The Sari proved a most erratic craft. She might havedone well enough upon a park lagoon if safely anchored,but upon the bosom of a mighty ocean she left muchto be desired.

Sailing with the wind she did her best; but in quartering or when close-hauled she drifted terribly, as anautical man might have guessed she would. Wecouldn't keep within miles of our course, and ourprogress was pitifully slow.

Instead of making for the island of Anoroc, we bore farto the right, until it became evident that we should haveto pass between the two right-hand islands and attemptto return toward Anoroc from the opposite side.

As we neared the islands Perry was quite overcomeby their beauty. When we were directly between twoof them he fairly went into raptures; nor could I blamehim.

The tropical luxuriance of the foliage that drippedalmost to the water's edge and the vivid colors of theblooms that shot the green made a most gorgeousspectacle.

Perry was right in the midst of a flowery panegyric onthe wonders of the peaceful beauty of the scene when acanoe shot out from the nearest island. There were adozen warriors in it; it was quickly followed by a secondand third.

Of course we couldn't know the intentions of thestrangers, but we could pretty well guess them.

Perry wanted to man the sweeps and try to get awayfrom them, but I soon convinced him that any speed ofwhich the Sari was capable would be far too slow tooutdistance the swift, though awkward, dugouts of theMezops.

I waited until they were quite close enough to hearme, and then I hailed them. I told them that we werefriends of the Mezops, and that we were upon a visit toJa of Anoroc, to which they replied that they were atwar with Ja, and that if we would wait a minute they'dboard us and throw our corpses to the azdyryths.

I warned them that they would get the worst of it ifthey didn't leave us alone, but they only shouted inderision and paddled swiftly toward us. It was evidentthat they were considerably impressed by the appearance and dimensions of our craft, but as these fellowsknow no fear they were not at all awed.

Seeing that they were determined to give battle, Ileaned over the rail of the Sari and brought the imperial battle-squadron of the Emperor of Pellucidar intoaction for the first time in the history of a world. In otherand simpler words, I fired my revolver at the nearestcanoe.

The effect was magical. A warrior rose from his knees,threw his paddle aloft, stiffened into rigidity for aninstant, and then toppled overboard.

The others ceased paddling, and, with wide eyes,looked first at me and then at the battling sea-thingswhich fought for the corpse of their comrade. To them itmust have seemed a miracle that I should be able tostand at thrice the range of the most powerful javelin-thrower and with a loud noise and a smudge of smokeslay one of their number with an invisible missile.

But only for an instant were they paralyzed withwonder. Then, with savage shouts, they fell once moreto their paddles and forged rapidly toward us.

Again and again I fired. At each shot a warrior sankto the bottom of the canoe or tumbled overboard.

When the prow of the first craft touched the side ofthe Sari it contained only dead and dying men. Theother two dugouts were approaching rapidly, so I turnedmy attention toward them.

I think that they must have been commencing to havesome doubts--those wild, naked, red warriors--for whenthe first man fell in the second boat, the others stoppedpaddling and commenced to jabber among themselves.

The third boat pulled up alongside the second and itscrews joined in the conference. Taking advantage of thelull in the battle, I called out to the survivors to returnto their shore.

"I have no fight with you," I cried, and then I toldthem who I was and added that if they would live inpeace they must sooner or later join forces with me.

"Go back now to your people," I counseled them, "andtell them that you have seen David I, Emperor of theFederated Kingdoms of Pellucidar, and that single-handed he has overcome you, just as be intends overcoming the Mahars and the Sagoths and any otherpeoples of Pellucidar who threaten the peace and welfare of his empire."

Slowly they turned the noses of their canoes towardland. It was evident that they were impressed; yetthat they were loath to give up without further contesting my claim to naval supremacy was also apparent,for some of their number seemed to be exhorting theothers to a renewal of the conflict.

However, at last they drew slowly away, and the Sari,which had not decreased her snail-like speed during this,her first engagement, continued upon her slow, unevenway.

Presently Perry stuck his head up through the hatchand hailed me.

"Have the scoundrels departed?" he asked. "Have youkilled them all?"

"Those whom I failed to kill have departed, Perry," Ireplied.

He came out on deck and, peering over the side,descried the lone canoe floating a short distance asternwith its grim and grisly freight. Farther his eyes wandered to the retreating boats.

"David," said he at last, "this is a notable occasion. Itis a great day in the annals of Pellucidar. We have wona glorious victory.

"Your majesty's navy has routed a fleet of the enemythrice its own size, manned by ten times as many men.Let us give thanks."

I could scarce restrain a smile at Perry's use of thepronoun "we," yet I was glad to share the rejoicing withhim as I shall always be glad to share everything withthe dear old fellow.

Perry is the only male coward I have ever knownwhom I could respect and love. He was not created forfighting; but I think that if the occasion should ever arisewhere it became necessary he would give his life cheerfully for me--yes, I KNOW it.

It took us a long time to work around the islands anddraw in close to Anoroc. In the leisure afforded we tookturns working on our map, and by means of the compassand a little guesswork we set down the shoreline we hadleft and the three islands with fair accuracy.

Crossed sabers marked the spot where the first greatnaval engagement of a world had taken place. In a notebook we jotted down, as had been our custom, detailsthat would be of historical value later.

Opposite Anoroc we came to anchor quite close toshore. I knew from my previous experience with thetortuous trails of the island that I could never find myway inland to the hidden tree-village of the Mezopchieftain, Ja; so we remained aboard the Sari, firing ourexpress rifles at intervals to attract the attention of thenatives.

After some ten shots had been fired at considerableintervals a body of copper-colored warriors appearedupon the shore. They watched us for a moment and thenI hailed them, asking the whereabouts of my old friendJa.

They did not reply at once, but stood with their headstogether in serious and animated discussion. Continuallythey turned their eyes toward our strange craft. It wasevident that they were greatly puzzled by our appearance as well as unable to explain the source of the loudnoises that had attracted their attention to us. At last oneof the warriors addressed us.

"Who are you who seek Ja?" he asked. "What wouldyou of our chief?"

"We are friends," I replied. "I am David. Tell Ja thatDavid, whose life be once saved from a sithic, has comeagain to visit him.

"If you will send out a canoe we will come ashore. Wecannot bring our great warship closer in."

Again they talked for a considerable time. Then twoof them entered a canoe that several dragged from itshiding-place in the jungle and paddled swiftly toward us.

They were magnificent specimens of manhood. Perryhad never seen a member of this red race close to before. In fact, the dead men in the canoe we had leftastern after the battle and the survivors who werepaddling rapidly toward their shore were the first heever had seen. He had been greatly impressed by theirphysical beauty and the promise of superior intelligencewhich their well-shaped skulls gave.

The two who now paddled out received us into theircanoe with dignified courtesy. To my inquiries relativeto Ja they explained that he had not been in the villagewhen our signals were heard, but that runners had beensent out after him and that doubtless he was alreadyupon his way to the coast.

One of the men remembered me from the occasion ofmy former visit to the island; he was extremely agreeable the moment that he came close enough to recognizeme. He said that Ja would be delighted to welcome me,and that all the tribe of Anoroc knew of me by repute,and had received explicit instructions from their chieftain that if any of them should ever come upon me toshow me every kindness and attention.

Upon shore we were received with equal honor. Whilewe stood conversing with our bronze friends a tallwarrior leaped suddenly from the jungle.

It was Ja. As his eyes fell upon me his face lightedwith pleasure. He came quickly forward to greet meafter the manner of his tribe.

Toward Perry he was equally hospitable. The oldman fell in love with the savage giant as completely ashad I. Ja conducted us along the maze-like trail to hisstrange village, where he gave over one of the treehouses for our exclusive use.

Perry was much interested in the unique habitation,which resembled nothing so much as a huge wasp's nestbuilt around the bole of a tree well above the ground.

After we had eaten and rested Ja came to see us witha number of his head men. They listened attentively tomy story, which included a narrative of the events leading to the formation of the federated kingdoms, thebattle with the Mahars, my journey to the outer world,and my return to Pellucidar and search for Sari and mymate.

Ja told me that the Mezops had heard something ofthe federation and had been much interested in it. Hehad even gone so far as to send a party of warriorstoward Sari to investigate the reports, and to arrangefor the entrance of Anoroc into the empire in case it appeared that there was any truth in the rumors that oneof the aims of the federation was the overthrow of theMahars.

The delegation had met with a party of Sagoths. Asthere had been a truce between the Mahars and theMezops for many generations, they camped with thesewarriors of the reptiles, from whom they learned thatthe federation had gone to pieces. So the party returnedto Anoroc.

When I showed Ja our map and explained its purposeto him, he was much interested. The location of Anoroc,the Mountains of the Clouds, the river, and the strip ofseacoast were all familiar to him.

He quickly indicated the position of the inland seaand close beside it, the city of Phutra, where one of thepowerful Mahar nations had its seat. He likewise showedus where Sari should be and carried his own coast-line asfar north and south as it was known to him.

His additions to the map convinced us that Greenwich lay upon the verge of this same sea, and that itmight be reached by water more easily than by thearduous crossing of the mountains or the dangerous approach through Phutra, which lay almost directly in linebetween Anoroc and Greenwich to the northwest.

If Sari lay upon the same water then the shore-linemust bend far back toward the southwest of Greenwich--an assumption which, by the way, we found later tobe true. Also, Sari was upon a lofty plateau at thesouthern end of a mighty gulf of the Great Ocean.

The location which Ja gave to distant Amoz puzzledus, for it placed it due north of Greenwich, apparentlyin mid-ocean. As Ja had never been so far and knewonly of Amoz through hearsay, we thought that he mustbe mistaken; but he was not. Amoz lies directly northof Greenwich across the mouth of the same gulf as thatupon which Sari is.

The sense of direction and location of these primitivePellucidarians is little short of uncanny, as I have hadoccasion to remark in the past. You may take one ofthem to the uttermost ends of his world, to places ofwhich he has never even heard, yet without sun ormoon or stars to guide him, without map or compass, hewill travel straight for home in the shortest direction.

Mountains, rivers, and seas may have to be gonearound. but never once does his sense of direction failhim--the homing instinct is supreme.

In the same remarkable way they never forget thelocation of any place to which they have ever been, andknow that of many of which they have only heard fromothers who have visited them.

In short, each Pellucidarian is a walking geography ofhis own district and of much of the country contiguousthereto. It always proved of the greatest aid to Perry andme; nevertheless we were anxious to enlarge our map,for we at least were not endowed with the hominginstinct.

After several long councils it was decided that, inorder to expedite matters, Perry should return to theprospector with a strong party of Mezops and fetch thefreight I had brought from the outer world. Ja and hiswarriors were much impressed by our firearms, and werealso anxious to build boats with sails.

As we had arms at the prospector and also books onboat-building we thought that it might prove an excellent idea to start these naturally maritime peopleupon the construction of a well built navy of staunchsailing-vessels. I was sure that with definite plans to goby Perry could oversee the construction of an adequateflotilla.

I warned him, however, not to be too ambitious, andto forget about dreadnoughts and armored cruisers for awhile and build instead a few small sailing-boats thatcould be manned by four or five men.

I was to proceed to Sari, and while prosecuting mysearch for Dian attempt at the same time the rehabilitation of the federation. Perry was going as far as possibleby water, with the chances that the entire trip might bemade in that manner, which proved to be the fact.

With a couple of Mezops as companions I started forSari. In order to avoid crossing the principal range ofthe Mountains of the Clouds we took a route that passeda little way south of Phutra. We had eaten four timesand slept once, and were, as my companions told me,not far from the great Mahar city, when we were suddenly confronted by a considerable band of Sagoths.

They did not attack us, owing to the peace whichexists between the Mahars and the Mezops, but I couldsee that they looked upon me with considerable suspicion. My friends told them that I was a stranger froma remote country, and as we had previously plannedagainst such a contingency I pretended ignorance ofthe language which the human beings of Pellucidar employ in conversing with the gorilla-like soldiery of theMahars.

I noticed, and not without misgivings, that the leaderof the Sagoths eyed me with an expression that betokened partial recognition. I was sure that he had seenme before during the period of my incarceration inPhutra and that he was trying to recall my identity.

It worried me not a little. I was extremely thankfulwhen we bade them adieu and continued upon ourjourney.

Several times during the next few marches I becameacutely conscious of the sensation of being watched byunseen eyes, but I did not speak of my suspicions to mycompanions. Later I had reason to regret my reticence,for--

Well, this is how it happened:

We had killed an antelope and after eating our fill Ihad lain down to sleep. The Pellucidarians, who seemseldom if ever to require sleep, joined me in this instance,for we had had a very trying march along the northernfoothills of the Mountains of the Clouds, and now withtheir bellies filled with meat they seemed ready forslumber.

When I awoke it was with a start to find a couple ofhuge Sagoths astride me. They pinioned my arms andlegs, and later chained my wrists behind my back. Thenthey let me up.

I saw my companions; the brave fellows lay deadwhere they had slept, javelined to death without achance at self-defense.

I was furious. I threatened the Sagoth leader with allsorts of dire reprisals; but when he heard me speak thehybrid language that is the medium of communicationbetween his kind and the human race of the inner worldhe only grinned, as much as to say, "I thought so!"

They had not taken my revolvers or ammunition awayfrom me because they did not know what they were;but my heavy rifle I had lost. They simply left it whereit had lain beside me.

So low in the scale of intelligence are they, that theyhad not sufficient interest in this strange object even tofetch it along with them.

I knew from the direction of our march that theywere taking me to Phutra. Once there I did not needmuch of an imagination to picture what my fate wouldbe. It was the arena and a wild thag or fierce tarag forme--unless the Mahars elected to take me to the pits.

In that case my end would be no more certain, thoughinfinitely more horrible and painful, for in the pits Ishould be subjected to cruel vivisection. From what Ihad once seen of their methods in the pits of Phutra Iknew them to be the opposite of merciful, whereas inthe arena I should be quickly despatched by somesavage beast.

Arrived at the underground city, I was taken immediately before a slimy Mahar. When the creaturehad received the report of the Sagoth its cold eyesglistened with malice and hatred as they were turnedbalefully upon me.

I knew then that my identity had been guessed. Witha show of excitement that I had never before seenevinced by a member of the dominant race of Pellucidar,the Mahar hustled me away, heavily guarded, throughthe main avenue of the city to one of the principalbuildings.

Here we were ushered into a great hall wherepresently many Mahars gathered.

In utter silence they conversed, for they have no oralspeech since they are without auditory nerves. Theirmethod of communication Perry has likened to the projection of a sixth sense into a fourth dimension, where itbecomes cognizable to the sixth sense of their audience.

Be that as it may, however, it was evident that I wasthe subject of discussion, and from the hateful looksbestowed upon me not a particularly pleasant subject.

How long I waited for their decision I do not know,but it must have been a very long time. Finally one ofthe Sagoths addressed me. He was acting as interpreterfor his masters.

"The Mahars will spare your life," he said, "and release you on one condition."

"And what is that condition?" I asked, though I couldguess its terms.

"That you return to them that which you stole fromthe pits of Phutra when you killed the four Mahars andescaped," he replied.

I had thought that that would be it. The great secretupon which depended the continuance of the Maharrace was safely hid where only Dian and I knew.

I ventured to imagine that they would have given memuch more than my liberty to have it safely in theirkeeping again; but after that--what?

Would they keep their promises?

I doubted it. With the secret of artificial propagationonce more in their hands their numbers would soon bemade so to overrun the world of Pellucidar that therecould be no hope for the eventual supremacy of thehuman race, the cause for which I so devoutly hoped,for which I had consecrated my life, and for which Iwas not willing to give my life.

Yes! In that moment as I stood before the heartlesstribunal I felt that my life would be a very little thing togive could it save to the human race of Pellucidar thechance to come into its own by insuring the eventualextinction of the hated, powerful Mahars.

"Come!" exclaimed the Sagoths. "The mighty Maharsawait your reply."

"You may say to them," I answered, "that I shall nottell them where the great secret is hid."

When this had been translated to them there was agreat beating of reptilian wings, gaping of sharp-fangedjaws, and hideous hissing. I thought that they wereabout to fall upon me on the spot, and so I laid my handsupon my revolvers; but at length they became morequiet and presently transmitted some command to mySagoth guard, the chief of which laid a heavy handupon my arm and pushed me roughly before him fromthe audience-chamber.

They took me to the pits, where I lay carefullyguarded. I was sure that I was to be taken to the vivisection laboratory, and it required all my courage tofortify myself against the terrors of so fearful a death. InPellucidar, where there is no time, death-agonies mayendure for eternities.

Accordingly, I had to steel myself against an endlessdoom, which now stared me in the face!