Pellucidar

rawl in and sleep out of the perpetual light and heat of the no

. Their awe-inspiring size, terrific strength, mighty fighting-fangs, and hideous appearance are but the attributes necessary to the successful waging of their constant battle for survival, and well do they employ them when the ne

on-patch. Here I was resting from my labors on a certain occasion when I hea

to learn what all the commotion might be about, for the monotony of my existence in the melon-patch must

e beast-men often go upon all fours. Thus they leap over obstacles that would slow up a human being, and upon the level attain a speed that would make a thoroughbred look to his laurels.

been within sight of me. I was alone! And all my captors were in the villa

turned to the village unscratched, while but a single one of Hooja's half-dozen had escaped to report the outcome of the battle to their leader. Now Hooja was coming to punish Gr-gr-gr's people. With his

the valley below, and while the two forces were engaged in their struggle, continue my search for Hooja's village,

e came plainly to my ears-the hoarse shouts of men mingled

vantage of my

e desire to deliver a stroke, however feeble, against ha

witnessed. Along the very edge of the cliff-top stood a thin line of mighty males-the best rope-throwers of the tribe. A few feet behind these the rest of the males, with the exception of about twenty

ge Sagoths and primeval cave men-were working their way up the steep cliff-face, their agility but sligh

ows and spears at the defenders above them. During the entire battle both sides hurled taunts and insults at one anoth

le unerringly about him and he would be dragged, fighting and yelling, to the cliff-top, unless, as occasionally occurred, he was quick enough to d

from them and were catapulted back through the first line to the second, where they were seized and ki

defenders and I foresaw that it was but a matter of time before Hooja's forces must co

hout a word toppled a large mass of rock over the edge of the cliff. It fell directly upon the head of an archer, crushing him to instant death

e of his giant paws; but I dodged him, and running a few paces to the right hurled down another missile. It, too, did its allotted work of destruction. Then I picked up sm

again. I pointed to the litter

I cried to him. "Tell your warri

rock, whichever came first to their hands, and, without waiting for a command from Gr-gr-gr, deluged the terrified cave men with

of the cave men disappeared in rapid flight

ople," he said. "Wh

lieve me. Will you believe me now when I tell you that I hate Hooja and his tribe as much

t his preconceived conclusions than it is for most human beings; but finally the idea percolated-which it might ne

Gr-gr-gr ashamed. He would have k

e," I repli

n you wish, or you may stay with us. If you g

mission. He listened attentively; after I had done he offered to send some of his

had fallen had brought back the meat of a great thag. There w

d often heard strange sounds coming from the village, where I had not

y sun, in the sweltering heat of the mesa-top, the huge, hairy creatures leaped in a great circle. They coiled and threw their fiber-ropes; they hurled taunts and

so distended that I thought they must burst, for beside the thag there had been fully a hundred antelopes of various sizes and v

on my oft-interrupted way toward my goal. Whether I should find Dian at the end of my journey or no I could not even surmise;

range a thing that I realized that to her or to him only a few minutes might have elapsed since his subtle trickery had

far from the cowardly things that our own hyenas are reputed to be; they stood their ground with bared fangs as we approached them. But, as I was later to learn, so formidable are the brute-folk that t

ength of the island, coming at last to a wood rather denser than any that I ha

nd pointed ahead. "We

to the very base of a cliff, in the face of which were the mouths of many caves. They appeared untenanted; but I decided to watch for a while before venturing farther. A large tree, de

f-face, about fifty feet from the base. They descended into the forest and disappeared. Soon after came several others from the same cave, and after th

ld not understand it. All who came out had emerged from the same cave. All who returned reentered it. No other cave gave evidence of ha

folk. Not once did one leave the cliff by any other opening save that from which I h

the branches of the tree that I might get a better view of other portions of the cliff. High above the ground I reached a point wh

was a gorgeous bloom plucked from some flowering tree of the forest. I had seen her pass beneath me

at led upward through the cliff to the summit of the hill. It serv

roughfare would be impossible. At the moment there was no one in sight below me, so I slid quickly from my arboreal watch-tower to the ground and moved rapidly away to the right

seemed to rise. Though I carefully scanned the cliff as I traversed its base

I came upon the broad ocean which breaks at this point at the very foot of

earch of some foothold to the top, when I chanced to see a canoe rounding the end of the island. I threw my

frowning cliffs. From where I was it seemed that they were bent upon self-destruction, since the roar of the breakers beati

d not refrain from crawling forward to a point whence I could watch the dashing of the small craft to piece

st in time to see it glide unharmed between two needle-pointed sentinel

o wait. The dugout, which contained but two men, was drawn close to the rocky wall. A fiber r

bove. I looked on in amazement, for, splendid climbers though the cave men of Pellucidar are, I never before ha

ast I crawled from my hiding-place and at the risk of a broken n

f I could, and if I couldn't

ed it would be, since I immediately discovered that shallow hand and foot-holds had bee

til my eyes were above the cliff-crest. Before me spread a rough mesa, liberally sp

ry carefully I advanced from tree to tree and boulder to boulder toward the inland end

e might hinge upon the success of my venture, and so I could not afford to take chances. To have met suddenly with discovery and had a score or more of armed warriors

ign of anyone, when all of a sudden, as I crept around the edge of a boulder