Books: Pellucidar

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He had often told me that there was every reason to believe from their
writings, which he had learned to read while we were incarcerated
in Phutra, that they were a just race, and that in certain branches
of science and arts they were quite well advanced, especially in
genetics and metaphysics, engineering and architecture.

While it had always been difficult for me to look upon these things
as other than slimy, winged crocodiles--which, by the way, they do
not at all resemble--I was now forced to a realization of the fact
that I was in the hands of enlightened creatures--for justice and
grati-tude are certain hallmarks of rationality and culture.

But what they purposed for us further was of most imminent interest
to me. They might save us from the tarag and yet not free us.
They looked upon us yet, to some extent, I knew, as creatures of
a lower order, and so as we are unable to place ourselves in the
position of the brutes we enslave--thinking that they are happier
in bondage than in the free fulfilment of the purposes for which
nature intended them--the Mahars, too, might consider our welfare
better conserved in captivity than among the dangers of the savage
freedom we craved. Naturally, I was next impelled to inquire their
further intent.

To my question, put through the Sagoth interpreter, I received the
reply that having spared my life they con-sidered that Tu-al-sa's
debt of gratitude was canceled. They still had against me, however,
the crime of which I had been guilty--the unforgivable crime of
stealing the great secret. They, therefore, intended holding Dian
and me prisoners until the manuscript was returned to them.

They would, they said, send an escort of Sagoths with me to fetch
the precious document from its hiding-place, keeping Dian at Phutra
as a hostage and releasing us both the moment that the document
was safely restored to their queen.

There was no doubt but that they had the upper hand. However,
there was so much more at stake than the liberty or even the lives
of Dian and myself, that I did not deem it expedient to accept
their offer without giving the matter careful thought.

Without the great secret this maleless race must even-tually become
extinct. For ages they had fertilized their eggs by an artificial
process, the secret of which lay hidden in the little cave of
a far-off valley where Dian and I had spent our honeymoon. I was
none too sure that I could find the valley again, nor that I cared
to. So long as the powerful reptilian race of Pellucidar continued
to propagate, just so long would the position of man within the
inner world be jeopardized. There could not be two dominant races.

I said as much to Dian.

"You used to tell me," she replied, "of the wonderful things you
could accomplish with the inventions of your own world. Now you
have returned with all that is necessary to place this great power
in the hands of the men of Pellucidar.

"You told me of great engines of destruction which would cast a
bursting ball of metal among our enemies, killing hundreds of them
at one time.

"You told me of mighty fortresses of stone which a thousand men
armed with big and little engines such as these could hold forever
against a million Sagoths.

"You told me of great canoes which moved across the water without
paddles, and which spat death from holes in their sides.

"All these may now belong to the men of Pellucidar. Why should we
fear the Mahars?

"Let them breed! Let their numbers increase by thou-sands. They
will be helpless before the power of the Emperor of Pellucidar.

"But if you remain a prisoner in Phutra, what may we accomplish?

"What could the men of Pellucidar do without you to lead them?

"They would fight among themselves, and while they fought the
Mahars would fall upon them, and even though the Mahar race should
die out, of what value would the emancipation of the human race be
to them without the knowledge, which you alone may wield, to guide
them toward the wonderful civilization of which you have told me
so much that I long for its comforts and luxuries as I never before
longed for anything.

"No, David; the Mahars cannot harm us if you are at liberty. Let
them have their secret that you and I may return to our people,
and lead them to the conquest of all Pellucidar."

It was plain that Dian was ambitious, and that her ambition had not
dulled her reasoning faculties. She was right. Nothing could be
gained by remaining bottled up in Phutra for the rest of our lives.

It was true that Perry might do much with the con-tents of the
prospector, or iron mole, in which I had brought down the implements
of outer-world civiliza-tion; but Perry was a man of peace. He
could never weld the warring factions of the disrupted federation.
He could never win new tribes to the empire. He would fiddle around
manufacturing gun-powder and trying to improve upon it until some
one blew him up with his own invention. He wasn't practical. He
never would get anywhere without a balance-wheel--without some one
to direct his energies.

Perry needed me and I needed him. If we were going to do anything
for Pellucidar we must be free to do it together.

The outcome of it all was that I agreed to the Mahars' proposition.
They promised that Dian would be well treated and protected from
every indignity during my absence. So I set out with a hundred
Sagoths in search of the little valley which I had stumbled upon
by acci-dent, and which I might and might not find again.

We traveled directly toward Sari. Stopping at the camp where I had
been captured I recovered my express rifle, for which I was very
thankful. I found it lying where I had left it when I had been
overpowered in my sleep by the Sagoths who bad captured me and
slain my Mezop companions.

On the way I added materially to my map, an occu-pation which did
not elicit from the Sagoths even a shadow of interest. I felt
that the human race of Pelluci-dar had little to fear from these
gorilla-men. They were fighters--that was all. We might even use
them later ourselves in this same capacity. They had not sufficient
brain power to constitute a menace to the advancement of the human
race.

As we neared the spot where I hoped to find the little valley
I became more and more confident of success. Every landmark was
familiar to me, and I was sure now that I knew the exact location
of the cave.

It was at about this time that I sighted a number of the half-naked
warriors of the human race of Pellucidar. They were marching across
our front. At sight of us they halted; that there would be a fight
I could not doubt. These Sagoths would never permit an opportunity
for the capture of slaves for their Mahar masters to escape them.

I saw that the men were armed with bows and arrows, long lances
and swords, so I guessed that they must have been members of the
federation, for only my people had been thus equipped. Before
Perry and I came the men of Pellucidar had only the crudest weapons
wherewith to slay one another.

The Sagoths, too, were evidently expecting battle. With savage
shouts they rushed forward toward the human warriors.

Then a strange thing happened. The leader of the human beings
stepped forward with upraised hands. The Sagoths ceased their
war-cries and advanced slowly to meet him. There was a long parley
during which I could see that I was often the subject of their
discourse. The Sagoths' leader pointed in the direction in which
I had told him the valley lay. Evidently he was explaining the
nature of our expedition to the leader of the warriors. It was
all a puzzle to me.

What human being could be upon such excellent terms with the
gorilla-men?

I couldn't imagine. I tried to get a good look at the fellow,
but the Sagoths had left me in the rear with a guard when they
had advanced to battle, and the dis-tance was too great for me to
recognize the features of any of the human beings.

Finally the parley was concluded and the men con-tinued on their
way while the Sagoths returned to where I stood with my guard. It
was time for eating, so we stopped where we were and made our meal.
The Sa-goths didn't tell me who it was they had met, and I did not
ask, though I must confess that I was quite curious.

They permitted me to sleep at this halt. Afterward we took up the
last leg of our journey. I found the valley without difficulty
and led my guard directly to the cave. At its mouth the Sagoths
halted and I entered alone.

I noticed as I felt about the floor in the dim light that there
was a pile of fresh-turned rubble there. Presently my hands came
to the spot where the great secret had been buried. There was a
cavity where I had carefully smoothed the earth over the hiding-place
of the docu-ment--the manuscript was gone!

Frantically I searched the whole interior of the cave several times
over, but without other result than a com-plete confirmation of
my worst fears. Someone had been here ahead of me and stolen the
great secret.

The one thing within Pellucidar which might free Dian and me was
gone, nor was it likely that I should ever learn its whereabouts.
If a Mahar had found it, which was quite improbable, the chances
were that the dominant race would never divulge the fact that they
had recovered the precious document. If a cave man had happened
upon it he would have no conception of its meaning or value, and
as a consequence it would be lost or destroyed in short order.

With bowed head and broken hopes I came out of the cave and told
the Sagoth chieftain what I had dis-covered. It didn't mean much
to the fellow, who doubt-less had but little better idea of the
contents of the document I had been sent to fetch to his masters
than would the cave man who in all probability had dis-covered it.

The Sagoth knew only that I had failed in my mission, so he took
advantage of the fact to make the return journey to Phutra as
disagreeable as possible. I did not rebel, though I had with me
the means to destroy them all. I did not dare rebel because of
the consequences to Dian. I intended demanding her release on the
grounds that she was in no way guilty of the theft, and that my
failure to recover the document had not lessened the value of the
good faith I had had in offering to do so. The Mahars might keep
me in slavery if they chose, but Dian should be returned safely to
her people.

I was full of my scheme when we entered Phutra and I was conducted
directly to the great audience-chamber. The Mahars listened to the
report of the Sagoth chief-tain, and so difficult is it to judge
their emotions from their almost expressionless countenance, that
I was at a loss to know how terrible might be their wrath as they
learned that their great secret, upon which rested the fate of
their race, might now be irretrievably lost.

Presently I could see that she who presided was com-municating
something to the Sagoth interpreter--doubt-less something to be
transmitted to me which might give me a forewarning of the fate
which lay in store for me. One thing I had decided definitely: If
they would not free Dian I should turn loose upon Phutra with my
little arsenal. Alone I might even win to freedom, and if I could
learn where Dian was imprisoned it would be worth the attempt to
free her. My thoughts were inter-rupted by the interpreter.

"The mighty Mahars," he said, "are unable to reconcile your statement
that the document is lost with your action in sending it to them
by a special messenger. They wish to know if you have so soon
forgotten the truth or if you are merely ignoring it."

"I sent them no document," I cried. "Ask them what they mean."

"They say," he went on after conversing with the Mahar for a moment,
"that just before your return to Phutra, Hooja the Sly One came,
bringing the great secret with him. He said that you had sent him
ahead with it, asking him to deliver it and return to Sari where
you would await him, bringing the girl with him."

"Dian?" I gasped. "The Mahars have given over Dian into the keeping
of Hooja."

"Surely," he replied. "What of it? She is only a gilak," as you
or I would say, "She is only a cow."

CHAPTER VI

A PENDENT WORLD

The Mahars set me free as they had promised, but with strict
injunctions never to approach Phutra or any other Mahar city. They
also made it perfectly plain that they considered me a dangerous
creature, and that having wiped the slate clean in so far as they
were under obligations to me, they now considered me fair prey.
Should I again fall into their hands, they intimated it would go
ill with me.

They would not tell me in which direction Hooja had set forth with
Dian, so I departed from Phutra, filled with bitterness against
the Mahars, and rage toward the Sly One who had once again robbed
me of my greatest treasure.

At first I was minded to go directly back to Anoroc; but upon second
thought turned my face toward Sari, as I felt that somewhere in
that direction Hooja would travel, his own country lying in that
general direction.

Of my journey to Sari it is only necessary to say that it was
fraught with the usual excitement and adventure, incident to all
travel across the face of savage Pellucidar. The dangers, however,
were greatly reduced through the medium of my armament. I often
wondered how it had happened that I had ever survived the first ten
years of my life within the inner world, when, naked and primitively
armed, I had traversed great areas of her beast-ridden surface.

With the aid of my map, which I had kept with great care during my
march with the Sagoths in search of the great secret, I arrived at
Sari at last. As I topped the lofty plateau in whose rocky cliffs
the principal tribe of Sarians find their cave-homes, a great hue
and cry arose from those who first discovered me.

Like wasps from their nests the hairy warriors poured from their
caves. The bows with their poison-tipped arrows, which I had
taught them to fashion and to use, were raised against me. Swords
of hammered iron--another of my innovations--menaced me, as with
lusty shouts the horde charged down.

It was a critical moment. Before I should be recog-nized I might
be dead. It was evident that all semblance of intertribal relationship
had ceased with my going, and that my people had reverted to their
former savage, suspicious hatred of all strangers. My garb must
have puzzled them, too, for never before of course had they seen
a man clothed in khaki and puttees.

Leaning my express rifle against my body I raised both hands aloft.
It was the peace-sign that is recognized everywhere upon the surface
of Pellucidar. The charging warriors paused and surveyed me. I
looked for my friend Ghak, the Hairy One, king of Sari, and presently
I saw him coming from a distance. Ah, but it was good to see his
mighty, hairy form once more! A friend was Ghak--a friend well worth
the having; and it had been some time since I had seen a friend.

Shouldering his way through the throng of warriors, the mighty
chieftain advanced toward me. There was an expression of puzzlement
upon his fine features. He crossed the space between the warriors
and myself, halt-ing before me.

I did not speak. I did not even smile. I wanted to see if Ghak,
my principal lieutenant, would recognize me. For some time he
stood there looking me over carefully. His eyes took in my large
pith helmet, my khaki jacket, and bandoleers of cartridges, the two
revolvers swinging at my hips, the large rifle resting against my
body. Still I stood with my hands above my head. He examined my
puttees and my strong tan shoes--a little the worse for wear now.
Then he glanced up once more to my face. As his gaze rested there
quite steadily for some moments I saw recognition tinged with awe
creep across his countenance.

Presently without a word he took one of my hands in his and dropping
to one knee raised my fingers to his lips. Perry had taught them
this trick, nor ever did the most polished courtier of all the
grand courts of Europe perform the little act of homage with greater
grace and dignity.

Quickly I raised Ghak to his feet, clasping both his hands in mine.
I think there must have been tears in my eyes then--I know I felt
too full for words. The king of Sari turned toward his warriors.

"Our emperor has come back," he announced. "Come hither and--"

But he got no further, for the shouts that broke from those savage
throats would have drowned the voice of heaven itself. I had never
guessed how much they thought of me. As they clustered around,
almost fighting for the chance to kiss my hand, I saw again the
vision of empire which I had thought faded forever.

With such as these I could conquer a world. With such as these I
WOULD conquer one! If the Sarians had remained loyal, so too would
the Amozites be loyal still, and the Kalians, and the Suvians,
and all the great tribes who had formed the federation that was to
eman-cipate the human race of Pellucidar.

Perry was safe with the Mezops; I was safe with the Sarians; now
if Dian were but safe with me the future would look bright indeed.

It did not take long to outline to Ghak all that had befallen
me since I had departed from Pellucidar, and to get down to the
business of finding Dian, which to me at that moment was of even
greater importance than the very empire itself.

When I told him that Hooja had stolen her, he stamped his foot in
rage.

"It is always the Sly One!" he cried. "It was Hooja who caused
the first trouble between you and the Beautiful One.

"It was Hooja who betrayed our trust, and all but caused our
recapture by the Sagoths that time we escaped from Phutra.

"It was Hooja who tricked you and substituted a Mahar for Dian when
you started upon your return journey to your own world.

"It was Hooja who schemed and lied until he had turned the kingdoms
one against another and de-stroyed the federation.

"When we had him in our power we were foolish to let him live.
Next time--"

Ghak did not need to finish his sentence.

"He has become a very powerful enemy now," I re-plied. "That he is
allied in some way with the Mahars is evidenced by the familiarity of
his relations with the Sagoths who were accompanying me in search
of the great secret, for it must have been Hooja whom I saw conversing
with them just before we reached the valley. Doubtless they told
him of our quest and he hastened on ahead of us, discovered the
cave and stole the document. Well does he deserve his appellation
of the Sly One."

With Ghak and his head men I held a number of consultations. The
upshot of them was a decision to com-bine our search for Dian with
an attempt to rebuild the crumbled federation. To this end twenty
warriors were despatched in pairs to ten of the leading kingdoms,
with instructions to make every effort to discover the where-abouts
of Hooja and Dian, while prosecuting their missions to the chieftains
to whom they were sent.

Ghak was to remain at home to receive the various delegations which
we invited to come to Sari on the business of the federation. Four
hundred warriors were started for Anoroc to fetch Perry and the
contents of the prospector, to the capitol of the empire, which
was also the principal settlements of the Sarians.

At first it was intended that I remain at Sari, that I might be in
readiness to hasten forth at the first report of the discovery of
Dian; but I found the inaction in the face of my deep solicitude
for the welfare of my mate so galling that scarce had the several
units departed upon their missions before I, too, chafed to be
actively engaged upon the search.

It was after my second sleep, subsequent to the de-parture
of the warriors, as I recall that I at last went to Ghak with the
admission that I could no longer support the intolerable longing
to be personally upon the trail of my lost love.

Ghak tried to dissuade me, though I could tell that his heart was
with me in my wish to be away and really doing something. It was
while we were arguing upon the subject that a stranger, with hands
above his head, entered the village. He was immediately surrounded
by warriors and conducted to Ghak's presence.

The fellow was a typical cave man--squat muscular, and hairy, and
of a type I had not seen before. His features, like those of all
the primeval men of Pellucidar, were regular and fine. His weapons
consisted of a stone ax and knife and a heavy knobbed bludgeon of
wood. His skin was very white.

"Who are you?" asked Ghak. "And whence come you?"

"I am Kolk, son of Goork, who is chief of the Thurians," replied the
stranger. "From Thuria I have come in search of the land of Amoz,
where dwells Dacor, the Strong One, who stole my sister, Canda,
the Grace-ful One, to be his mate.

"We of Thuria had heard of a great chieftain who has bound together
many tribes, and my father has sent me to Dacor to learn if there
be truth in these stories, and if so to offer the services of Thuria
to him whom we have heard called emperor."

"The stories are true," replied Ghak, "and here is the emperor of
whom you have heard. You need travel no farther."

Kolk was delighted. He told us much of the wonderful resources of
Thuria, the Land of Awful Shadow, and of his long journey in search
of Amoz.

"And why," I asked, "does Goork, your father, desire to join his
kingdom to the empire?"

"There are two reasons," replied the young man. "For-ever have the
Mahars, who dwell beyond the Lidi Plains which lie at the farther
rim of the Land of Awful Shadow, taken heavy toll of our people,
whom they either force into lifelong slavery or fatten for their
feasts. We have heard that the great emperor makes successful war
upon the Mahars, against whom we should be glad to fight.

"Recently has another reason come. Upon a great island which lies
in the Sojar Az, but a short distance from our shores, a wicked
man has collected a great band of outcast warriors of all tribes.
Even are there many Sagoths among them, sent by the Mahars to aid
the Wicked One.

"This band makes raids upon our villages, and it is constantly
growing in size and strength, for the Mahars give liberty to any of
their male prisoners who will promise to fight with this band against
the enemies of the Mahars. It is the purpose of the Mahars thus
to raise a force of our own kind to combat the growth and menace
of the new empire of which I have come to seek information. All
this we learned from one of our own warriors who had pretended
to sympathize with this band and had then escaped at the first
opportunity."

"Who could this man be," I asked Ghak, "who leads so vile a movement
against his own kind?"

"His name is Hooja," spoke up Kolk, answering my question.

Ghak and I looked at each other. Relief was written upon his
countenance and I know that it was beating strongly in my heart.
At last we had discovered a tan-gible clue to the whereabouts of
Hooja--and with the clue a guide!

But when I broached the subject to Kolk he demurred. He had come
a long way, he explained, to see his sister and to confer with Dacor.
Moreover, he had instructions from his father which he could not
ignore lightly. But even so he would return with me and show me
the way to the island of the Thurian shore if by doing so we might
accomplish anything.

"But we cannot," he urged. "Hooja is powerful. He has thousands
of warriors. He has only to call upon his Mahar allies to receive
a countless horde of Sagoths to do his bidding against his human
enemies.

"Let us wait until you may gather an equal horde from the kingdoms
of your empire. Then we may march against Hooja with some show of
success.

"But first must you lure him to the mainland, for who among you
knows how to construct the strange things that carry Hooja and his
band back and forth across the water?

"We are not island people. We do not go upon the water. We know
nothing of such things."

I couldn't persuade him to do more than direct me upon the way.
I showed him my map, which now in-cluded a great area of country
extending from Anoroc upon the east to Sari upon the west, and from
the river south of the Mountains of the Clouds north to Amoz. As
soon as I had explained it to him he drew a line with his finger,
showing a sea-coast far to the west and south of Sari, and a great
circle which he said marked the extent of the Land of Awful Shadow
in which lay Thuria.

The shadow extended southeast of the coast out into the sea half-way
to a large island, which he said was the seat of Hooja's traitorous
government. The island itself lay in the light of the noonday sun.
Northwest of the coast and embracing a part of Thuria lay the Lidi
Plains, upon the northwestern verge of which was situ-ated the
Mahar city which took such heavy toll of the Thurians.

Thus were the unhappy people now between two fires, with Hooja upon
one side and the Mahars upon the other. I did not wonder that they
sent out an appeal for succor.

Though Ghak and Kolk both attempted to dissuade me, I was determined
to set out at once, nor did I delay longer than to make a copy of
my map to be given to Perry that he might add to his that which
I had set down since we parted. I left a letter for him as well,
in which among other things I advanced the theory that the Sojar
Az, or Great Sea, which Kolk mentioned as stretching eastward
from Thuria, might indeed be the same mighty ocean as that which,
swinging around the southern end of a continent ran northward along
the shore opposite Phutra, mingling its waters with the huge gulf
upon which lay Sari, Amoz, and Greenwich.

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