WITH NO HEAVENLY GUIDE, IT IS LITTLE WONDER that I becameconfusedand lost in the labyrinthine maze of those mighty hills.What, in reality, I did was to pass entirely through themand come out above the valley upon the farther side.I know that I wandered for a long time, until tired andhungry I came upon a small cave in the face of the limestoneformation which had taken the place of the granite farther back.

The cave which took my fancy lay halfway up the precipitousside of a lofty cliff. The way to it was such that Iknew no extremely formidable beast could frequent it,nor was it large enough to make a comfortable habitatfor any but the smaller mammals or reptiles. Yet itwas with the utmost caution that I crawled within itsdark interior.

Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by anarrow cleft in the rock above which let the sunlightfilter in in sufficient quantities partially to dispelthe utter darkness which I had expected. The cave wasentirely empty, nor were there any signs of its having beenrecently occupied. The opening was comparatively small,so that after considerable effort I was able to lugup a bowlder from the valley below which entirely blocked it.

Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grassesand on this trip was fortunate enough to knock overan orthopi, the diminutive horse of Pellucidar, a littleanimal about the size of a fox terrier, which aboundsin all parts of the inner world. Thus, with foodand bedding I returned to my lair, where after a mealof raw meat, to which I had now become quite accustomed,I dragged the bowlder before the entrance and curledmyself upon a bed of grasses--a naked, primeval, cave man,as savagely primitive as my prehistoric progenitors.

I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder asidecrawled out upon the little rocky shelf which was myfront porch. Before me spread a small but beautiful valley,through the center of which a clear and sparkling riverwound its way down to an inland sea, the blue watersof which were just visible between the two mountain rangeswhich embraced this little paradise. The sides of theopposite hills were green with verdure, for a great forestclothed them to the foot of the red and yellow and coppergreen of the towering crags which formed their summit.The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass,while here and there patches of wild flowers made greatsplashes of vivid color against the prevailing green.

Dotted over the face of the valley were little clustersof palmlike trees--three or four together as a rule.Beneath these stood antelope, while others grazed in the open,or wandered gracefully to a near-by ford to drink.There were several species of this beautiful animal,the most magnificent somewhat resembling the giant elandof Africa, except that their spiral horns form a completecurve backward over their ears and then forward againbeneath them, ending in sharp and formidable pointssome two feet before the face and above the eyes.In size they remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull,yet they are very agile and fast. The broad yellow bandsthat stripe the dark roan of their coats made me takethem for zebra when I first saw them. All in all theyare handsome animals, and added the finishing touchto the strange and lovely landscape that spread before mynew home.

I had determined to make the cave my headquarters,and with it as a base make a systematic explorationof the surrounding country in search of the landof Sari. First I devoured the remainder of the carcassof the orthopi I had killed before my last sleep.Then I hid the Great Secret in a deep niche at the backof my cave, rolled the bowlder before my front door,and with bow, arrows, sword, and shield scrambled downinto the peaceful valley.

The grazing herds moved to one side as I passed through them,the little orthopi evincing the greatest wariness andgalloping to safest distances. All the animals stoppedfeeding as I approached, and after moving to what theyconsidered a safe distance stood contemplating me withserious eyes and up-cocked ears. Once one of the old bullantelopes of the striped species lowered his head andbellowed angrily--even taking a few steps in my direction,so that I thought he meant to charge; but after I had passed,he resumed feeding as though nothing had disturbed him.

Near the lower end of the valley I passed a number of tapirs,and across the river saw a great sadok, the enormousdouble-horned progenitor of the modern rhinoceros.At the valley's end the cliffs upon the left ranout into the sea, so that to pass around them as Idesired to do it was necessary to scale them in searchof a ledge along which I might continue my journey.Some fifty feet from the base I came upon a projectionwhich formed a natural path along the face of the cliff,and this I followed out over the sea toward the cliff's end.

Here the ledge inclined rapidly upward toward the topof the cliffs--the stratum which formed it evidently havingbeen forced up at this steep angle when the mountainsbehind it were born. As I climbed carefully up the ascentmy attention suddenly was attracted aloft by the soundof strange hissing, and what resembled the flapping of wings.

And at the first glance there broke upon my horrified visionthe most frightful thing I had seen even within Pellucidar.It was a giant dragon such as is pictured in the legendsand fairy tales of earth folk. Its huge body must havemeasured forty feet in length, while the batlike wingsthat supported it in midair had a spread of fully thirty.Its gaping jaws were armed with long, sharp teeth,and its claw equipped with horrible talons.

The hissing noise which had first attracted my attentionwas issuing from its throat, and seemed to be directedat something beyond and below me which I could not see.The ledge upon which I stood terminated abruptly a fewpaces farther on, and as I reached the end I saw the causeof the reptile's agitation.

Some time in past ages an earthquake had produced a faultat this point, so that beyond the spot where I stoodthe strata had slipped down a matter of twenty feet.The result was that the continuation of my ledge lay twentyfeet below me, where it ended as abruptly as did the endupon which I stood.

And here, evidently halted in flight by this insurmountablebreak in the ledge, stood the object of the creature'sattack--a girl cowering upon the narrow platform,her face buried in her arms, as though to shut out thesight of the frightful death which hovered just above her.

The dragon was circling lower, and seemed about to dartin upon its prey. There was no time to be lost,scarce an instant in which to weigh the possiblechances that I had against the awfully armed creature;but the sight of that frightened girl below me calledout to all that was best in me, and the instinct forprotection of the other sex, which nearly must haveequaled the instinct of self-preservation in primeval man,drew me to the girl's side like an irresistible magnet.

Almost thoughtless of the consequences, I leaped fromthe end of the ledge upon which I stood, for the tinyshelf twenty feet below. At the same instant the dragondarted in toward the girl, but my sudden advent upon thescene must have startled him for he veered to one side,and then rose above us once more.

The noise I made as I landed beside her convinced the girlthat the end had come, for she thought I was the dragon;but finally when no cruel fangs closed upon her sheraised her eyes in astonishment. As they fell upon methe expression that came into them would be difficultto describe; but her feelings could scarcely have beenone whit more complicated than my own--for the wide eyesthat looked into mine were those of Dian the Beautiful.

"Dian!" I cried. "Dian! Thank God that I came in time."

"You?" she whispered, and then she hid her face again;nor could I tell whether she were glad or angry that Ihad come.

Once more the dragon was sweeping toward us, and so rapidlythat I had no time to unsling my bow. All that I coulddo was to snatch up a rock, and hurl it at the thing'shideous face. Again my aim was true, and with a hissof pain and rage the reptile wheeled once more and soared away.

Quickly I fitted an arrow now that I might be readyat the next attack, and as I did so I looked down atthe girl, so that I surprised her in a surreptitiousglance which she was stealing at me; but immediately,she again covered her face with her hands.

"Look at me, Dian," I pleaded. "Are you not glad to see me?"

She looked straight into my eyes.

"I hate you," she said, and then, as I was about to begfor a fair hearing she pointed over my shoulder."The thipdar comes," she said, and I turned again to meetthe reptile.

So this was a thipdar. I might have known it. The cruelbloodhound of the Mahars. The long-extinct pterodactylof the outer world. But this time I met it with a weapon itnever had faced before. I had selected my longest arrow,and with all my strength had bent the bow until the verytip of the shaft rested upon the thumb of my left hand,and then as the great creature darted toward us I letdrive straight for that tough breast.

Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine,the mighty creature fell turning and twisting into thesea below, my arrow buried completely in its carcass.I turned toward the girl. She was looking past me.It was evident that she had seen the thipdar die.

"Dian," I said, "won't you tell me that you are not sorrythat I have found you?"

"I hate you," was her only reply; but I imaginedthat there was less vehemence in it than before--yetit might have been but my imagination.

"Why do you hate me, Dian?" I asked, but she did notanswer me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, "and what has happenedto you since Hooja freed you from the Sagoths?"

At first I thought that she was going to ignore me entirely,but finally she thought better of it.

"I was again running away from Jubal the Ugly One,"she said. "After I escaped from the Sagoths I made my wayalone back to my own land; but on account of Jubal I didnot dare enter the villages or let any of my friends knowthat I had returned for fear that Jubal might find out.By watching for a long time I found that my brotherhad not yet returned, and so I continued to live in acave beside a valley which my race seldom frequents,awaiting the time that he should come back and free mefrom Jubal.

"But at last one of Jubal's hunters saw me as I was creepingtoward my father's cave to see if my brother had yetreturned and he gave the alarm and Jubal set out after me.He has been pursuing me across many lands. He cannotbe far behind me now. When he comes he will kill youand carry me back to his cave. He is a terrible man.I have gone as far as I can go, and there is no escape,"and she looked hopelessly up at the continuation of the ledgetwenty feet above us.

"But he shall not have me," she suddenly cried,with great vehemence. "The sea is there"--she pointed overthe edge of the cliff--"and the sea shall have me rather thanJubal."

"But I have you now Dian," I cried; "nor shall Jubal,nor any other have you, for you are mine," and I seizedher hand, nor did I lift it above her head and let it fallin token of release.

She had risen to her feet, and was looking straightinto my eyes with level gaze.

"I do not believe you," she said, "for if you meant ityou would have done this when the others were presentto witness it--then I should truly have been your mate;now there is no one to see you do it, for you know thatwithout witnesses your act does not bind you to me,"and she withdrew her hand from mine and turned away.

I tried to convince her that I was sincere, but shesimply couldn't forget the humiliation that I had putupon her on that other occasion.

"If you mean all that you say you will have ample chance toprove it," she said, "if Jubal does not catch and kill you.I am in your power, and the treatment you accord mewill be the best proof of your intentions toward me.I am not your mate, and again I tell you that I hate you,and that I should be glad if I never saw you again."

Dian certainly was candid. There was no gainsaying that.In fact I found candor and directness to be quitea marked characteristic of the cave men of Pellucidar.Finally I suggested that we make some attempt to gainmy cave, where we might escape the searching Jubal,for I am free to admit that I had no considerable desireto meet the formidable and ferocious creature, of whosemighty prowess Dian had told me when I first met her.He it was who, armed with a puny knife, had met and killeda cave bear in a hand-to-hand struggle. It was Jubal whocould cast his spear entirely through the armored carcassof the sadok at fifty paces. It was he who had crushedthe skull of a charging dyryth with a single blow of hiswar club. No, I was not pining to meet the Ugly One-and itwas quite certain that I should not go out and hunt for him;but the matter was taken out of my hands very quickly,as is often the way, and I did meet Jubal the Ugly One faceto face.

This is how it happened. I had led Dian back alongthe ledge the way she had come, searching for a paththat would lead us to the top of the cliff, for I knewthat we could then cross over to the edge of my ownlittle valley, where I felt certain we should find a meansof ingress from the cliff top. As we proceeded alongthe ledge I gave Dian minute directions for finding mycave against the chance of something happening to me.I knew that she would be quite safely hidden awayfrom pursuit once she gained the shelter of my lair,and the valley would afford her ample means of sustenance.

Also, I was very much piqued by her treatment of me.My heart was sad and heavy, and I wanted to make her feelbadly by suggesting that something terrible might happento me--that I might, in fact, be killed. But it didn'twork worth a cent, at least as far as I could perceive.Dian simply shrugged those magnificent shoulders of hers,and murmured something to the effect that one was not rid oftrouble so easily as that.

For a while I kept still. I was utterly squelched.And to think that I had twice protected her fromattack--the last time risking my life to save hers.It was incredible that even a daughter of the Stone Agecould be so ungrateful--so heartless; but maybe her heartpartook of the qualities of her epoch.

Presently we found a rift in the cliff which had been widenedand extended by the action of the water draining through itfrom the plateau above. It gave us a rather rough climbto the summit, but finally we stood upon the level mesawhich stretched back for several miles to the mountain range.Behind us lay the broad inland sea, curving upward in thehorizonless distance to merge into the blue of the sky,so that for all the world it looked as though the sealapped back to arch completely over us and disappear beyondthe distant mountains at our backs--the weird and uncannyaspect of the seascapes of Pellucidar balk description.

At our right lay a dense forest, but to the left the countrywas open and clear to the plateau's farther verge.It was in this direction that our way led, and we hadturned to resume our journey when Dian touched my arm.I turned to her, thinking that she was about to makepeace overtures; but I was mistaken.

"Jubal," she said, and nodded toward the forest.

I looked, and there, emerging from the dense wood,came a perfect whale of a man. He must have been sevenfeet tall, and proportioned accordingly. He still wastoo far off to distinguish his features.

"Run," I said to Dian. "I can engage him until you geta good start. Maybe I can hold him until you have gottenentirely away," and then, without a backward glance,I advanced to meet the Ugly One. I had hoped that Dianwould have a kind word to say to me before she went,for she must have known that I was going to my deathfor her sake; but she never even so much as bid megood-bye, and it was with a heavy heart that I strodethrough the flower-bespangled grass to my doom.

When I had come close enough to Jubal to distinguishhis features I understood how it was that he had earnedthe sobriquet of Ugly One. Apparently some fearfulbeast had ripped away one entire side of his face.The eye was gone, the nose, and all the flesh, so thathis jaws and all his teeth were exposed and grinningthrough the horrible scar.

Formerly he may have been as good to look upon as the othersof his handsome race, and it may be that the terribleresult of this encounter had tended to sour an alreadystrong and brutal character. However this may be itis quite certain that he was not a pretty sight, and nowthat his features, or what remained of them, were distortedin rage at the sight of Dian with another male, he wasindeed most terrible to see--and much more terrible to meet.

He had broken into a run now, and as he advanced heraised his mighty spear, while I halted and fittingan arrow to my bow took as steady aim as I could.I was somewhat longer than usual, for I must confess thatthe sight of this awful man had wrought upon my nervesto such an extent that my knees were anything but steady.What chance had I against this mighty warrior for whomeven the fiercest cave bear had no terrors! Could Ihope to best one who slaughtered the sadok and dyrythsinglehanded! I shuddered; but, in fairness to myself,my fear was more for Dian than for my own fate.

And then the great brute launched his massive stone-tippedspear, and I raised my shield to break the force of itsterrific velocity. The impact hurled me to my knees,but the shield had deflected the missile and I was unscathed.Jubal was rushing upon me now with the only remainingweapon that he carried--a murderous-looking knife.He was too close for a careful bowshot, but I let driveat him as he came, without taking aim. My arrow piercedthe fleshy part of his thigh, inflicting a painfulbut not disabling wound. And then he was upon me.

My agility saved me for the instant. I ducked beneathhis raised arm, and when he wheeled to come at me again hefound a sword's point in his face. And a moment later hefelt an inch or two of it in the muscles of his knife arm,so that thereafter he went more warily.

It was a duel of strategy now--the great, hairy man maneuveringto get inside my guard where he could bring those giantthews to play, while my wits were directed to the taskof keeping him at arm's length. Thrice he rushed me,and thrice I caught his knife blow upon my shield.Each time my sword found his body--once penetratingto his lung. He was covered with blood by this time,and the internal hemorrhage induced paroxysms of coughingthat brought the red stream through the hideous mouthand nose, covering his face and breast with bloody froth.He was a most unlovely spectacle, but he was far from dead.

As the duel continued I began to gain confidence, for,to be perfectly candid, I had not expected to survivethe first rush of that monstrous engine of ungovernedrage and hatred. And I think that Jubal, from uttercontempt of me, began to change to a feeling of respect,and then in his primitive mind there evidently loomedthe thought that perhaps at last he had met his master,and was facing his end.

At any rate it is only upon this hypothesis that I canaccount for his next act, which was in the nature of a lastresort--a sort of forlorn hope, which could only have beenborn of the belief that if he did not kill me quicklyI should kill him. It happened on the occasion of hisfourth charge, when, instead of striking at me with his knife,he dropped that weapon, and seizing my sword blade in bothhis hands wrenched the weapon from my grasp as easily asfrom a babe.

Flinging it far to one side he stood motionless for justan instant glaring into my face with such a horrid leerof malignant triumph as to almost unnerve me--then hesprang for me with his bare hands. But it was Jubal'sday to learn new methods of warfare. For the first timehe had seen a bow and arrows, never before that duelhad he beheld a sword, and now he learned what a manwho knows may do with his bare fists.

As he came for me, like a great bear, I ducked againbeneath his outstretched arm, and as I came up plantedas clean a blow upon his jaw as ever you have seen.Down went that great mountain of flesh sprawling uponthe ground. He was so surprised and dazed that he lay therefor several seconds before he made any attempt to rise,and I stood over him with another dose ready when heshould gain his knees.

Up he came at last, almost roaring in his rage and mortification;but he didn't stay up--I let him have a left fair on thepoint of the jaw that sent him tumbling over on his back.By this time I think Jubal had gone mad with hate, for no saneman would have come back for more as many times as he did.Time after time I bowled him over as fast as he couldstagger up, until toward the last he lay longer on theground between blows, and each time came up weaker than before.

He was bleeding very profusely now from the wound in his lungs,and presently a terrific blow over the heart sent himreeling heavily to the ground, where he lay very still,and somehow I knew at once that Jubal the Ugly One wouldnever get up again. But even as I looked upon that massivebody lying there so grim and terrible in death, I couldnot believe that I, single-handed, had bested this slayerof fearful beasts--this gigantic ogre of the Stone Age.

Picking up my sword I leaned upon it, looking down onthe dead body of my foeman, and as I thought of the battleI had just fought and won a great idea was born in mybrain--the outcome of this and the suggestion that Perryhad made within the city of Phutra. If skill and sciencecould render a comparative pygmy the master of thismighty brute, what could not the brute's fellows accomplishwith the same skill and science. Why all Pellucidar wouldbe at their feet--and I would be their king and Dian their queen.

Dian! A little wave of doubt swept over me. It was quitewithin the possibilities of Dian to look down upon me evenwere I king. She was quite the most superior person Iever had met--with the most convincing way of letting youknow that she was superior. Well, I could go to the cave,and tell her that I had killed Jubal, and then shemight feel more kindly toward me, since I had freed herof her tormentor. I hoped that she had found the caveeasily--it would be terrible had I lost her again, and Iturned to gather up my shield and bow to hurry after her,when to my astonishment I found her standing not ten pacesbehind me.

"Girl!" I cried, "what are you doing here? I thoughtthat you had gone to the cave, as I told you to do."

Up went her head, and the look that she gave me tookall the majesty out of me, and left me feeling morelike the palace janitor--if palaces have janitors.

"As you told me to do!" she cried, stamping her little foot."I do as I please. I am the daughter of a king,and furthermore, I hate you."

I was dumbfounded--this was my thanks for savingher from Jubal! I turned and looked at the corpse."May be that I saved you from a worse fate, old man,"I said, but I guess it was lost on Dian, for she neverseemed to notice it at all.

"Let us go to my cave," I said, "I am tired and hungry."

She followed along a pace behind me, neither of us speaking.I was too angry, and she evidently didn't care to conversewith the lower orders. I was mad all the way through,as I had certainly felt that at least a word of thanks shouldhave rewarded me, for I knew that even by her own standards,I must have done a very wonderful thing to have killedthe redoubtable Jubal in a hand-to-hand encounter.

We had no difficulty in finding my lair, and then I wentdown into the valley and bowled over a small antelope,which I dragged up the steep ascent to the ledge beforethe door. Here we ate in silence. Occasionally I glancedat her, thinking that the sight of her tearing at rawflesh with her hands and teeth like some wild animalwould cause a revulsion of my sentiments toward her;but to my surprise I found that she ate quite as daintilyas the most civilized woman of my acquaintance, and finallyI found myself gazing in foolish rapture at the beautiesof her strong, white teeth. Such is love.

After our repast we went down to the river togetherand bathed our hands and faces, and then after drinkingour fill went back to the cave. Without a word I crawledinto the farthest corner and, curling up, was soon asleep.

When I awoke I found Dian sitting in the doorway looking outacross the valley. As I came out she moved to one side to letme pass, but she had no word for me. I wanted to hate her,but I couldn't. Every time I looked at her something cameup in my throat, so that I nearly choked. I had never beenin love before, but I did not need any aid in diagnosingmy case--I certainly had it and had it bad. God, how Iloved that beautiful, disdainful, tantalizing, prehistoric girl!

After we had eaten again I asked Dian if she intendedreturning to her tribe now that Jubal was dead, but sheshook her head sadly, and said that she did not dare,for there was still Jubal's brother to be considered--hisoldest brother.

"What has he to do with it?" I asked. "Does he too want you,or has the option on you become a family heirloom,to be passed on down from generation to generation?"

She was not quite sure as to what I meant.

"It is probable," she said, "that they all will want revengefor the death of Jubal--there are seven of them--seventerrible men. Someone may have to kill them all,if I am to return to my people."

It began to look as though I had assumed a contract muchtoo large for me--about seven sizes, in fact.

"Had Jubal any cousins?" I asked. It was just as wellto know the worst at once.

"Yes," replied Dian, "but they don't count--they all have mates.Jubal's brothers have no mates because Jubal could getnone for himself. He was so ugly that women ran awayfrom him--some have even thrown themselves from the cliffsof Amoz into the Darel Az rather than mate with the Ugly One."

"But what had that to do with his brothers?" I asked.

"I forget that you are not of Pellucidar," said Dian,with a look of pity mixed with contempt, and the contemptseemed to be laid on a little thicker than the circumstancewarranted--as though to make quite certain that I shouldn'toverlook it. "You see," she continued, "a younger brothermay not take a mate until all his older brothers havedone so, unless the older brother waives his prerogative,which Jubal would not do, knowing that as long as hekept them single they would be all the keener in aidinghim to secure a mate."

Noticing that Dian was becoming more communicative Ibegan to entertain hopes that she might be warming uptoward me a bit, although upon what slender threadI hung my hopes I soon discovered.

"As you dare not return to Amoz," I ventured, "what isto become of you since you cannot be happy here with me,hating me as you do?"

"I shall have to put up with you," she replied coldly,"until you see fit to go elsewhere and leave me in peace,then I shall get along very well alone."

I looked at her in utter amazement. It seemedincredible that even a prehistoric woman couldbe so cold and heartless and ungrateful. Then I arose.

"I shall leave you NOW," I said haughtily, "I have had quiteenough of your ingratitude and your insults," and then Iturned and strode majestically down toward the valley.I had taken a hundred steps in absolute silence, and thenDian spoke.

"I hate you!" she shouted, and her voice broke--in rage,I thought.

I was absolutely miserable, but I hadn't gone too farwhen I began to realize that I couldn't leave her alonethere without protection, to hunt her own food amidthe dangers of that savage world. She might hate me,and revile me, and heap indignity after indignity upon me,as she already had, until I should have hated her;but the pitiful fact remained that I loved her, and Icouldn't leave her there alone.

The more I thought about it the madder I got,so that by the time I reached the valley I was furious,and the result of it was that I turned right aroundand went up that cliff again as fast as I had come down.I saw that Dian had left the ledge and gone within the cave,but I bolted right in after her. She was lying upon herface on the pile of grasses I had gathered for her bed.When she heard me enter she sprang to her feet likea tigress.

"I hate you!" she cried.

Coming from the brilliant light of the noonday sun intothe semidarkness of the cave I could not see her features,and I was rather glad, for I disliked to think of the hatethat I should have read there.

I never said a word to her at first. I just strodeacross the cave and grasped her by the wrists, and whenshe struggled, I put my arm around her so as to pinion herhands to her sides. She fought like a tigress, but I tookmy free hand and pushed her head back--I imagine that Ihad suddenly turned brute, that I had gone back a thousandmillion years, and was again a veritable cave man takingmy mate by force--and then I kissed that beautiful mouthagain and again.

"Dian," I cried, shaking her roughly, "I love you.Can't you understand that I love you? That I love youbetter than all else in this world or my own? That I amgoing to have you? That love like mine cannot be denied?"

I noticed that she lay very still in my arms now,and as my eyes became accustomed to the light I sawthat she was smiling--a very contented, happy smile.I was thunderstruck. Then I realized that, very gently,she was trying to disengage her arms, and I loosened mygrip upon them so that she could do so. Slowly they cameup and stole about my neck, and then she drew my lips downto hers once more and held them there for a long time.At last she spoke.

"Why didn't you do this at first, David? I have beenwaiting so long."

"What!" I cried. "You said that you hated me!"

"Did you expect me to run into your arms, and say that Iloved you before I knew that you loved me?" she asked.

"But I have told you right along that I love you," I said."Love speaks in acts," she replied. "You could have madeyour mouth say what you wished it to say, but just nowwhen you came and took me in your arms your heart spoketo mine in the language that a woman's heart understands.What a silly man you are, David?"

"Then you haven't hated me at all, Dian?" I asked.

"I have loved you always," she whispered, "from thefirst moment that I saw you, although I did not knowit until that time you struck down Hooja the Sly One,and then spurned me."

"But I didn't spurn you, dear," I cried. "I didn't knowyour ways--I doubt if I do now. It seems incrediblethat you could have reviled me so, and yet have caredfor me all the time."

"You might have known," she said, "when I did not run awayfrom you that it was not hate which chained me to you.While you were battling with Jubal, I could have runto the edge of the forest, and when I learned the outcomeof the combat it would have been a simple thing to haveeluded you and returned to my own people."

"But Jubal's brothers--and cousins--" I reminded her,"how about them?"

She smiled, and hid her face on my shoulder.

"I had to tell you SOMETHING, David," she whispered."I must needs have SOME excuse for remaining near you."

"You little sinner!" I exclaimed. "And you have causedme all this anguish for nothing!"

"I have suffered even more," she answered simply, "for Ithought that you did not love me, and I was helpless.I couldn't come to you and demand that my love be returned,as you have just come to me. Just now when you went awayhope went with you. I was wretched, terrified, miserable,and my heart was breaking. I wept, and I have not donethat before since my mother died," and now I saw that therewas the moisture of tears about her eyes. It was nearto making me cry myself when I thought of all that poorchild had been through. Motherless and unprotected;hunted across a savage, primeval world by that hideousbrute of a man; exposed to the attacks of the countlessfearsome denizens of its mountains, its plains, and itsjungles--it was a miracle that she had survived it all.

To me it was a revelation of the things my early forebearsmust have endured that the human race of the outercrust might survive. It made me very proud to thinkthat I had won the love of such a woman. Of courseshe couldn't read or write; there was nothing culturedor refined about her as you judge culture and refinement;but she was the essence of all that is best in woman,for she was good, and brave, and noble, and virtuous.And she was all these things in spite of the factthat their observance entailed suffering and dangerand possible death.

How much easier it would have been to have gone to Jubalin the first place! She would have been his lawful mate.She would have been queen in her own land--and it meantjust as much to the cave woman to be a queen in the StoneAge as it does to the woman of today to be a queen now;it's all comparative glory any way you look at it,and if there were only half-naked savages on the outercrust today, you'd find that it would be considerable gloryto be the wife a Dahomey chief.

I couldn't help but compare Dian's action with thatof a splendid young woman I had known in New York--Imean splendid to look at and to talk to. She had beenhead over heels in love with a chum of mine--a clean,manly chap--but she had married a broken-down, disreputableold debauchee because he was a count in some dinkylittle European principality that was not even accordeda distinctive color by Rand McNally.

Yes, I was mighty proud of Dian.

After a time we decided to set out for Sari, as I was anxiousto see Perry, and to know that all was right with him.I had told Dian about our plan of emancipating the humanrace of Pellucidar, and she was fairly wild over it.She said that if Dacor, her brother, would only return hecould easily be king of Amoz, and that then he and Ghakcould form an alliance. That would give us a flying start,for the Sarians and the Amozites were both very powerful tribes.Once they had been armed with swords, and bows and arrows,and trained in their use we were confident that theycould overcome any tribe that seemed disinclined to jointhe great army of federated states with which we wereplanning to march upon the Mahars.

I explained the various destructive engines of warwhich Perry and I could construct after a littleexperimentation--gunpowder, rifles, cannon, and the like,and Dian would clap her hands, and throw her arms about my neck,and tell me what a wonderful thing I was. She was beginningto think that I was omnipotent although I really hadn'tdone anything but talk--but that is the way with womenwhen they love. Perry used to say that if a fellow wasone-tenth as remarkable as his wife or mother thought him,he would have the world by the tail with a down-hill drag.

The first time we started for Sari I stepped into a nestof poisonous vipers before we reached the valley.A little fellow stung me on the ankle, and Dian made mecome back to the cave. She said that I mustn't exercise,or it might prove fatal--if it had been a full-grownsnake that struck me she said, I wouldn't have moveda single pace from the nest--I'd have died in my tracks,so virulent is the poison. As it was I must have been laidup for quite a while, though Dian's poultices of herbsand leaves finally reduced the swelling and drew outthe poison.

The episode proved most fortunate, however, as it gaveme an idea which added a thousand-fold to the valueof my arrows as missiles of offense and defense.As soon as I was able to be about again, I sought outsome adult vipers of the species which had stung me,and having killed them, I extracted their virus,smearing it upon the tips of several arrows. Later Ishot a hyaenodon with one of these, and though my arrowinflicted but a superficial flesh wound the beastcrumpled in death almost immediately after he was hit.

We now set out once more for the land of the Sarians,and it was with feelings of sincere regret that we badegood-bye to our beautiful Garden of Eden, in the comparativepeace and harmony of which we had lived the happiest momentsof our lives. How long we had been there I did not know,for as I have told you, time had ceased to exist for mebeneath that eternal noonday sun--it may have been an hour,or a month of earthly time; I do not know.