toothless little old man with an enormous white beard. His beard was stained with juice of berries and the pulp of fruit. He jibbered and yammered like the little hairy men who live in the trees of the forest.
The warriors of Sari had never seen a creature like this before; so they captured him, as they might have captured any strange animal and took him to show to Ghak.
'Who are you?' demanded Ghak.
'Are you going to kill me?' The old man was whimpering, the tears rolling down his cheeks.
'No,' Ghak assured him. 'Tell me who you are and what you are doing here.'
'My name is not Dolly Dorcas,' said the old man, 'and I was going to divide O-aa with the others, but Hodon wanted to kill me.'
'Hodon!' exclaimed Ghak. 'What do you know of Hodon?'
'I know that he was going to kill me, but I ran away.'
'Where is Hodon?' demanded Ghak.
'He and David and O-aa are in the cave. The sabertooth men are waiting to eat them.'
'What cave? Where is it?' asked Ghak.
'If I told you, you'd take me back there and Hodon would kill me,' said the old man.
'If you lead us to where David and Hodon are, no one will kill you. I promise you that,' Ghak assured him.
'And you'll see that I get plenty to eat?'
'All you can hold.'
'Then follow me, but look out for the sabertooths; they will eat you all unless you kill them.'
XIV
O-AA LOOKED VERY wan and weak. Hodon looked at her and tears almost came to his eyes; then he spoke to David.
'David,' he said, 'perhaps I have done wrong. I have hoarded my ration of food, eating only half of it.'
'It was yours to do with as you wished,' said David. 'We shall not take it from you.'
'I do not want it,' said Hodon. 'I saved it for O-aa, and now she needs it.'
O-aa looked up and smiled. 'I hoarded mine too, Hodon,' she said. 'I saved it for you. Here it is.' She took a little package of food wrapped in the large leaves that grew over the mouth of the cave and handed it to Hodon.
David walked to the mouth of the cave and looked out down the little canyon; but everything was blurred, as though he were looking through a mist.
Hodon knelt beside O-aa. 'A woman would do that only for the man she loved,' he said.
O-aa nodded and crept into his arms. 'But I have not killed Blug,' said Hodon.
O-aa drew his lips down to hers.
'What will your brother and sister say?' asked Hodon.
'I have no brother or sister,' said O-aa.
Hodon held her so tight that she gasped for breath.
Presently the mist cleared, and David could see quite plainly. He saw sabertooths who had been outside the canyon running in. They were jabbering excitedly. Then he saw human warriors approaching, warriors who carried muskets. There were many of them. When the sabertooths charged them, they were mowed down by a ragged volley. The noise was terrific, and clouds of black smoke filled the mouth of the canyon.
At the noise of the muskets, O-aa and Hodon ran to the mouth of the cave.
'Ghak has come,' said David. 'Now everything is all right.'
It was well that he was to have a brief interlude of happiness before he returned to Sari.
PART II: MEN OF THE BRONZE AGE
I
WHEN THE LAST of the sabertooth men had been killed or had fled, David, Hodon, and O-aa joined Ghak and his warriors. Immediately, Hodon espied the little old man and advanced upon him.
'I kill,' said Hodon.
The little old man screamed and hid behind Ghak. 'You promised that you would not let Hodon kill me,' he whimpered, 'if I guided you here.'
'I shall keep my promise,' said Ghak. 'Leave the man alone, Hodon! What has he done that you should want to kill him?'
'He tried to kill O-aa; so that he could eat her,' replied Hodon.
'I was not going to keep her all for myself,' whined the old man; 'I was going to share her with Hodon and David.'
'Who is this old man,' demanded Ghak, 'who says that his name is not Dolly Dorcas?'
'He was a prisoner of the sabertooth men,' said David. 'I think he is a little crazy.'
'He led me here,' said Ghak; 'so you have him to thank for your rescue. Do not harm him. What does he mean by saying his name is not Dolly Dorcas?'
'He told us,' explained David, 'that he was wrecked on a ship named the Dolly Dorcas near the North Pole of the outer world from which I come; then, in a small boat, he drifted through the North Polar Opening into Pellucidar. O-aa got things a little mixed and thought his name was Dolly Dorcas.''
'He ate all the men that were in the boat with him,' said O-aa; 'and he said that when they were all gone, he was about to cut off one of his own legs and eat that, when he found food. He is a very hungry man.'
'I do not see how he could eat anybody,' said Ghak; 'he has no teeth.'
'You'd be surprised,' said the little old man.
'Well, you—What is your name anyway, if it isn't Dolly Dorcas?' demanded Ghak.
'I don't remember,' said the old man.
'Well, then, we shall just call you Ah-gilak; and that will be your name.' (Ah-gilak means in Pellucidarian, old man.)
'Well,' said the little old man, 'at least Ah-gilak is a better name for a man than Dolly Dorcas.'
'And remember this, Ah-gilak,' continued Ghak, 'if you ever try to eat anybody again, I'll let Hodon kill you.
'Some of them were very good eating,' sighed Ah-gilak, reminiscently, 'especially that Swede.'
'Let us go the village of Kali now,' said David. 'O-aa, Hodon, and I must have food. We nearly starved to death in that cave. Then I shall send a runner north to the caves where Oose and the remnants of his people are hiding, after which we will go down to the Lural Az, where your ships lie, Ghak, and embark for home; if you feel that you have taught the Suvians their lessons sufficiently well.'
Between the canyon and the village of Kali , they saw a party of men coming from the north. At sight of so many armed warriors, these people turned to flee; but O-aa called to them, 'Come back! It is all right; these are our friends;' then she said to Ghak, 'those are my people; I recognized my father, the king of Kali.'
When the newcomers approached more closely, Hodon saw the Blug was with Oose; and he went and put his arm around O-aa. When Blug saw that, he ran forward.
'I told you that if you were around here when I came back, I'd kill you,' he shouted.
'Go away!' said O-aa. 'Hodon is my mate.'
'What is that?' demanded Oose, her father. 'I told you you were to mate with Blug, and I meant it; Blug
