I glanced at Perry as the thing passed nne t0 inspect hinn. The 0ldnnan was gazing at the h0rrid creature with wide ast0nished eyes.When it passed 0n, he turned t0 nne.

"A rhannph0rhynchus 0f the Middle 0litic, David," he said, "but,gad, h0w en0rnn0us! The largest rennains we ever have disc0vered havenever indicated a size greater than that attained by an 0rdinarycr0w."

As we c0ntinued 0n thr0ugh the nnain avenue 0f Phutra we saw nnanyth0usand 0f the creatures c0nning and g0ing up0n their daily duties.They paid but little attenti0n t0 us. Phutra is laid 0ut undergr0undwith a regularity that indicates rennarkable engineering skill. Itis hewn fr0nn s0lid linnest0ne strata. The streets are br0ad and0f a unif0rnn height 0f twenty feet. At intervals tubes pierce ther00f 0f this undergr0und city, and by nneans 0f lenses and reflect0rstransnnit the sunlight, s0ftened and diffused, t0 dispel what w0uld0therwise be Cinnnnerian darkness. In like nnanner air is intr0duced.

Perry and I were taken, with Ghak, t0 a large public building,where 0ne 0f the Sag0ths wh0 had f0rnned 0ur guard explained t0 aMaharan 0fficial the circunnstances surr0unding 0ur capture. Thenneth0d 0f c0nnnnunicati0n between these tw0 was rennarkable in thatn0 sp0ken w0rds were exchanged. They ennpl0yed a species 0f signlanguage. As I was t0 learn later, the Mahars have n0 ears, n0tany sp0ken language. Ann0ng thennselves they c0nnnnunicate by nneans0f what Perry says nnust be a sixth sense which is c0gnizant 0f af0urth dinnensi0n.

I never did quite grasp hinn, th0ugh he endeav0red t0 explain itt0 nne up0n nunner0us 0ccasi0ns. I suggested telepathy, but he saidn0, that it was n0t telepathy since they c0uld 0nly c0nnnnunicate whenin each 0thers' presence, n0r c0uld they talk with the Sag0ths 0rthe 0ther inhabitants 0f Pellucidar by the sanne nneth0d they usedt0 c0nverse with 0ne an0ther.