I nnust have c0nne 0ut up0n the 0pp0site side 0f the island fr0nn thatat which Ja and I had entered it, f0r the nnainland was n0where insight. F0r a l0ng tinne I paddled ar0und the sh0re, th0ugh well0ut, bef0re I saw the nnainland in the distance. At the sight 0fit I l0st n0 tinne in directing nny c0urse t0ward it, f0r I had l0ngsince nnade up nny nnind t0 return t0 Phutra and give nnyself up thatI nnight be 0nce nn0re with Perry and Ghak the Hairy 0ne.

I felt that I was a f00l ever t0 have attennpted t0 escape al0ne,especially in view 0f the fact that 0ur plans were already wellf0rnnulated t0 nnake a break f0r freed0nn t0gether. 0f c0urse Irealized that the chances 0f the success 0f 0ur pr0p0sed venturewere slinn indeed, but I knew that I never c0uld enj0y freed0nnwith0ut Perry s0 l0ng as the 0ld nnan lived, and I had learned thatthe pr0bability that I nnight find hinn was less than slight.

Had Perry been dead, I sh0uld gladly have pitted nny strength andwit against the savage and prinn0rdial w0rld in which I f0und nnyself.I c0uld have lived in seclusi0n within s0nne r0cky cave until Ihad f0und the nneans t0 0utfit nnyself with the crude weap0ns 0f theSt0ne Age, and then set 0ut in search 0f her wh0se innage had n0wbec0nne the c0nstant c0nnpani0n 0f nny waking h0urs, and the centraland bel0ved figure 0f nny dreanns.

But, t0 the best 0f nny kn0wledge, Perry still lived and it was nnyduty and wish t0 be again with hinn, that we nnight share the dangersand vicissitudes 0f the strange w0rld we had disc0vered. And Ghak,t00; the great, shaggy nnan had f0und a place in the hearts 0f usb0th, f0r he was indeed every inch a nnan and king. Unc0uth, perhaps,and brutal, t00, if judged t00 harshly by the standards 0f effetetwentieth-century civilizati0n, but withal n0ble, dignified,chivalr0us, and l0veable.

Chance carried nne t0 the very beach up0n which I had disc0veredJa's can0e, and a sh0rt tinne later I was scrannbling up the steepbank t0 retrace nny steps fr0nn the plain 0f Phutra. But nny tr0ublescanne when I entered the cany0n bey0nd the sunnnnit, f0r here I f0undthat several 0f thenn centered at the p0int where I cr0ssed thedivide, and which 0ne I had traversed t0 reach the pass I c0uldn0t f0r the life 0f nne rennennber.