them. Some were motivated only by curiosity, but voracious appetites actuated the majority of them; and it was a constant source of surprise to Gamba that they emerged from each encounter victorious.
'I didn't think that we would live to sleep once after we set out from shore,' he said.
'I was not so sure myself,' replied Dian, 'but now I think that we shall get through to the Korsar Az, and then go up the coast to a point opposite Amoz. We can cut across country there; but I believe that greater dangers lie ahead of us on land than on the sea.'
'Is it a savage country?' asked Gamba.
'For a long way back from the shores of the Korsar Az it is a very savage country,' replied Dian. 'I have never been there, but our men who have ventured into it to hunt say that it is infested with savage beasts, and even more savage men.'
'I wish,' said Gamba, 'that I had never seen you. If you had not come to Lolo-lolo, I should still be go-sha and safe behind the walls of my city.'
'I wish you would stop harping on that,' said Dian, 'but I may say that if you had been a better go-sha you would still have been there; and if you want to go back, we can paddle to shore, and I will let you out.'
After many sleeps they reached the end of the nameless strait, which narrowed right at the entrance to the Korsar Az; so that the waters rushed through with terrific velocity, and the little canoe was almost swamped many times before it floated out on the comparatively smooth surface of the Korsar Az. Now they turned in a northeasterly direction hugging the coast; and it was then that the storm that had held Hodon off the mouth of the nameless strait in the Sojar Az, struck them and carried them far from shore.
Driving rain blinded them, and great seas constantly threatened to swamp them; so that while one paddled in an effort to keep the canoe from turning broadside into the trough of the seas, the other bailed with one of the gourds that Dian had thoughtfully brought along for that purpose.
They were both exhausted when a shoreline suddenly rose before them, dimly visible through the rain, Now Dian could see a wide, white beach up which enormous rollers raced, to break thunderously upon the shore; and toward this the storm was carrying them, nor could any puny efforts which they might put forth avert the inevitable end.
It did not seem possible to the girl that they could live that terrific surf; but she determined to try to ride it in, and so she told Gamba to paddle with all his strength; and she did likewise.
On and on the little canoe raced; and then, riding just below the crest of an enormous roller, it shot with terrific speed towards the shore; and, like a surfboard, it was carried far up on the beach.
Surprised that they still lived, they leaped out and held it as the water receded; then they dragged it farther up on the shore, out of reach of the breakers.
'I think,' said Gamba, 'that you must really be a Noada; for no mortal being could come through what we have come through, and live.'
Dian smiled. 'I have never said that I wasn't,' she replied.
Gamba thought this over, but he made no comment. Instead, he said presently, 'As soon as the storm is over we can start for Amoz. It is good to be on land again and to know that we shall not have to face the dangers of the sea any more.'
'We have a lot more sea to cross,' said Dian, 'before we reach Amoz.'
'What do you mean?' demanded Gamba. 'Have we not been driven ashore; are we not on land?'
'Yes, we are on land,' replied Dian, 'but that storm blew us away from that land where Amoz lies; and as it certainly did not blow us all the way across the enormous Korsar Az , it must have blown us onto an island.'
Gamba appeared stunned. 'Now there is no hope for us,' he said. 'This is indeed the end. You are no true Noada, or you would not have permitted this to happen.'
Dian laughed. 'You give up too easily,' she said. 'You must have been a very poor go-sha indeed.'
'I was a good go-sha until you came along,' snapped Gamba, 'but now, great Noada,' he said sarcastically, 'what do we do next?'
'As soon as the storm dies down,' replied Dian, 'we launch the canoe and set out for shore.'
'I do not want to go on the water again,' said Gamba.
'Very well, then,' replied Dian, 'you may remain here; but I am going.'
Beyond the beach rose cliffs to the height of a hundred feet or more, topping them Dian could see green, jungle-like verdure; and not far away a waterfall leaped over the cliff into the sea, which lashed the face of the cliff itself at this point, throwing spray so high into the air that at these times the waterfall was hidden. In the other direction the sea again broke against the face of the cliff. They stood upon a narrow, crescent-shaped bit of land that the sea had never as yet claimed. To Gamba, as to you and me, the cliffs looked unscalable; but to Dian the cave girl they appeared merely difficult. However, as she had no intention of scaling them, it made no difference.
They were very uncomfortable for a long while, as they sat drenched by the heavy downpour. There was no cave into which they could crawl, and sleep was out of the question. They just sat and endured; Dian stoically, Gamba grumblingly.
At last, however, they saw the sun shining far out upon the sea, and they knew that the storm was passing over them and that it would soon be gone. Often it is a relief to have that eternal noonday sun hidden by a cloud; but now when the cloud passed they were glad of the sun's warmth again.
'Let us sleep,' said Dian, 'and if the sea has gone down when we awaken I shall set out again in search of the big land. I think you would be wise if you came with me, but do as you please. It makes no difference to me.'
'You have a heart of stone,' said the man. 'How can you talk like that to a man who loves you?'
'I am going to sleep now,' said Dian, 'and you had better do likewise;' and she curled up in the wet grass with the hot sun beating down upon her beautiful body.
Dian dreamed that she was back in Sari, and that her people were gathered around her; and that David was there and she was very happy, happier than she had been for a long time.
Presently one of the people standing around her kicked her lightly in the ribs, and Dian awakened. She opened her eyes to see that there really were people surrounding her, but they were not the people of Sari. They were big men, who carried long, heavy spears and great bows; and their loin cloths were made of the skins of tarags, and the heads of tarags had been cleverly fashioned to form helmets that covered their heads, with the great tusks pointing downward on either side of their heads at an angle of forty-five degrees, and the quivers which held their arrows at their backs were of the skin of the great carnivores—of the black and yellow hide of the tarag, the huge, sabertooth tiger that has been so long extinct upon the outer crust.
'Get up,' said one of the men; and Dian and Gamba both came to their feet.
'What do you want of us?' demanded Dian. 'We were leaving as soon as the sea went down.'
'What were you doing here?' asked the man.
'The storm drove us onto this shore,' replied Dian. 'We were trying to reach the mainland.'
'Who are you?'
'I am Dian, the mate of David Innes, the Emperor of Pellucidar.'
'We never heard of you, or him, and I do not know what an emperor is.'
'He is what you might call the chief of chiefs,' explained Dian. 'He has an army and a navy and many guns. He would be your friend if you would protect me and this man.'
'What is a navy? What are guns?' demanded the man. 'And why should we be kind to you? We are not afraid of this David Innes; we are not afraid of anyone in Pellucidar. We are the men of Tandar.'
'What is Tandar?' demanded Dian.
'You mean to say you have never heard of Tandar?' exclaimed the warrior.
'Never,' said Dian.
'Neither have I,' said Gamba.
The warrior looked at them disgustedly. 'This is the Island of Tandar that you are on,' he said; 'and I am Hamlar, the chief.'
'The sea is going down,' said Dian, 'and we shall soon be leaving.'
Hamlar laughed; it was a nasty sort of a laugh. 'You mill never leave Tandar,' he said; 'no one who comes here ever does.'
Dian shrugged. She knew her world, and she knew that the man meant what he said.
