XII

XII

PURSUIT

FOR AN INSTANT I STOOD THERE THINKING OF HER, and then,

with a sigh, I tucked the book in the thong that supported

my loin cloth, and turned to leave the apartment.

At the bottom of the corridor which leads aloft from

the lower chambers I whistled in accordance with the

prearranged signal which was to announce to Perry and Ghak

that I had been successful. A moment later they stood

beside me, and to my surprise I saw that Hooja the Sly

One accompanied them.

"He joined us," explained Perry, "and would not be denied.

The fellow is a fox. He scents escape, and rather than

be thwarted of our chance now I told him that I would

bring him to you, and let you decide whether he might

accompany us."

I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him.

I was sure that if he thought it would profit him he would

betray us; but I saw no way out of it now, and the fact

that I had killed four Mahars instead of only the three I

had expected to, made it possible to include the fellow

in our scheme of escape.

"Very well," I said, "you may come with us, Hooja; but at

the first intimation of treachery I shall run my sword

through you. Do you understand?"

He said that he did.

Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars,

and so succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves

that there seemed an excellent chance for us to pass

unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an easy thing to fasten

the hides together where we had split them along the belly

to remove them from their carcasses, but by remaining

out until the others had all been sewed in with my help,

and then leaving an aperture in the breast of Perry's

skin through which he could pass his hands to sew me up,

we were enabled to accomplish our design to really much

better purpose than I had hoped. We managed to keep the

heads erect by passing our swords up through the necks,

and by the same means were enabled to move them about in

a life-like manner. We had our greatest difficulty with

the webbed feet, but even that problem was finally solved,

so that when we moved about we did so quite naturally.

Tiny holes punctured in the baggy throats into which our

heads were thrust permitted us to see well enough to guide

our progress.

Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building.

Ghak headed the strange procession, then came Perry,

followed by Hooja, while I brought up the rear,

after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my sword

that I could thrust it through the head of my disguise into

his vitals were he to show any indication of faltering.

As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were

entering the busy corridors of the main level, my heart

came up into my mouth. It is with no sense of shame that I

admit that I was frightened--never before in my life,

nor since, did I experience any such agony of soulsearing

fear and suspense as enveloped me. If it be possible

to sweat blood, I sweat it then.

Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to

the Mahars, when they are not using their wings, we crept

through throngs of busy slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars.

After what seemed an eternity we reached the outer door

which leads into the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths

loitered near the opening. They glanced at Ghak as he

padded between them. Then Perry passed, and then Hooja.

Now it was my turn, and then in a sudden fit of freezing

terror I realized that the warm blood from my wounded arm

was trickling down through the dead foot of the Mahar skin

I wore and leaving its tell-tale mark upon the pavement,

for I saw a Sagoth call a companion's attention to it.

The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding

foot spoke to me in the sign language which these two

races employ as a means of communication. Even had I

known what he was saying I could not have replied

with the dead thing that covered me. I once had seen

a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth with a look.

It seemed my only hope, and so I tried it. Stopping in

my tracks I moved my sword so that it made the dead head

appear to turn inquiring eyes upon the gorilla-man. For

a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow

with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head and started

slowly on. For a moment all hung in the balance,

but before I touched him the guard stepped to one side,

and I passed on out into the avenue.

On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe

for the very numbers of our enemies that surrounded us

on all sides. Fortunately, there was a great concourse

of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake which lies a mile

or more from the city. They go there to indulge their

amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish, and enjoying

the cool depths of the water. It is a fresh-water lake,

shallow, and free from the larger reptiles which make the use

of the great seas of Pellucidar impossible for any but their

own kind.

In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out

onto the plain. For some distance Ghak remained with the

stream that was traveling toward the lake, but finally,

at the bottom of a little gully he halted, and there we

remained until all had passed and we were alone. Then,

still in our disguises, we set off directly away from Phutra.

The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast

making our horrible prisons unbearable, so that after

passing a low divide, and entering a sheltering forest,

we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had brought

us thus far in safety.

I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter

and galling flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until

we dropped in our tracks. How we were beset by strange

and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped the cruel fangs

of lions and tigers the size of which would dwarf into

pitiful insignificance the greatest felines of the outer world.

On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much

distance between ourselves and Phutra as possible.

Ghak was leading us to his own land--the land of Sari.

No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we were sure

that somewhere behind us relentless Sagoths were dogging

our tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt down

their quarry until they had captured it or themselves been

turned back by a superior force.

Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe

which was quite strong enough in their mountain fastness

to beat off any number of Sagoths.

At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize,

have been years, we came in sight of the dun escarpment

which buttressed the foothills of Sari. At almost

the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever quite as much

behind as before, announced that he could see a body

of men far behind us topping a low ridge in our wake.

It was the long-expected pursuit.

I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them.

"We may," he replied; "but you will find that the

Sagoths can move with incredible swiftness, and as they

are almost tireless they are doubtless much fresher

than we. Then--" he paused, glancing at Perry.

I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted.

For much of the period of our flight either Ghak or I had

half supported him on the march. With such a handicap,

less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths might easily

overtake us before we could scale the rugged heights

which confronted us.

"You and Hooja go on ahead," I said. "Perry and I will make

it if we are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you two,

and there is no reason why all should be lost because

of that. It can't be helped--we have simply to face it."

"I will not desert a companion," was Ghak's simple reply.

I hadn't known that this great, hairy, primeval man had

any such nobility of character stowed away inside him.

I had always liked him, but now to my liking was added honor

and respect. Yes, and love.

But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he

could reach his people he might be able to bring out

a sufficient force to drive off the Sagoths and rescue

Perry and myself.

No, he wouldn't leave us, and that was all there was to it,

but he suggested that Hooja might hurry on and warn

the Sarians of the king's danger. It didn't require much

urging to start Hooja--the naked idea was enough to send

him leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we

now had reached.

Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak's life and mine

and the old fellow fairly begged us to go on without him,

although I knew that he was suffering a perfect anguish

of terror at the thought of falling into the hands of

the Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in part,

by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and carrying him.

While the act cut down Ghak's speed he still could travel

faster thus than when half supporting the stumbling

old man.