thipdars, in that to the hairless lidi.

About all I gleaned of them was that they were quite hideous, had

wings, and webbed feet; lived in cities built beneath the ground;

could swim under water for great distances, and were very, very

wise. The Sagoths were their weapons of offense and defense, and

the races like herself were their hands and feet--they were the

slaves and servants who did all the manual labor. The Mahars were

the heads--the brains--of the inner world. I longed to see this

wondrous race of supermen.

Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we

occasionally did, though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he

would join in the conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who

was chained just ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was

Hooja the Sly One. He too entered the conversation occasionally.

Most of his remarks were directed toward Dian the Beautiful. It

didn't take half an eye to see that he had developed a bad case; but

the girl appeared totally oblivious to his thinly veiled advances.

Did I say thinly veiled? There is a race of men in New Zealand,

or Australia, I have forgotten which, who indicate their preference

for the lady of their affections by banging her over the head with

a bludgeon. By comparison with this method Hooja's lovemaking might

be called thinly veiled. At first it caused me to blush violently

although I have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in other

less fashionable places off Broadway, and in Vienna, and Hamburg.

But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she

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