the lower.  The southern end of\nthe island fairly swarms with the Ho-lu, or apes; next above these are\nthe Alus, who are slightly fewer in number than the Ho-lu; and again\nthere are fewer Bo-lu than Alus, and fewer Sto-lu than Bo-lu.  Thus it\ngoes until the Kro-lu are fewer in number than any of the others; and\nhere the law reverses, for the Galus outnumber the Kro-lu.  As Ajor\nexplained it to me, the reason for this is that as evolution\npractically ceases with the Galus, there is no less among them on this\nscore, for even the cos-ata-lo are still considered Galus and remain\nwith them.  And Galus come up both from the west and east coasts.\nThere are, too, fewer carnivorous reptiles at the north end of the\nisland, and not so many of the great and ferocious members of the cat\nfamily as take their hideous toll of life among the races further south.\n\nBy now I was obtaining some idea of the Caspakian scheme of evolution,\nwhich partly accounted for the lack of young among the races I had so\nfar seen.  Coming up from the beginning, the Caspakian passes, during a\nsingle existence, through the various stages of evolution, or at least\nmany of them, through which the human race has passed during the\ncountless ages since life first stirred upon a new world; but the\nquestion which continued to puzzle me was: What creates life at the\nbeginning, cor sva jo?\n\nI had noticed that as we traveled northward from the Alus' country the\nland had gradually risen until we were now several hundred feet above\nthe level of the inland sea.  Ajor told me that the Galus country was\nstill higher and considerably colder, which accounted for the scarcity\nof reptiles.  The change in form and kinds of the lower animals was\neven more marked than the evolutionary stages of man.  The diminutive\necca, or small horse, became a rough-coated and sturdy little pony in\nthe Kro-lu country.  I saw a greater number of small lions and tigers,\nthough many of the huge ones still persisted, while the woolly mammoth\nwas more in evidence, as were several varieties of the Labyrinthadonta.\nThese creatures, from which God save me, I should have expected to find\nfurther south; but for some unaccountable reason they gain their\ngreatest bulk in the Kro-lu and Galu countries, though fortunately they\nare rare.  I rather imagine that they are a very early life which is\nrapidly nearing extinction in Caspak, though wherever they are found,\nthey constitute a menace to all forms of life.\n\nIt was mid-afternoon when To-mar and So-al bade us good-bye.  We were\nnot far from Kro-lu village; in fact, we had approached it much closer\nthan we had intended, and now Ajor and I were to make a detour toward\nthe sea while our companions went directly in search of the Kro-lu\nchief.\n\nAjor and I had gone perhaps a mile or two and were just about to emerge\nfrom a dense wood when I saw that ahead of us which caused me to draw\nback into concealment, at the same time pushing Ajor behind me.  What I\nsaw was a party of Band-lu warriors--large, fierce-appearing men.  From\nthe direction of their march I saw that they were returning to their\ncaves, and that if we remained where we were, they would pass without\ndiscovering us.\n\nPresently Ajor nudged me.  \"They have a prisoner,\" she whispered.  \"He\nis a Kro-lu.\"\n\nAnd then I saw him, the first fully developed Kro-lu I had seen.  He was\na fine-looking savage, tall and straight with a regal carriage.  To-mar\nwas a handsome fellow; but this Kro-lu showed plainly in his every\nphysical attribute a higher plane of evolution.  While To-mar was just\nentering the Kro-lu sphere, this man, it seemed to me, must be close\nindeed to the next stage of his development, which would see him an\nenvied Galu.\n\n\"They will kill him?\" I whispered to Ajor.\n\n\"The dance of death,\" she replied, and I shuddered, so recently had I\nescaped the same fate.  It seemed cruel that one who must have passed\nsafely up through all the frightful stages of human evolution within\nCaspak, should die at the very foot of his goal.  I raised my rifle to\nmy shoulder and took careful aim at one of the Band-lu.  If I hit him,\nI would hit two, for another was directly behind the first.\n\nAjor touched my arm.  \"What would you do?\" she asked.  \"They are all\nour enemies.\"\n\n\"I am going to save him from the dance of death,\" I replied, \"enemy or\nno enemy,\" and I squeezed the trigger.  At the report, the two Band-lu\nlunged forward upon their faces.  I handed my rifle to Ajor, and\ndrawing my pistol, stepped out in full view of the startled party.  The\nBand-lu did not run away as had some of the lower orders of Caspakians\nat the sound of the rifle.  Instead, the moment they saw me, they let\nout a series of demoniac war-cries, and raising their spears above\ntheir heads, charged me.\n\nThe Kro-lu stood silent and statuesque, watching the proceedings.  He\nmade no attempt to escape, though his feet were not bound and none of\nthe warriors remained to guard him.  There were ten of the Band-lu\ncoming for me.  I dropped three of them with my pistol as rapidly as a\nman might count by three, and then my rifle spoke close to my left\nshoulder, and another of them stumbled and rolled over and over upon\nthe ground.  Plucky little Ajor!  She had never fired a shot before in\nall her life, though I had taught her to sight and aim and how to\nsqueeze the trigger instead of pulling it.  She had practiced these new\naccomplishments often, but little had I thought they would make a\nmarksman of her so quickly.\n\nWith six of their fellows put out of the fight so easily, the remaining\nsix sought cover behind some low bushes and commenced a council of war.\nI wished that they would go away, as I had no ammunition to waste, and\nI was fearful that should they institute another charge, some of them\nwould reach us, for they were already quite close.  Suddenly one of\nthem rose and launched his spear.  It was the most marvelous exhibition\nof speed I have ever witnessed.  It seemed to me that he had scarce\ngained an upright position when the weapon was half-way upon its\njourney, speeding like an arrow toward Ajor.  And then it was, with\nthat little life in danger, that I made the best shot I have ever made\nin my life!  I took no conscious aim; it was as though my subconscious\nmind, impelled by a stronger power even than that of self-preservation,\ndirected my hand.  Ajor was in danger!  Simultaneously with the thought\nmy pistol flew to position, a streak of incandescent powder marked the\npath of the bullet from its muzzle; and the spear, its point shattered,\nwas deflected from its path.  With a howl of dismay the six Band-lu\nrose from their shelter and raced away toward the south.\n\nI turned toward Ajor.  She was very white and wide-eyed, for the\nclutching fingers of death had all but seized her; but a little smile\ncame to her lips and an expression of great pride to her eyes.  \"My\nTom!\" she said, and took my hand in hers.  That was all--\"My Tom!\" and\na pressure of the hand.  Her Tom!  Something stirred within my bosom.\nWas it exaltation or was it consternation?  Impossible!  I turned away\nalmost brusquely.\n\n\"Come!\" I said, and strode off toward the Kro-lu prisoner.\n\nThe Kro-lu stood watching us with stolid indifference.  I presume that\nhe expected to be killed; but if he did, he showed no outward sign of\nfear.  His eyes, indicating his greatest interest, were fixed upon my\npistol or the rifle which Ajor still carried.  I cut his bonds with my\nknife.  As I did so, an expression of surprise tinged and animated the\nhaughty reserve of his countenance.  He eyed me quizzically.\n\n\"What are you going to do with me?\" he asked.\n\n\"You are free,\" I replied.  \"Go home, if you wish.\"\n\n\"Why don't you kill me?\" he inquired.  \"I am defenseless.\"\n\n\"Why should I kill you? I have risked my life and that of this young\nlady to save your life.  Why, therefore should I now take it?\"  Of\ncourse, I didn't say \"young lady\" as there is no Caspakian equivalent\nfor that term; but I have to allow myself considerable latitude in the\ntranslation of Caspakian conversations.  To speak always of a beautiful\nyoung girl as a \"she\" may be literal; but it seems far from gallant.\n\nThe Kro-lu concentrated his steady, level gaze upon me for at least a\nfull minute.  Then he spoke again.\n\n\"Who are you, man of strange skins?\" he asked.  \"Your she is Galu; but\nyou are neither Galu nor Kro-lu nor Band-lu, nor any other sort of man\nwhich I have seen before.  Tell me from whence comes so mighty a\nwarrior and so generous a foe.\"\n\n\"It is a long story,\" I replied, \"but suffice it to say that I am not\nof Caspak.  I am a stranger here, and--let this sink in--I am not a\nfoe.  I have no wish to be an enemy of any man in Caspak, with the\npossible exception of the Galu warrior Du-seen.\"\n\n\"Du-seen!\" he exclaimed.  \"You are an enemy of Du-seen?  And why?\"\n\n\"Because he would harm Ajor,\" I replied.  \"You know him?\"\n\n\"He cannot know him,\" said Ajor.  \"Du-seen rose from the Kro-lu long\nago, taking a new name, as all do when they enter a new sphere.  He\ncannot know him, as there is no intercourse between the Kro-lu and the\nGalu.\"\n\nThe warrior smiled.  \"Du-seen rose not so long ago,\" he said, \"that I\ndo not recall him well, and recently he has taken it upon himself to\nabrogate the ancient laws of Caspak; he had had intercourse with the\nKro-lu.  Du-seen would be chief of the Galus, and he has come to the\nKro-lu for help.\"\n\nAjor was aghast.  The thing was incredible.  Never had Kro-lu and Galu\nhad friendly relations; by the savage laws of Caspak they were deadly\nenemies, for only so can the several races maintain their individuality.\n\n\"Will the Kro-lu join him?\" asked Ajor.  \"Will they invade the country\nof Jor my father?\"\n\n\"The younger Kro-lu favor the plan,\" replied the warrior, \"since they\nbelieve they will thus become Galus immediately.  They hope to span the\nlong years of change through which they must pass in the ordinary\ncourse of events and at a single stride become Galus.  We of the older\nKro-lu tell them that though they occupy the land of the Galu and wear\nthe skins and ornaments of the golden people, still they will not be\nGalus till the time arrives that they are ripe to rise.  We also tell\nthem that even then they will never become a true Galu race, since\nthere will still be those among them who can never rise.  It is all\nright to raid the Galu country occasionally for plunder, as our people\ndo; but to attempt to conquer it and hold it is madness.  For my part,\nI have been content to wait until the call came to me.  I feel that it\ncannot now be long.\"\n\n\"What is your name?\" asked Ajor.\n\n\"Chal-az,\" replied the man.\n\n\"You are chief of the Kro-lu?\" Ajor continued.\n\n\"No, it is Al-tan who is chief of the Kro-lu of the east,\" answered\nChal-az.\n\n\"And he is against this plan to invade my father's country?\"\n\n\"Unfortunately he is rather in favor of it,\" replied the man, \"since he\nhas about come to the conclusion that he is batu.  He has been chief\never since, before I came up from the Band-lu, and I can see no change\nin him in all those years.  In fact, he still appears to be more\nBand-lu than Kro-lu.  However, he is a good chief and a mighty warrior,\nand if Du-seen persuades him to his cause, the Galus may find\nthemselves under a Kro-lu chieftain before long--Du-seen as well as the\nothers, for Al-tan would never consent to occupy a subordinate\nposition, and once he plants a victorious foot in Galu, he will not\nwithdraw it without a struggle.\"\n\nI asked them what batu meant, as I had not before heard the word.\nLiterally translated, it is equivalent to through, finished, done-for,\nas applied to an individual's evolutionary progress in Caspak, and with\nthis information was developed the interesting fact that not every\nindividual is capable of rising through every stage to that of Galu.\nSome never progress beyond the Alu stage; others stop as Bo-lu, as\nSto-lu, as Band-lu or as Kro-lu.  The Ho-lu of the first generation may\nrise to become Alus; the Alus of the second generation may become\nBo-lu, while it requires three generations of Bo-lu to become Band-lu,\nand so on until Kro-lu's parent on one side must be of the sixth\ngeneration.\n\nIt was not entirely plain to me even with this explanation, since I\ncouldn't understand how there could be different generations of peoples\nwho apparently had no offspring.  Yet I was commencing to get a slight\nglimmer of the strange laws which govern propagation and evolution in\nthis weird land.  Already I knew that the warm pools which always lie\nclose to every tribal abiding-place were closely linked with the\nCaspakian scheme of evolution, and that the daily immersion of the\nfemales in the greenish slimy water was in response to some natural\nlaw, since neither pleasure nor cleanliness could be derived from what\nseemed almost a religious rite.  Yet I was still at sea; nor,\nseemingly, could Ajor enlighten me, since she was compelled to use\nwords which I could not understand and which it was impossible for her\nto explain the meanings of.\n\nAs we stood talking, we were suddenly startled by a commotion in the\nbushes and among the boles of the trees surrounding us, and\nsimultaneously a hundred Kro-lu warriors appeared in a rough circle\nabout us.  They greeted Chal-az with a volley of questions as they\napproached slowly from all sides, their heavy bows fitted with long,\nsharp arrows.  Upon Ajor and me they looked with covetousness in the\none instance and suspicion in the other; but after they had heard\nChal-az's story, their attitude was more friendly.  A huge savage did\nall the talking.  He was a mountain of a man, yet perfectly\nproportioned.\n\n\"This is Al-tan the chief,\" said Chal-az by way of introduction.  Then\nhe told something of my story, and Al-tan asked me many questions of\nthe land from which I came.  The warriors crowded around close to hear\nmy replies, and there were many expressions of incredulity as I spoke\nof what was to them another world, of the yacht which had brought me\nover vast waters, and of the plane that had borne me Jo-oo-like over\nthe summit of the barrier-cliffs.  It was the mention of the\nhydroaeroplane which precipitated the first outspoken skepticism, and\nthen Ajor came to my defense.\n\n\"I saw it with my own eyes!\" she exclaimed.  \"I saw him flying through\nthe air in battle with a Jo-oo.  The Alus were chasing me, and they saw\nand ran away.\"\n\n\"Whose is this she?\" demanded Al-tan suddenly, his eyes fixed fiercely\nupon Ajor.\n\nFor a moment there was silence.  Ajor looked up at me, a hurt and\nquestioning expression on her face.  \"Whose she is this?\" repeated\nAl-tan.\n\n\"She is mine,\" I replied, though what force it was that impelled me to\nsay it I could not have told; but an instant later I was glad that I\nhad spoken the words, for the reward of Ajor's proud and happy face was\nreward indeed.\n\nAl-tan eyed her for several minutes and then turned to me.  \"Can you\nkeep her?\" he asked, just the tinge of a sneer upon his face.\n\nI laid my palm upon the grip of my pistol and answered that I could.\nHe saw the move, glanced at the butt of the automatic where it\nprotruded from its holster, and smiled.  Then he turned and raising his\ngreat bow, fitted an arrow and drew the shaft far back.  His warriors,\nsupercilious smiles upon their faces, stood silently watching him.  His\nbow was the longest and the heaviest among them all.  A mighty man\nindeed must he be to bend it; yet Al-tan drew the shaft back until the\nstone point touched his left forefinger, and he did it with consummate\nease.  Then he raised the shaft to the level of his right eye, held it\nthere for an instant and released it.  When the arrow stopped, half its\nlength protruded from the opposite side of a six-inch tree fifty feet\naway.  Al-tan and his warriors turned toward me with expressions of\nimmense satisfaction upon their faces, and then, apparently for Ajor's\nbenefit, the chieftain swaggered to and fro a couple of times, swinging\nhis great arms and his bulky shoulders for all the world like a drunken\nprize-fighter at a beach dancehall.\n\nI saw that some reply was necessary, and so in a single motion, I drew\nmy gun, dropped it on the still quivering arrow and pulled the trigger.\nAt the sound of the report, the Kro-lu leaped back and raised their\nweapons; but as I was smiling, they took heart and lowered them again,\nfollowing my eyes to the tree; the shaft of their chief was gone, and\nthrough the bole was a little round hole marking the path of my bullet.\nIt was a good shot if I do say it myself, \"as shouldn't\" but necessity\nmust have guided that bullet; I simply had to make a good shot, that I\nmight immediately establish my position among those savage and warlike\nCaspakians of the sixth sphere.  That it had its effect was immediately\nnoticeable, but I am none too sure that it helped my cause with Al-tan.\nWhereas he might have condescended to tolerate me as a harmless and\ninteresting curiosity, he now, by the change in his expression,\nappeared to consider me in a new and unfavorable light.  Nor can I\nwonder, knowing this type as I did, for had I not made him ridiculous\nin the eyes of his warriors, beating him at his own game?  What king,\nsavage or civilized, could condone such impudence?  Seeing his black\nscowls, I deemed it expedient, especially on Ajor's account, to\nterminate the interview and continue upon our way; but when I would\nhave done so, Al-tan detained us with a gesture, and his warriors\npressed around us.\n\n\"What is the meaning of this?\" I demanded, and before Al-tan could\nreply, Chal-az raised his voice in our behalf.\n\n\"Is this the gratitude of a Kro-lu chieftain, Al-tan,\" he asked, \"to\none who has served you by saving one of your warriors from the\nenemy--saving him from the death dance of the Band-lu?\"\n\nAl-tan was silent for a moment, and then his brow cleared, and the\nfaint imitation of a pleasant expression struggled for existence as he\nsaid:  \"The stranger will not be harmed.  I wished only to detain him\nthat he may be feasted tonight in the village of Al-tan the Kro-lu.  In\nthe morning he may go his way.  Al-tan will not hinder him.\"\n\nI was not entirely reassured; but I wanted to see the interior of the\nKro-lu village, and anyway I knew that if Al-tan intended treachery I\nwould be no more in his power in the morning than I now was--in fact,\nduring the night I might find opportunity to escape with Ajor, while at\nthe instant neither of us could hope to escape unscathed from the\nencircling warriors.  Therefore, in order to disarm him of any thought\nthat I might entertain suspicion as to his sincerity, I promptly and\ncourteously accepted his invitation.  His satisfaction was evident, and\nas we set off toward his village, he walked beside me, asking many\nquestions as to the country from which I came, its peoples and their\ncustoms.  He seemed much mystified by the fact that we could walk\nabroad by day or night without fear of being devoured by wild beasts or\nsavage reptiles, and when I told him of the great armies which we\nmaintained, his simple mind could not grasp the fact that they existed\nsolely for the slaughtering of human beings.\n\n\"I am glad,\" he said, \"that I do not dwell in your country among such\nsavage peoples.  Here, in Caspak, men fight with men when they\nmeet--men of different races--but their weapons are first for the\nslaying of beasts in the chase and in defense.  We do not fashion\nweapons solely for the killing of man as do your peoples.  Your country\nmust indeed be a savage country, from which you are fortunate to have\nescaped to the peace and security of Caspak.\"\n\nHere was a new and refreshing viewpoint; nor could I take exception to\nit after what I had told Al-tan of the great war which had been raging\nin Europe for over two years before I left home.\n\nOn the march to the Kro-lu village we were continually stalked by\ninnumerable beasts of prey, and three times we were attacked by\nfrightful creatures; but Al-tan took it all as a matter of course,\nrushing forward with raised spear or sending a heavy shaft into the\nbody of the attacker and then returning to our conversation as though\nno interruption had occurred.  Twice were members of his band mauled,\nand one was killed by a huge and bellicose rhinoceros; but the instant\nthe action was over, it was as though it never had occurred.  The dead\nman was stripped of his belongings and left where he had died; the\ncarnivora would take care of his burial.  The trophies that these\nKro-lu left to the meat-eaters would have turned an English big-game\nhunter green with envy.  They did, it is true, cut all the edible parts\nfrom the rhino and carry them home; but already they were pretty well\nweighted down with the spoils of the chase, and only the fact that they\nare particularly fond of rhino-meat caused them to do so.\n\nThey left the hide on the pieces they selected, as they use it for\nsandals, shield-covers, the hilts of their knives and various other\npurposes where tough hide is desirable.  I was much interested in their\nshields, especially after I saw one used in defense against the attack\nof a saber-tooth tiger.  The huge creature had charged us without\nwarning from a clump of dense bushes where it was lying up after\neating.  It was met with an avalanche of spears, some of which passed\nentirely through its body, with such force were they hurled.  The\ncharge was from a very short distance, requiring the use of the spear\nrather than the bow and arrow; but after the launching of the spears,\nthe men not directly in the path of the charge sent bolt after bolt\ninto the great carcass with almost incredible rapidity.  The beast,\nscreaming with pain and rage, bore down upon Chal-az while I stood\nhelpless with my rifle for fear of hitting one of the warriors who were\nclosing in upon it.  But Chal-az was ready.  Throwing aside his bow, he\ncrouched behind his large oval shield, in the center of which was a\nhole about six inches in diameter.  The shield was held by tight loops\nto his left arm, while in his right hand he grasped his heavy knife.\nBristling with spears and arrows, the great cat hurled itself upon the\nshield, and down went Chal-az upon his back with the shield entirely\ncovering him.  The tiger clawed and bit at the heavy rhinoceros hide\nwith which the shield was faced, while Chal-az, through the round hole\nin the shield's center, plunged his blade repeatedly into the vitals of\nthe savage animal.  Doubtless the battle would have gone to Chal-az\neven though I had not interfered; but the moment that I saw a clean\nopening, with no Kro-lu beyond, I raised my rifle and killed the beast.\n\nWhen Chal-az arose, he glanced at the sky and remarked that it looked\nlike rain.  The others already had resumed the march toward the\nvillage.  The incident was closed.  For some unaccountable reason the\nwhole thing reminded me of a friend who once shot a cat in his\nbackyard.  For three weeks he talked of nothing else.\n\nIt was almost dark when we reached the village--a large palisaded\nenclosure of several hundred leaf-thatched huts set in groups of from\ntwo to seven.  The huts were hexagonal in form, and where grouped were\njoined so that they resembled the cells of a bee-hive.  One hut meant a\nwarrior and his mate, and each additional hut in a group indicated an\nadditional female.  The palisade which surrounded the village was of\nlogs set close together and woven into a solid wall with tough creepers\nwhich were planted at their base and trained to weave in and out to\nbind the logs together.  The logs slanted outward at an angle of about\nthirty degrees, in which position they were held by shorter logs\nembedded in the ground at right angles to them and with their upper\nends supporting the longer pieces a trifle above their centers of\nequilibrium.  Along the top of the palisade sharpened stakes had been\ndriven at all sorts of angles.\n\nThe only opening into the inclosure was through a small aperture three\nfeet wide and three feet high, which was closed from the inside by logs\nabout six feet long laid horizontally, one upon another, between the\ninside face of the palisade and two other braced logs which paralleled\nthe face of the wall upon the inside.\n\nAs we entered the village, we were greeted by a not unfriendly crowd of\ncurious warriors and women, to whom Chal-az generously explained the\nservice we had rendered him, whereupon they showered us with the most\nwell-meant attentions, for Chal-az, it seemed, was a most popular\nmember of the tribe.  Necklaces of lion- and tiger-teeth, bits of dried\nmeat, finely tanned hides and earthen pots, beautifully decorated, they\nthrust upon us until we were loaded down, and all the while Al-tan\nglared balefully upon us, seemingly jealous of the attentions heaped\nupon us because we had served Chal-az.\n\nAt last we reached a hut that they set apart for us, and there we\ncooked our meat and some vegetables the women brought us, and had milk\nfrom cows--the first I had had in Caspak--and cheese from the milk of\nwild goats, with honey and thin bread made from wheat flour of their\nown grinding, and grapes and the fermented juice of grapes.  It was\nquite the most wonderful meal I had eaten since I quit the _Toreador_ and\nBowen J.  Tyler's colored chef, who could make pork-chops taste like\nchicken, and chicken taste like heaven.\n\n\n\nChapter 6\n\nAfter dinner I rolled a cigaret and stretched myself at ease upon a\npile of furs before the doorway, with Ajor's head pillowed in my lap\nand a feeling of great content pervading me.  It was the first time\nsince my plane had topped the barrier-cliffs of Caspak that I had felt\nany sense of peace or security.  My hand wandered to the velvet cheek\nof the girl I had claimed as mine, and to her luxuriant hair and the\ngolden fillet which bound it close to her shapely head.  Her slender\nfingers groping upward sought mine and drew them to her lips, and then\nI gathered her in my arms and crushed her to me, smothering her mouth\nwith a long, long kiss.  It was the first time that passion had tinged\nmy intercourse with Ajor.  We were alone, and the hut was ours until\nmorning.\n\nBut now from beyond the palisade in the direction of the main gate came\nthe hallooing of men and the answering calls and queries of the guard.\nWe listened.  Returning hunters, no doubt.  We heard them enter the\nvillage amidst the barking dogs.  I have forgotten to mention the dogs\nof Kro-lu.  The village swarmed with them, gaunt, wolflike creatures\nthat guarded the herd by day when it grazed without the palisade, ten\ndogs to a cow.  By night the cows were herded in an outer inclosure\nroofed against the onslaughts of the carnivorous cats; and the dogs,\nwith the exception of a few, were brought into the village; these few\nwell-tested brutes remained with the herd.  During the day they fed\nplentifully upon the beasts of prey which they killed in protection of\nthe herd, so that their keep amounted to nothing at all.\n\nShortly after the commotion at the gate had subsided, Ajor and I arose\nto enter the hut, and at the same time a warrior appeared from one of\nthe twisted alleys which, lying between the irregularly placed huts and\ngroups of huts, form the streets of the Kro-lu village.  The fellow\nhalted before us and addressed me, saying that Al-tan desired my\npresence at his hut.  The wording of the invitation and the manner of\nthe messenger threw me entirely off my guard, so cordial was the one\nand respectful the other, and the result was that I went willingly,\ntelling Ajor that I would return presently.  I had laid my arms and\nammunition aside as soon as we had taken over the hut, and I left them\nwith Ajor now, as I had noticed that aside from their hunting-knives\nthe men of Kro-lu bore no weapons about the village streets.  There was\nan atmosphere of peace and security within that village that I had not\nhoped to experience within Caspak, and after what I had passed through,\nit must have cast a numbing spell over my faculties of judgment and\nreason.  I had eaten of the lotus-flower of safety; dangers no longer\nthreatened for they had ceased to be.\n\nThe messenger led me through the labyrinthine alleys to an open plaza\nnear the center of the village.  At one end of this plaza was a long\nhut, much the largest that I had yet seen, before the door of which\nwere many warriors.  I could see that the interior was lighted and that\na great number of men were gathered within.  The dogs about the plaza\nwere as thick as fleas, and those I approached closely evinced a strong\ndesire to devour me, their noses evidently apprising them of the fact\nthat I was of an alien race, since they paid no attention whatever to\nmy companion.  Once inside the council-hut, for such it appeared to be,\nI found a large concourse of warriors seated, or rather squatted,\naround the floor.  At one end of the oval space which the warriors left\ndown the center of the room stood Al-tan and another warrior whom I\nimmediately recognized as a Galu, and then I saw that there were many\nGalus present.  About the walls were a number of flaming torches stuck\nin holes in a clay plaster which evidently served the purpose of\npreventing the inflammable wood and grasses of which the hut was\ncomposed from being ignited by the flames.  Lying about among the\nwarriors or wandering restlessly to and fro were a number of savage\ndogs.\n\nThe warriors eyed me curiously as I entered, especially the Galus, and\nthen I was conducted into the center of the group and led forward\ntoward Al-tan.  As I advanced I felt one of the dogs sniffing at my\nheels, and of a sudden a great brute leaped upon my back.  As I turned\nto thrust it aside before its fangs found a hold upon me, I beheld a\nhuge Airedale leaping frantically about me.  The grinning jaws, the\nhalf-closed eyes, the back-laid ears spoke to me louder than might the\nwords of man that here was no savage enemy but a joyous friend, and\nthen I recognized him, and fell to one knee and put my arms about his\nneck while he whined and cried with joy.  It was Nobs, dear old Nobs.\nBowen Tyler's Nobs, who had loved me next to his master.\n\n\"Where is the master of this dog?\" I asked, turning toward Al-tan.\n\nThe chieftain inclined his head toward the Galu standing at his side.\n\"He belongs to Du-seen the Galu,\" he replied.\n\n\"He belongs to Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., of Santa Monica,\" I retorted, \"and\nI want to know where his master is.\"\n\nThe Galu shrugged.  \"The dog is mine,\" he said.  \"He came to me\ncor-sva-jo, and he is unlike any dog in Caspak, being kind and docile\nand yet a killer when aroused.  I would not part with him.  I do not\nknow the man of whom you speak.\"\n\nSo this was Du-seen!  This was the man from whom Ajor had fled.  I\nwondered if he knew that she was here.  I wondered if they had sent for\nme because of her; but after they had commenced to question me, my mind\nwas relieved; they did not mention Ajor.  Their interest seemed\ncentered upon the strange world from which I had come, my journey to\nCaspak and my intentions now that I had arrived.  I answered them\nfrankly as I had nothing to conceal and assured them that my only wish\nwas to find my friends and return to my own country.  In the Galu\nDu-seen and his warriors I saw something of the explanation of the term\n\"golden race\" which is applied to them, for their ornaments and weapons\nwere either wholly of beaten gold or heavily decorated with the\nprecious metal.  They were a very imposing set of men--tall and\nstraight and handsome.  About their heads were bands of gold like that\nwhich Ajor wore, and from their left shoulders depended the\nleopard-tails of the Galus.  In addition to the deer-skin tunic which\nconstituted the major portion of their apparel, each carried a light\nblanket of barbaric yet beautiful design--the first evidence of weaving\nI had seen in Caspak.  Ajor had had no blanket, having lost it during\nher flight from the attentions of Du-seen; nor was she so heavily\nincrusted with gold as these male members of her tribe.\n\nThe audience must have lasted fully an hour when Al-tan signified that\nI might return to my hut.  All the time Nobs had lain quietly at my\nfeet; but the instant that I turned to leave, he was up and after me.\nDu-seen called to him; but the terrier never even so much as looked in\nhis direction.  I had almost reached the doorway leading from the\ncouncil-hall when Al-tan rose and called after me.  \"Stop!\" he shouted.\n\"Stop, stranger! The beast of Du-seen the Galu follows you.\"\n\n\"The dog is not Du-seen's,\" I replied.  \"He belongs to my friend, as I\ntold you, and he prefers to stay with me until his master is found.\"\nAnd I turned again to resume my way.  I had taken but a few steps when\nI heard a commotion behind me, and at the same moment a man leaned\nclose and whispered \"Kazar!\" close to my ear--kazar, the Caspakian\nequivalent of beware.  It was To-mar.  As he spoke, he turned quickly\naway as though loath to have others see that he knew me, and at the\nsame instant I wheeled to discover Du-seen striding rapidly after me.\nAl-tan followed him, and it was evident that both were angry.\n\nDu-seen, a weapon half drawn, approached truculently.  \"The beast is\nmine,\" he reiterated.  \"Would you steal him?\"\n\n\"He is not yours nor mine,\" I replied, \"and I am not stealing him.  If\nhe wishes to follow you, he may; I will not interfere; but if he wishes\nto follow me, he shall; nor shall you prevent.\" I turned to Al-tan.\n\"Is not that fair?\" I demanded.  \"Let the dog choose his master.\"\n\nDu-seen, without waiting for Al-tan's reply, reached for Nobs and\ngrasped him by the scruff of the neck.  I did not interfere, for I\nguessed what would happen; and it did.  With a savage growl Nobs turned\nlike lightning upon the Galu, wrenched loose from his hold and leaped\nfor his throat.  The man stepped back and warded off the first attack\nwith a heavy blow of his fist, immediately drawing his knife with which\nto meet the Airedale's return.  And Nobs would have returned, all\nright, had not I spoken to him.  In a low voice I called him to heel.\nFor just an instant he hesitated, standing there trembling and with\nbared fangs, glaring at his foe; but he was well trained and had been\nout with me quite as much as he had with Bowen--in fact, I had had most\nto do with his early training; then he walked slowly and very\nstiff-legged to his place behind me.\n\nDu-seen, red with rage, would have had it out with the two of us had\nnot Al-tan drawn him to one side and whispered in his ear--upon which,\nwith a grunt, the Galu walked straight back to the opposite end of the\nhall, while Nobs and I continued upon our way toward the hut and Ajor.\nAs we passed out into the village plaza, I saw Chal-az--we were so\nclose to one another that I could have reached out and touched him--and\nour eyes met; but though I greeted him pleasantly and paused to speak\nto him, he brushed past me without a sign of recognition.  I was\npuzzled at his behavior, and then I recalled that To-mar, though he had\nwarned me, had appeared not to wish to seem friendly with me.  I could\nnot understand their attitude, and was trying to puzzle out some sort\nof explanation, when the matter was suddenly driven from my mind by the\nreport of a firearm.  Instantly I broke into a run, my brain in a whirl\nof forebodings, for the only firearms in the Kro-lu country were those\nI had left in the hut with Ajor.\n\nThat she was in danger I could not but fear, as she was now something\nof an adept in the handling of both the pistol and rifle, a fact which\nlargely eliminated the chance that the shot had come from an\naccidentally discharged firearm.  When I left the hut, I had felt that\nshe and I were safe among friends; no thought of danger was in my mind;\nbut since my audience with Al-tan, the presence and bearing of Du-seen\nand the strange attitude of both To-mar and Chal-az had each\ncontributed toward arousing my suspicions, and now I ran along the\nnarrow, winding alleys of the Kro-lu village with my heart fairly in my\nmouth.\n\nI am endowed with an excellent sense of direction, which has been\ngreatly perfected by the years I have spent in the mountains and upon\nthe plains and deserts of my native state, so that it was with little\nor no difficulty that I found my way back to the hut in which I had\nleft Ajor.  As I entered the doorway, I called her name aloud.  There\nwas no response.  I drew a box of matches from my pocket and struck a\nlight and as the flame flared up, a half-dozen brawny warriors leaped\nupon me from as many directions; but even in the brief instant that the\nflare lasted, I saw that Ajor was not within the hut, and that my arms\nand ammunition had been removed.\n\nAs the six men leaped upon me, an angry growl burst from behind them.\nI had forgotten Nobs.  Like a demon of hate he sprang among those\nKro-lu fighting-men, tearing, rending, ripping with his long tusks and\nhis mighty jaws.  They had me down in an instant, and it goes without\nsaying that the six of them could have kept me there had it not been\nfor Nobs; but while I was struggling to throw them off, Nobs was\nspringing first upon one and then upon another of them until they were\nso put to it to preserve their hides and their lives from him that they\ncould give me only a small part of their attention.  One of them was\nassiduously attempting to strike me on the head with his stone hatchet;\nbut I caught his arm and at the same time turned over upon my belly,\nafter which it took but an instant to get my feet under me and rise\nsuddenly.\n\nAs I did so, I kept a grip upon the man's arm, carrying it over one\nshoulder.  Then I leaned suddenly forward and hurled my antagonist over\nmy head to a hasty fall at the opposite side of the hut.  In the dim\nlight of the interior I saw that Nobs had already accounted for one of\nthe others--one who lay very quiet upon the floor--while the four\nremaining upon their feet were striking at him with knives and hatchets.\n\nRunning to one side of the man I had just put out of the fighting, I\nseized his hatchet and knife, and in another moment was in the thick of\nthe argument.  I was no match for these savage warriors with their own\nweapons and would soon have gone down to ignominious defeat and death\nhad it not been for Nobs, who alone was a match for the four of them.\nI never saw any creature so quick upon its feet as was that great\nAiredale, nor such frightful ferocity as he manifested in his attacks.\nIt was as much the latter as the former which contributed to the\nundoing of our enemies, who, accustomed though they were to the\nferocity of terrible creatures, seemed awed by the sight of this\nstrange beast from another world battling at the side of his equally\nstrange master.  Yet they were no cowards, and only by teamwork did\nNobs and I overcome them at last.  We would rush for a man,\nsimultaneously, and as Nobs leaped for him upon one side, I would\nstrike at his head with the stone hatchet from the other.\n\nAs the last man went down, I heard the running of many feet approaching\nus from the direction of the plaza.  To be captured now would mean\ndeath; yet I could not attempt to leave the village without first\nascertaining the whereabouts of Ajor and releasing her if she were held\na captive.  That I could escape the village I was not at all sure; but\nof one thing I was positive; that it would do neither Ajor nor myself\nany service to remain where I was and be captured; so with Nobs, bloody\nbut happy, following at heel, I turned down the first alley and slunk\naway in the direction of the northern end of the village.\n\nFriendless and alone, hunted through the dark labyrinths of this savage\ncommunity, I seldom have felt more helpless than at that moment; yet\nfar transcending any fear which I may have felt for my own safety was\nmy concern for that of Ajor.  What fate had befallen her?  Where was\nshe, and in whose power?  That I should live to learn the answers to\nthese queries I doubted; but that I should face death gladly in the\nattempt--of that I was certain.  And why?  With all my concern for the\nwelfare of my friends who had accompanied me to Caprona, and of my best\nfriend of all, Bowen J. Tyler, Jr., I never yet had experienced the\nalmost paralyzing fear for the safety of any other creature which now\nthrew me alternately into a fever of despair and into a cold sweat of\napprehension as my mind dwelt upon the fate on one bit of half-savage\nfemininity of whose very existence even I had not dreamed a few short\nweeks before.\n\nWhat was this hold she had upon me?  Was I bewitched, that my mind\nrefused to function sanely, and that judgment and reason were dethroned\nby some mad sentiment which I steadfastly refused to believe was love?\nI had never been in love.  I was not in love now--the very thought was\npreposterous.  How could I, Thomas Billings, the right-hand man of the\nlate Bowen J.  Tyler, Sr., one of America's foremost captains of\nindustry and the greatest man in California, be in love with a--a--the\nword stuck in my throat; yet by my own American standards Ajor could be\nnothing else; at home, for all her beauty, for all her delicately\ntinted skin, little Ajor by her apparel, by the habits and customs and\nmanners of her people, by her life, would have been classed a squaw.\nTom Billings in love with a squaw! I shuddered at the thought.\n\nAnd then there came to my mind, in a sudden, brilliant flash upon the\nscreen of recollection the picture of Ajor as I had last seen her, and\nI lived again the delicious moment in which we had clung to one\nanother, lips smothering lips, as I left her to go to the council hall\nof Al-tan; and I could have kicked myself for the snob and the cad that\nmy thoughts had proven me--me, who had always prided myself that I was\nneither the one nor the other!\n\nThese things ran through my mind as Nobs and I made our way through the\ndark village, the voices and footsteps of those who sought us still in\nour ears.  These and many other things, nor could I escape the\nincontrovertible fact that the little figure round which my\nrecollections and my hopes entwined themselves was that of\nAjor--beloved barbarian!  My reveries were broken in upon by a hoarse\nwhisper from the black interior of a hut past which we were making our\nway.  My name was called in a low voice, and a man stepped out beside\nme as I halted with raised knife.  It was Chal-az.\n\n\"Quick!\" he warned.  \"In here!  It is my hut, and they will not search\nit.\"\n\nI hesitated, recalled his attitude of a few minutes before; and as\nthough he had read my thoughts, he said quickly:  \"I could not speak to\nyou in the plaza without danger of arousing suspicions which would\nprevent me aiding you later, for word had gone out that Al-tan had\nturned against you and would destroy you--this was after Du-seen the\nGalu arrived.\"\n\nI followed him into the hut, and with Nobs at our heels we passed\nthrough several chambers into a remote and windowless apartment where a\nsmall lamp sputtered in its unequal battle with the inky darkness.  A\nhole in the roof permitted the smoke from burning oil egress; yet the\natmosphere was far from lucid.  Here Chal-az motioned me to a seat upon\na furry hide spread upon the earthen floor.\n\n\"I am your friend,\" he said.  \"You saved my life; and I am no ingrate\nas is the batu Al-tan.  I will serve you, and there are others here who\nwill serve you against Al-tan and this renegade Galu, Du-seen.\"\n\n\"But where is Ajor?\" I asked, for I cared little for my own safety\nwhile she was in danger.\n\n\"Ajor is safe, too,\" he answered.  \"We learned the designs of Al-tan\nand Du-seen.  The latter, learning that Ajor was here, demanded her;\nand Al-tan promised that he should have her; but when the warriors went\nto get her To-mar went with them.  Ajor tried to defend herself.  She\nkilled one of the warriors, and then To-mar picked her up in his arms\nwhen the others had taken her weapons from her.  He told the others to\nlook after the wounded man, who was really already dead, and to seize\nyou upon your return, and that he, To-mar, would bear Ajor to Al-tan;\nbut instead of bearing her to Al-tan, he took her to his own hut, where\nshe now is with So-al, To-mar's she.  It all happened very quickly.\nTo-mar and I were in the council-hut when Du-seen attempted to take the\ndog from you.  I was seeking To-mar for this work.  He ran out\nimmediately and accompanied the warriors to your hut while I remained\nto watch what went on within the council-hut and to aid you if you\nneeded aid.  What has happened since you know.\"\n\nI thanked him for his loyalty and then asked him to take me to Ajor;\nbut he said that it could not be done, as the village streets were\nfilled with searchers.  In fact, we could hear them passing to and fro\namong the huts, making inquiries, and at last Chal-az thought it best\nto go to the doorway of his dwelling, which consisted of many huts\njoined together, lest they enter and search.\n\nChal-az was absent for a long time--several hours which seemed an\neternity to me.  All sounds of pursuit had long since ceased, and I was\nbecoming uneasy because of his protracted absence when I heard him\nreturning through the other apartments of his dwelling.  He was\nperturbed when he entered that in which I awaited him, and I saw a\nworried expression upon his face.\n\n\"What is wrong?\" I asked.  \"Have they found Ajor?\"\n\n\"No,\" he replied; \"but Ajor has gone.  She learned that you had escaped\nthem and was told that you had left the village, believing that she had\nescaped too.  So-al could not detain her.  She made her way out over\nthe top of the palisade, armed with only her knife.\"\n\n\"Then I must go,\" I said, rising.  Nobs rose and shook himself.  He had\nbeen dead asleep when I spoke.\n\n\"Yes,\" agreed Chal-az, \"you must go at once.  It is almost dawn.\nDu-seen leaves at daylight to search for her.\" He leaned close to my\near and whispered:  \"There are many to follow and help you.  Al-tan has\nagreed to aid Du-seen against the Galus of Jor; but there are many of\nus who have combined to rise against Al-tan and prevent this ruthless\ndesecration of the laws and customs of the Kro-lu and of Caspak.  We\nwill rise as Luata has ordained that we shall rise, and only thus.  No\nbatu may win to the estate of a Galu by treachery and force of arms\nwhile Chal-az lives and may wield a heavy blow and a sharp spear with\ntrue Kro-lus at his back!\"\n\n\"I hope that I may live to aid you,\" I replied.  \"If I had my weapons\nand my ammunition, I could do much.  Do you know where they are?\" \"No,\"\nhe said, \"they have disappeared.\"  And then:  \"Wait!  You cannot go\nforth half armed, and garbed as you are.  You are going into the Galu\ncountry, and you must go as a Galu.  Come!\"  And without waiting for a\nreply, he led me into another apartment, or to be more explicit,\nanother of the several huts which formed his cellular dwelling.\n\nHere was a pile of skins, weapons, and ornaments.  \"Remove your strange\napparel,\" said Chal-az, \"and I will fit you out as a true Galu.  I have\nslain several of them in the raids of my early days as a Kro-lu, and\nhere are their trappings.\"\n\nI saw the wisdom of his suggestion, and as my clothes were by now so\nragged as to but half conceal my nakedness, I had no regrets in laying\nthem aside.  Stripped to the skin, I donned the red-deerskin tunic, the\nleopard-tail, the golden fillet, armlets and leg-ornaments of a Galu,\nwith the belt, scabbard and knife, the shield, spear, bow and arrow and\nthe long rope which I learned now for the first time is the distinctive\nweapon of the Galu warrior.  It is a rawhide rope, not dissimilar to\nthose of the Western plains and cow-camps of my youth.  The honda is a\ngolden oval and accurate weight for the throwing of the noose.  This\nheavy honda, Chal-az explained, is used as a weapon, being thrown with\ngreat force and accuracy at an enemy and then coiled in for another\ncast.  In hunting and in battle, they use both the noose and the honda.\nIf several warriors surround a single foeman or quarry, they rope it\nwith the noose from several sides; but a single warrior against a lone\nantagonist will attempt to brain his foe with the metal oval.\n\nI could not have been more pleased with any weapon, short of a rifle,\nwhich he could have found for me, since I have been adept with the rope\nfrom early childhood; but I must confess that I was less favorably\ninclined toward my apparel.  In so far as the sensation was concerned,\nI might as well have been entirely naked, so short and light was the\ntunic.  When I asked Chal-az for the Caspakian name for rope, he told\nme ga, and for the first time I understood the derivation of the word\nGalu, which means ropeman.\n\nEntirely outfitted I would not have known myself, so strange was my\ngarb and my armament.  Upon my back were slung my bow, arrows, shield,\nand short spear; from the center of my girdle depended my knife; at my\nright hip was my stone hatchet; and at my left hung the coils of my\nlong rope.  By reaching my right hand over my left shoulder, I could\nseize the spear or arrows; my left hand could find my bow over my right\nshoulder, while a veritable contortionist-act was necessary to place my\nshield in front of me and upon my left arm.  The shield, long and oval,\nis utilized more as back-armor than as a defense against frontal\nattack, for the close-set armlets of gold upon the left forearm are\nprincipally depended upon to ward off knife, spear, hatchet, or arrow\nfrom in front; but against the greater carnivora and the attacks of\nseveral human antagonists, the shield is utilized to its best advantage\nand carried by loops upon the left arm.\n\nFully equipped, except for a blanket, I followed Chal-az from his\ndomicile into the dark and deserted alleys of Kro-lu.  Silently we\ncrept along, Nobs silent at heel, toward the nearest portion of the\npalisade.  Here Chal-az bade me farewell, telling me that he hoped to\nsee me soon among the Galus, as he felt that \"the call soon would come\"\nto him.  I thanked him for his loyal assistance and promised that\nwhether I reached the Galu country or not, I should always stand ready\nto repay his kindness to me, and that he could count on me in the\nrevolution against Al-tan.\n\n\n\nChapter 7\n\nTo run up the inclined surface of the palisade and drop to the ground\noutside was the work of but a moment, or would have been but for Nobs.\nI had to put my rope about him after we reached the top, lift him over\nthe sharpened stakes and lower him upon the outside.  To find Ajor in\nthe unknown country to the north seemed rather hopeless; yet I could do\nno less than try, praying in the meanwhile that she would come through\nunscathed and in safety to her father.\n\nAs Nobs and I swung along in the growing light of the coming day, I was\nimpressed by the lessening numbers of savage beasts the farther north I\ntraveled.  With the decrease among the carnivora, the herbivora\nincreased in quantity, though anywhere in Caspak they are sufficiently\nplentiful to furnish ample food for the meateaters of each locality.\nThe wild cattle, antelope, deer, and horses I passed showed changes in\nevolution from their cousins farther south.  The kine were smaller and\nless shaggy, the horses larger.  North of the Kro-lu village I saw a\nsmall band of the latter of about the size of those of our old Western\nplains--such as the Indians bred in former days and to a lesser extent\neven now.  They were fat and sleek, and I looked upon them with\ncovetous eyes and with thoughts that any old cow-puncher may well\nimagine I might entertain after having hoofed it for weeks; but they\nwere wary, scarce permitting me to approach within bow-and-arrow range,\nmuch less within roping-distance; yet I still had hopes which I never\ndiscarded.\n\nTwice before noon we were stalked and charged by man-eaters; but even\nthough I was without firearms, I still had ample protection in Nobs,\nwho evidently had learned something of Caspakian hunt rules under the\ntutelage of Du-seen or some other Galu, and of course a great deal more\nby experience.  He always was on the alert for dangerous foes,\ninvariably warning me by low growls of the approach of a large\ncarnivorous animal long before I could either see or hear it, and then\nwhen the thing appeared, he would run snapping at its heels, drawing\nthe charge away from me until I found safety in some tree; yet never\ndid the wily Nobs take an unnecessary chance of a mauling.  He would\ndart in and away so quickly that not even the lightning-like movements\nof the great cats could reach him.  I have seen him tantalize them thus\nuntil they fairly screamed in rage.\n\nThe greatest inconvenience the hunters caused me was the delay, for\nthey have a nasty habit of keeping one treed for an hour or more if\nbalked in their designs; but at last we came in sight of a line of\ncliffs running east and west across our path as far as the eye could\nsee in either direction, and I knew that we reached the natural\nboundary which marks the line between the Kro-lu and Galu countries.\nThe southern face of these cliffs loomed high and forbidding, rising to\nan altitude of some two hundred feet, sheer and precipitous, without a\nbreak that the eye could perceive.  How I was to find a crossing I\ncould not guess.  Whether to search to the east toward the still\nloftier barrier-cliffs fronting upon the ocean, or westward in the\ndirection of the inland sea was a question which baffled me.  Were\nthere many passes or only one?  I had no way of knowing.  I could but\ntrust to chance.  It never occurred to me that Nobs had made the\ncrossing at least once, possibly a greater number of times, and that he\nmight lead me to the pass; and so it was with no idea of assistance\nthat I appealed to him as a man alone with a dumb brute so often does.\n\n\"Nobs,\" I said, \"how the devil are we going to cross those cliffs?\"\n\nI do not say that he understood me, even though I realize that an\nAiredale is a mighty intelligent dog; but I do swear that he seemed to\nunderstand me, for he wheeled about, barking joyously and trotted off\ntoward the west; and when I didn't follow him, he ran back to me\nbarking furiously, and at last taking hold of the calf of my leg in an\neffort to pull me along in the direction he wished me to go.  Now, as\nmy legs were naked and Nobs' jaws are much more powerful than he\nrealizes, I gave in and followed him, for I knew that I might as well\ngo west as east, as far as any knowledge I had of the correct direction\nwent.\n\nWe followed the base of the cliffs for a considerable distance.  The\nground was rolling and tree-dotted and covered with grazing animals,\nalone, in pairs and in herds--a motley aggregation of the modern and\nextinct herbivora of the world.  A huge woolly mastodon stood swaying\nto and fro in the shade of a giant fern--a mighty bull with enormous\nupcurving tusks.  Near him grazed an aurochs bull with a cow and a\ncalf, close beside a lone rhinoceros asleep in a dust-hole.  Deer,\nantelope, bison, horses, sheep, and goats were all in sight at the same\ntime, and at a little distance a great megatherium reared up on its\nhuge tail and massive hind feet to tear the leaves from a tall tree.\nThe forgotten past rubbed flanks with the present--while Tom Billings,\nmodern of the moderns, passed in the garb of pre-Glacial man, and\nbefore him trotted a creature of a breed scarce sixty years old.  Nobs\nwas a parvenu; but it failed to worry him.\n\nAs we neared the inland sea we saw more flying reptiles and several\ngreat amphibians, but none of them attacked us.  As we were topping a\nrise in the middle of the afternoon, I saw something that brought me to\na sudden stop.  Calling Nobs in a whisper, I cautioned him to silence\nand kept him at heel while I threw myself flat and watched, from behind\na sheltering shrub, a body of warriors approaching the cliff from the\nsouth.  I could see that they were Galus, and I guessed that Du-seen\nled them.  They had taken a shorter route to the pass and so had\noverhauled me.  I could see them plainly, for they were no great\ndistance away, and saw with relief that Ajor was not with them.\n\nThe cliffs before them were broken and ragged, those coming from the\neast overlapping the cliffs from the west.  Into the defile formed by\nthis overlapping the party filed.  I could see them climbing upward for\na few minutes, and then they disappeared from view.  When the last of\nthem had passed from sight, I rose and bent my steps in the direction\nof the pass--the same pass toward which Nobs had evidently been leading\nme.  I went warily as I approached it, for fear the party might have\nhalted to rest.  If they hadn't halted, I had no fear of being\ndiscovered, for I had seen that the Galus marched without point,\nflankers or rear guard; and when I reached the pass and saw a narrow,\none-man trail leading upward at a stiff angle, I wished that I were\nchief of the Galus for a few weeks.  A dozen men could hold off forever\nin that narrow pass all the hordes which might be brought up from the\nsouth; yet there it lay entirely unguarded.\n\nThe Galus might be a great people in Caspak; but they were pitifully\ninefficient in even the simpler forms of military tactics.  I was\nsurprised that even a man of the Stone Age should be so lacking in\nmilitary perspicacity.  Du-seen dropped far below par in my estimation\nas I saw the slovenly formation of his troop as it passed through an\nenemy country and entered the domain of the chief against whom he had\nrisen in revolt; but Du-seen must have known Jor the chief and known\nthat Jor would not be waiting for him at the pass.  Nevertheless he\ntook unwarranted chances.  With one squad of a home-guard company I\ncould have conquered Caspak.\n\nNobs and I followed to the summit of the pass, and there we saw the\nparty defiling into the Galu country, the level of which was not, on an\naverage, over fifty feet below the summit of the cliffs and about a\nhundred and fifty feet above the adjacent Kro-lu domain.  Immediately\nthe landscape changed.  The trees, the flowers and the shrubs were of a\nhardier type, and I realized that at night the Galu blanket might be\nalmost a necessity.  Acacia and eucalyptus predominated among the\ntrees; yet there were ash and oak and even pine and fir and hemlock.\nThe tree-life was riotous.  The forests were dense and peopled by\nenormous trees.  From the summit of the cliff I could see forests\nrising hundreds of feet above the level upon which I stood, and even at\nthe distance they were from me I realized that the boles were of\ngigantic size.\n\nAt last I had come to the Galu country.  Though not conceived in\nCaspak, I had indeed come up cor-sva-jo--from the beginning I had come\nup through the hideous horrors of the lower Caspakian spheres of\nevolution, and I could not but feel something of the elation and pride\nwhich had filled To-mar and So-al when they realized that the call had\ncome to them and they were about to rise from the estate of Band-lus to\nthat of Kro-lus.  I was glad that I was not batu.\n\nBut where was Ajor?  Though my eyes searched the wide landscape before\nme, I saw nothing other than the warriors of Du-seen and the beasts of\nthe fields and the forests.  Surrounded by forests, I could see wide\nplains dotting the country as far as the eye could reach; but nowhere\nwas a sign of a small Galu she--the beloved she whom I would have given\nmy right hand to see.\n\nNobs and I were hungry; we had not eaten since the preceding night, and\nbelow us was game--deer, sheep, anything that a hungry hunter might\ncrave; so down the steep trail we made our way, and then upon my belly\nwith Nobs crouching low behind me, I crawled toward a small herd of red\ndeer feeding at the edge of a plain close beside a forest.  There was\nample cover, what with solitary trees and dotting bushes so that I\nfound no difficulty in stalking up wind to within fifty feet of my\nquarry--a large, sleek doe unaccompanied by a fawn.  Greatly then did I\nregret my rifle.  Never in my life had I shot an arrow, but I knew how\nit was done, and fitting the shaft to my string, I aimed carefully and\nlet drive.  At the same instant I called to Nobs and leaped to my feet.\n\nThe arrow caught the doe full in the side, and in the same moment Nobs\nwas after her.  She turned to flee with the two of us pursuing her,\nNobs with his great fangs bared and I with my short spear poised for a\ncast.  The balance of the herd sprang quickly away; but the hurt doe\nlagged, and in a moment Nobs was beside her and had leaped at her\nthroat.  He had her down when I came up, and I finished her with my\nspear.  It didn't take me long to have a fire going and a steak\nbroiling, and while I was preparing for my own feast, Nobs was filling\nhimself with raw venison.  Never have I enjoyed a meal so heartily.\n\nFor two days I searched fruitlessly back and forth from the inland sea\nalmost to the barrier cliffs for some trace of Ajor, and always I\ntrended northward; but I saw no sign of any human being, not even the\nband of Galu warriors under Du-seen; and then I commenced to have\nmisgivings.  Had Chal-az spoken the truth to me when he said that Ajor\nhad quit the village of the Kro-lu?  Might he not have been acting upon\nthe orders of Al-tan, in whose savage bosom might have lurked some\nsmall spark of shame that he had attempted to do to death one who had\nbefriended a Kro-lu warrior--a guest who had brought no harm upon the\nKro-lu race--and thus have sent me out upon a fruitless mission in the\nhope that the wild beasts would do what Al-tan hesitated to do?  I did\nnot know; but the more I thought upon it, the more convinced I became\nthat Ajor had not quitted the Kro-lu village; but if not, what had\nbrought Du-seen forth without her?  There was a puzzler, and once again\nI was all at sea.\n\nOn the second day of my experience of the Galu country I came upon a\nbunch of as magnificent horses as it has ever been my lot to see.  They\nwere dark bays with blazed faces and perfect surcingles of white about\ntheir barrels.  Their forelegs were white to the knees.  In height they\nstood almost sixteen hands, the mares being a trifle smaller than the\nstallions, of which there were three or four in this band of a hundred,\nwhich comprised many colts and half-grown horses.  Their markings were\nalmost identical, indicating a purity of strain that might have\npersisted since long ages ago.  If I had coveted one of the little\nponies of the Kro-lu country, imagine my state of mind when I came upon\nthese magnificent creatures!  No sooner had I espied them than I\ndetermined to possess one of them; nor did it take me long to select a\nbeautiful young stallion--a four-year-old, I guessed him.\n\nThe horses were grazing close to the edge of the forest in which Nobs\nand I were concealed, while the ground between us and them was dotted\nwith clumps of flowering brush which offered perfect concealment.  The\nstallion of my choice grazed with a filly and two yearlings a little\napart from the balance of the herd and nearest to the forest and to me.\nAt my whispered \"Charge!\"  Nobs flattened himself to the ground, and I\nknew that he would not again move until I called him, unless danger\nthreatened me from the rear.  Carefully I crept forward toward my\nunsuspecting quarry, coming undetected to the concealment of a bush not\nmore than twenty feet from him.  Here I quietly arranged my noose,\nspreading it flat and open upon the ground.\n\nTo step to one side of the bush and throw directly from the ground,\nwhich is the style I am best in, would take but an instant, and in that\ninstant the stallion would doubtless be under way at top speed in the\nopposite direction.  Then he would have to wheel about when I surprised\nhim, and in doing so, he would most certainly rise slightly upon his\nhind feet and throw up his head, presenting a perfect target for my\nnoose as he pivoted.\n\nYes, I had it beautifully worked out, and I waited until he should turn\nin my direction.  At last it became evident that he was doing so, when\napparently without cause, the filly raised her head, neighed and\nstarted off at a trot in the opposite direction, immediately followed,\nof course, by the colts and my stallion.  It looked for a moment as\nthough my last hope was blasted; but presently their fright, if fright\nit was, passed, and they resumed grazing again a hundred yards farther\non.  This time there was no bush within fifty feet of them, and I was\nat a loss as to how to get within safe roping-distance.  Anywhere under\nforty feet I am an excellent roper, at fifty feet I am fair; but over\nthat I knew it would be a matter of luck if I succeeded in getting my\nnoose about that beautiful arched neck.\n\nAs I stood debating the question in my mind, I was almost upon the\npoint of making the attempt at the long throw.  I had plenty of rope,\nthis Galu weapon being fully sixty feet long.  How I wished for the\ncollies from the ranch!  At a word they would have circled this little\nbunch and driven it straight down to me; and then it flashed into my\nmind that Nobs had run with those collies all one summer, that he had\ngone down to the pasture with them after the cows every evening and\ndone his part in driving them back to the milking-barn, and had done it\nintelligently; but Nobs had never done the thing alone, and it had been\na year since he had done it at all.  However, the chances were more in\nfavor of my foozling the long throw than that Nobs would fall down in\nhis part if I gave him the chance.\n\nHaving come to a decision, I had to creep back to Nobs and get him, and\nthen with him at my heels return to a large bush near the four horses.\nHere we could see directly through the bush, and pointing the animals\nout to Nobs I whispered:  \"Fetch 'em, boy!\"\n\nIn an instant he was gone, circling wide toward the rear of the quarry.\nThey caught sight of him almost immediately and broke into a trot away\nfrom him; but when they saw that he was apparently giving them a wide\nberth they stopped again, though they stood watching him, with\nhigh-held heads and quivering nostrils.  It was a beautiful sight.  And\nthen Nobs turned in behind them and trotted slowly back toward me.  He\ndid not bark, nor come rushing down upon them, and when he had come\ncloser to them, he proceeded at a walk.  The splendid creatures seemed\nmore curious than fearful, making no effort to escape until Nobs was\nquite close to them; then they trotted slowly away, but at right angles.\n\nAnd now the fun and trouble commenced.  Nobs, of course, attempted to\nturn them, and he seemed to have selected the stallion to work upon,\nfor he paid no attention to the others, having intelligence enough to\nknow that a lone dog could run his legs off before he could round up\nfour horses that didn't wish to be rounded up.  The stallion, however,\nhad notions of his own about being headed, and the result was as pretty\na race as one would care to see.  Gad, how that horse could run!  He\nseemed to flatten out and shoot through the air with the very minimum\nof exertion, and at his forefoot ran Nobs, doing his best to turn him.\nHe was barking now, and twice he leaped high against the stallion's\nflank; but this cost too much effort and always lost him ground, as\neach time he was hurled heels over head by the impact; yet before they\ndisappeared over a rise in the ground I was sure that Nobs' persistence\nwas bearing fruit; it seemed to me that the horse was giving way a\ntrifle to the right.  Nobs was between him and the main herd, to which\nthe yearling and filly had already fled.\n\nAs I stood waiting for Nobs' return, I could not but speculate upon my\nchances should I be attacked by some formidable beast.  I was some\ndistance from the forest and armed with weapons in the use of which I\nwas quite untrained, though I had practiced some with the spear since\nleaving the Kro-lu country.  I must admit that my thoughts were not\npleasant ones, verging almost upon cowardice, until I chanced to think\nof little Ajor alone in this same land and armed only with a knife!  I\nwas immediately filled with shame; but in thinking the matter over\nsince, I have come to the conclusion that my state of mind was\ninfluenced largely by my approximate nakedness.  If you have never\nwandered about in broad daylight garbed in a bit of red-deer skin in\ninadequate length, you can have no conception of the sensation of\nfutility that overwhelms one.  Clothes, to a man accustomed to wearing\nclothes, impart a certain self-confidence; lack of them induces panic.\n\nBut no beast attacked me, though I saw several menacing forms passing\nthrough the dark aisles of the forest.  At last I commenced to worry\nover Nobs' protracted absence and to fear that something had befallen\nhim.  I was coiling my rope to start out in search of him, when I saw\nthe stallion leap into view at almost the same spot behind which he had\ndisappeared, and at his heels ran Nobs.  Neither was running so fast or\nfuriously as when last I had seen them.\n\nThe horse, as he approached me, I could see was laboring hard; yet he\nkept gamely to his task, and Nobs, too.  The splendid fellow was\ndriving the quarry straight toward me.  I crouched behind my bush and\nlaid my noose in readiness to throw.  As the two approached my\nhiding-place, Nobs reduced his speed, and the stallion, evidently only\ntoo glad of the respite, dropped into a trot.  It was at this gait that\nhe passed me; my rope-hand flew forward; the honda, well down, held the\nnoose open, and the beautiful bay fairly ran his head into it.\n\nInstantly he wheeled to dash off at right angles.  I braced myself with\nthe rope around my hip and brought him to a sudden stand.  Rearing and\nstruggling, he fought for his liberty while Nobs, panting and with\nlolling tongue, came and threw himself down near me.  He seemed to know\nthat his work was done and that he had earned his rest.  The stallion\nwas pretty well spent, and after a few minutes of struggling he stood\nwith feet far spread, nostrils dilated and eyes wide, watching me as I\nedged toward him, taking in the slack of the rope as I advanced.  A\ndozen times he reared and tried to break away; but always I spoke\nsoothingly to him and after an hour of effort I succeeded in reaching\nhis head and stroking his muzzle.  Then I gathered a handful of grass\nand offered it to him, and always I talked to him in a quiet and\nreassuring voice.\n\nI had expected a battle royal; but on the contrary I found his taming a\nmatter of comparative ease.  Though wild, he was gentle to a degree,\nand of such remarkable intelligence that he soon discovered that I had\nno intention of harming him.  After that, all was easy.  Before that\nday was done, I had taught him to lead and to stand while I stroked his\nhead and flanks, and to eat from my hand, and had the satisfaction of\nseeing the light of fear die in his large, intelligent eyes.\n\nThe following day I fashioned a hackamore from a piece which I cut from\nthe end of my long Galu rope, and then I mounted him fully prepared for\na struggle of titanic proportions in which I was none too sure that he\nwould not come off victor; but he never made the slightest effort to\nunseat me, and from then on his education was rapid.  No horse ever\nlearned more quickly the meaning of the rein and the pressure of the\nknees.  I think he soon learned to love me, and I know that I loved\nhim; while he and Nobs were the best of pals.  I called him Ace.  I had\na friend who was once in the French flying-corps, and when Ace let\nhimself out, he certainly flew.\n\nI cannot explain to you, nor can you understand, unless you too are a\nhorseman, the exhilarating feeling of well-being which pervaded me from\nthe moment that I commenced riding Ace.  I was a new man, imbued with a\nsense of superiority that led me to feel that I could go forth and\nconquer all Caspak single-handed.  Now, when I needed meat, I ran it\ndown on Ace and roped it, and when some great beast with which we could\nnot cope threatened us, we galloped away to safety; but for the most\npart the creatures we met looked upon us in terror, for Ace and I in\ncombination presented a new and unusual beast beyond their experience\nand ken.\n\nFor five days I rode back and forth across the southern end of the Galu\ncountry without seeing a human being; yet all the time I was working\nslowly toward the north, for I had determined to comb the territory\nthoroughly in search of Ajor; but on the fifth day as I emerged from a\nforest, I saw some distance ahead of me a single small figure pursued\nby many others.  Instantly I recognized the quarry as Ajor.  The entire\nparty was fully a mile away from me, and they were crossing my path at\nright angles, Ajor a few hundred yards in advance of those who\nfollowed her.  One of her pursuers was far in advance of the others,\nand was gaining upon her rapidly.  With a word and a pressure of the\nknees I sent Ace leaping out into the open, and with Nobs running close\nalongside, we raced toward her.\n\nAt first none of them saw us; but as we neared Ajor, the pack behind\nthe foremost pursuer discovered us and set up such a howl as I never\nbefore have heard.  They were all Galus, and I soon recognized the\nforemost as Du-seen.  He was almost upon Ajor now, and with a sense of\nterror such as I had never before experienced, I saw that he ran with\nhis knife in his hand, and that his intention was to slay rather than\ncapture.  I could not understand it, but I could only urge Ace to\ngreater speed, and most nobly did the wondrous creature respond to my\ndemands.  If ever a four-footed creature approximated flying, it was\nAce that day.\n\nDu-seen, intent upon his brutal design, had as yet not noticed us.  He\nwas within a pace of Ajor when Ace and I dashed between them, and I,\nleaning down to the left, swept my little barbarian into the hollow of\nan arm and up on the withers of my glorious Ace.  We had snatched her\nfrom the very clutches of Du-seen, who halted, mystified and raging.\nAjor, too, was mystified, as we had come up from diagonally behind her\nso that she had no idea that we were near until she was swung to Ace's\nback.  The little savage turned with drawn knife to stab me, thinking\nthat I was some new enemy, when her eyes found my face and she\nrecognized me.  With a little sob she threw her arms about my neck,\ngasping:  \"My Tom!  My Tom!\"\n\nAnd then Ace sank suddenly into thick mud to his belly, and Ajor and I\nwere thrown far over his head.  He had run into one of those numerous\nsprings which cover Caspak.  Sometimes they are little lakes, again but\ntiny pools, and often mere quagmires of mud, as was this one overgrown\nwith lush grasses which effectually hid its treacherous identity.  It\nis a wonder that Ace did not break a leg, so fast he was going when he\nfell; but he didn't, though with four good legs he was unable to wallow\nfrom the mire.  Ajor and I had sprawled face down in the covering\ngrasses and so had not sunk deeply; but when we tried to rise, we found\nthat there was not footing, and presently we saw that Du-seen and his\nfollowers were coming down upon us.  There was no escape.  It was\nevident that we were doomed.\n\n\"Slay me!\" begged Ajor.  \"Let me die at thy loved hands rather than\nbeneath the knife of this hateful thing, for he will kill me.  He has\nsworn to kill me.  Last night he captured me, and when later he would\nhave his way with me, I struck him with my fists and with my knife I\nstabbed him, and then I escaped, leaving him raging in pain and\nthwarted desire.  Today they searched for me and found me; and as I\nfled, Du-seen ran after me crying that he would slay me.  Kill me, my\nTom, and then fall upon thine own spear, for they will kill you\nhorribly if they take you alive.\"\n\nI couldn't kill her--not at least until the last moment; and I told her\nso, and that I loved her, and that until death came, I would live and\nfight for her.\n\nNobs had followed us into the bog and had done fairly well at first,\nbut when he neared us he too sank to his belly and could only flounder\nabout.  We were in this predicament when Du-seen and his followers\napproached the edge of the horrible swamp.  I saw that Al-tan was with\nhim and many other Kro-lu warriors.  The alliance against Jor the chief\nhad, therefore, been consummated, and this horde was already marching\nupon the Galu city.  I sighed as I thought how close I had been to\nsaving not only Ajor but her father and his people from defeat and\ndeath.\n\nBeyond the swamp was a dense wood.  Could we have reached this, we\nwould have been safe; but it might as well have been a hundred miles\naway as a hundred yards across that hidden lake of sticky mud.  Upon\nthe edge of the swamp Du-seen and his horde halted to revile us.  They\ncould not reach us with their hands; but at a command from Du-seen they\nfitted arrows to their bows, and I saw that the end had come.  Ajor\nhuddled close to me, and I took her in my arms.  \"I love you, Tom,\" she\nsaid, \"only you.\"  Tears came to my eyes then, not tears of self-pity\nfor my predicament, but tears from a heart filled with a great love--a\nheart that sees the sun of its life and its love setting even as it\nrises.\n\nThe renegade Galus and their Kro-lu allies stood waiting for the word\nfrom Du-seen that would launch that barbed avalanche of death upon us,\nwhen there broke from the wood beyond the swamp the sweetest music that\never fell upon the ears of man--the sharp staccato of at least two\nscore rifles fired rapidly at will.  Down went the Galu and Kro-lu\nwarriors like tenpins before that deadly fusillade.\n\nWhat could it mean?  To me it meant but one thing, and that was that\nHollis and Short and the others had scaled the cliffs and made their\nway north to the Galu country upon the opposite side of the island in\ntime to save Ajor and me from almost certain death.  I didn't have to\nhave an introduction to them to know that the men who held those rifles\nwere the men of my own party; and when, a few minutes later, they came\nforth from their concealment, my eyes verified my hopes.  There they\nwere, every man-jack of them; and with them were a thousand straight,\nsleek warriors of the Galu race; and ahead of the others came two men\nin the garb of Galus.  Each was tall and straight and wonderfully\nmuscled; yet they differed as Ace might differ from a perfect specimen\nof another species.  As they approached the mire, Ajor held forth her\narms and cried, \"Jor, my chief!  My father!\" and the elder of the two\nrushed in knee-deep to rescue her, and then the other came close and\nlooked into my face, and his eyes went wide, and mine too, and I cried:\n\"Bowen!  For heaven's sake, Bowen Tyler!\"\n\nIt was he.  My search was ended.  Around me were all my company and the\nman we had searched a new world to find.  They cut saplings from the\nforest and laid a road into the swamp before they could get us all out,\nand then we marched back to the city of Jor the Galu chief, and there\nwas great rejoicing when Ajor came home again mounted upon the glossy\nback of the stallion Ace.\n\nTyler and Hollis and Short and all the rest of us Americans nearly\nworked our jaws loose on the march back to the village, and for days\nafterward we kept it up. They told me how they had crossed the barrier\ncliffs in five days, working twenty-four hours a day in three\neight-hour shifts with two reliefs to each shift alternating\nhalf-hourly.  Two men with electric drills driven from the dynamos\naboard the _Toreador_ drilled two holes four feet apart in the face of\nthe cliff and in the same horizontal planes.  The holes slanted\nslightly downward.  Into these holes the iron rods brought as a part of\nour equipment and for just this purpose were inserted, extending about\na foot beyond the face of the rock, across these two rods a plank was\nlaid, and then the next shift, mounting to the new level, bored two\nmore holes five feet above the new platform, and so on.\n\nDuring the nights the searchlights from the _Toreador_ were kept playing\nupon the cliff at the point where the drills were working, and at the\nrate of ten feet an hour the summit was reached upon the fifth day.\nRopes were lowered, blocks lashed to trees at the top, and crude\nelevators rigged, so that by the night of the fifth day the entire\nparty, with the exception of the few men needed to man the _Toreador_,\nwere within Caspak with an abundance of arms, ammunition and equipment.\n\nFrom then on, they fought their way north in search of me, after a vain\nand perilous effort to enter the hideous reptile-infested country to\nthe south.  Owing to the number of guns among them, they had not lost a\nman; but their path was strewn with the dead creatures they had been\nforced to slay to win their way to the north end of the island, where\nthey had found Bowen and his bride among the Galus of Jor.\n\nThe reunion between Bowen and Nobs was marked by a frantic display upon\nNobs' part, which almost stripped Bowen of the scanty attire that the\nGalu custom had vouchsafed him.  When we arrived at the Galu city, Lys\nLa Rue was waiting to welcome us.  She was Mrs. Tyler now, as the\nmaster of the _Toreador_ had married them the very day that the\nsearch-party had found them, though neither Lys nor Bowen would admit\nthat any civil or religious ceremony could have rendered more sacred\nthe bonds with which God had united them.\n\nNeither Bowen nor the party from the _Toreador_ had seen any sign of\nBradley and his party.  They had been so long lost now that any hopes\nfor them must be definitely abandoned.  The Galus had heard rumors of\nthem, as had the Western Kro-lu and Band-lu; but none had seen aught of\nthem since they had left Fort Dinosaur months since.\n\nWe rested in Jor's village for a fortnight while we prepared for the\nsouthward journey to the point where the _Toreador_ was to lie off shore\nin wait for us.  During these two weeks Chal-az came up from the Kro-lu\ncountry, now a full-fledged Galu.  He told us that the remnants of\nAl-tan's party had been slain when they attempted to re-enter Kro-lu.\nChal-az had been made chief, and when he rose, had left the tribe under\na new leader whom all respected.\n\nNobs stuck close to Bowen; but Ace and Ajor and I went out upon many\nlong rides through the beautiful north Galu country.  Chal-az had\nbrought my arms and ammunition up from Kro-lu with him; but my clothes\nwere gone; nor did I miss them once I became accustomed to the free\nattire of the Galu.\n\nAt last came the time for our departure; upon the following morning we\nwere to set out toward the south and the _Toreador_ and dear old\nCalifornia.  I had asked Ajor to go with us; but Jor her father had\nrefused to listen to the suggestion.  No pleas could swerve him from\nhis decision:  Ajor, the cos-ata-lo, from whom might spring a new and\ngreater Caspakian race, could not be spared.  I might have any other\nshe among the Galus; but Ajor--no!\n\nThe poor child was heartbroken; and as for me, I was slowly realizing\nthe hold that Ajor had upon my heart and wondered how I should get\nalong without her.  As I held her in my arms that last night, I tried\nto imagine what life would be like without her, for at last there had\ncome to me the realization that I loved her--loved my little barbarian;\nand as I finally tore myself away and went to my own hut to snatch a\nfew hours' sleep before we set off upon our long journey on the morrow,\nI consoled myself with the thought that time would heal the wound and\nthat back in my native land I should find a mate who would be all and\nmore to me than little Ajor could ever be--a woman of my own race and\nmy own culture.\n\nMorning came more quickly than I could have wished.  I rose and\nbreakfasted, but saw nothing of Ajor.  It was best, I thought, that I\ngo thus without the harrowing pangs of a last farewell.  The party\nformed for the march, an escort of Galu warriors ready to accompany us.\nI could not even bear to go to Ace's corral and bid him farewell.  The\nnight before, I had given him to Ajor, and now in my mind the two\nseemed inseparable.\n\nAnd so we marched away, down the street flanked with its stone houses\nand out through the wide gateway in the stone wall which surrounds the\ncity and on across the clearing toward the forest through which we must\npass to reach the northern boundary of Galu, beyond which we would turn\nsouth.  At the edge of the forest I cast a backward glance at the city\nwhich held my heart, and beside the massive gateway I saw that which\nbrought me to a sudden halt.  It was a little figure leaning against\none of the great upright posts upon which the gates swing--a crumpled\nlittle figure; and even at this distance I could see its shoulders\nheave to the sobs that racked it.  It was the last straw.\n\nBowen was near me.  \"Good-bye old man,\" I said.  \"I'm going back.\"\n\nHe looked at me in surprise.  \"Good-bye, old man,\" he said, and grasped\nmy hand.  \"I thought you'd do it in the end.\"\n\nAnd then I went back and took Ajor in my arms and kissed the tears from\nher eyes and a smile to her lips while together we watched the last of\nthe Americans disappear into the forest."