he said, "for not even I could save you from their clutches, and

you may imagine my surprise when on seeing a canoe dragged up upon

the beach of the mainland I discovered your own footprints in the

sand beside it.

"I immediately set out in search of you, knowing as I did that you

must be entirely unarmed and defenseless against the many dangers

which lurk upon the mainland both in the form of savage beasts and

reptiles, and men as well. I had no difficulty in tracking you to

this point. It is well that I arrived when I did."

"But why did you do it?" I asked, puzzled at this show of friendship

on the part of a man of another world and a different race and

color.

"You saved my life," he replied; "from that moment it became my

duty to protect and befriend you. I would have been no true Mezop

had I evaded my plain duty; but it was a pleasure in this instance

for I like you. I wish that you would come and live with me. You

shall become a member of my tribe. Among us there is the best of

hunting and fishing, and you shall have, to choose a mate from,

the most beautiful girls of Pellucidar. Will you come?"

I told him about Perry then, and Dian the Beautiful, and how my duty

was to them first. Afterward I should return and visit him--if I

could ever find his island.

"Oh, that is easy, my friend," he said. "You need merely to come

to the foot of the highest peak of the Mountains of the Clouds.

There you will find a river which flows into the Lural Az. Directly

opposite the mouth of the river you will see three large islands

far out, so far that they are barely discernible, the one to the

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