iron which we discovered among some rubbish in the cells where we
slept, for we were permitted almost unrestrained freedom of action
within the limits of the building to which we had been assigned.
So great were the number of slaves who waited upon the inhabitants
of Phutra that none of us was apt to be overburdened with work,
nor were our masters unkind to us.

We hid our new weapons beneath the skins which formed our beds, and
then Perry conceived the idea of making bows and arrows--weapons
apparently unknown within Pellucidar. Next came shields; but these
I found it easier to steal from the walls of the outer guardroom
of the building.

We had completed these arrangements for our protection after leaving
Phutra when the Sagoths who had been sent to recapture the escaped
prisoners returned with four of them, of whom Hooja was one. Dian
and two others had eluded them. It so happened that Hooja was
confined in the same building with us. He told Ghak that he had not
seen Dian or the others after releasing them within the dark grotto.
What had become of them he had not the faintest conception--they
might be wandering yet, lost within the labyrinthine tunnel, if
not dead from starvation.

I was now still further apprehensive as to the fate of Dian, and at
this time, I imagine, came the first realization that my affection
for the girl might be prompted by more than friendship. During
my waking hours she was constantly the subject of my thoughts, and
when I slept her dear face haunted my dreams. More than ever was
I determined to escape the Mahars.