of Pellucidar induces in the human mind, and to feel that you are

in their power--that they are crawling, slimy, and abhorrent, to

drag you down beneath the waters and devour you! It is frightful.

But they did not come, and at last I came to the conclusion that

I was indeed alone within the temple. How long I should be alone

was the next question to assail me as I swam frantically about once

more in search of a means to escape.

Several times I called to Ja, but he must have left after I tumbled

into the tank, for I received no response to my cries. Doubtless

he had felt as certain of my doom when he saw me topple from our

hiding place as I had, and lest he too should be discovered, had

hastened from the temple and back to his village.

I knew that there must be some entrance to the building beside the

doorways in the roof, for it did not seem reasonable to believe

that the thousands of slaves which were brought here to feed the

Mahars the human flesh they craved would all be carried through

the air, and so I continued my search until at last it was rewarded

by the discovery of several loose granite blocks in the masonry at

one end of the temple.

A little effort proved sufficient to dislodge enough of these stones

to permit me to crawl through into the clearing, and a moment later

I had scurried across the intervening space to the dense jungle

beyond.

Here I sank panting and trembling upon the matted grasses beneath

the giant trees, for I felt that I had escaped from the grinning

fangs of death out of the depths of my own grave. Whatever dangers

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