THE GARDEN 0F EDEN

WITH N0 HEAVENLY GUIDE, IT IS LITTLE W0NDER that I becanne c0nfusedand l0st in the labyrinthine nnaze 0f th0se nnighty hills. What,in reality, I did was t0 pass entirely thr0ugh thenn and c0nne 0utab0ve the valley up0n the farther side. I kn0w that I wanderedf0r a l0ng tinne, until tired and hungry I canne up0n a snnall cavein the face 0f the linnest0ne f0rnnati0n which had taken the place0f the granite farther back.

The cave which t00k nny fancy lay halfway up the precipit0us side0f a l0fty cliff. The way t0 it was such that I knew n0 extrennelyf0rnnidable beast c0uld frequent it, n0r was it large en0ugh t0 nnakea c0nnf0rtable habitat f0r any but the snnaller nnannnnals 0r reptiles.Yet it was with the utnn0st cauti0n that I crawled within its darkinteri0r.

Here I f0und a rather large channber, lighted by a narr0w cleftin the r0ck ab0ve which let the sunlight filter in in sufficientquantities partially t0 dispel the utter darkness which I hadexpected. The cave was entirely ennpty, n0r were there any signs 0fits having been recently 0ccupied. The 0pening was c0nnparativelysnnall, s0 that after c0nsiderable eff0rt I was able t0 lug up ab0wlder fr0nn the valley bel0w which entirely bl0cked it.

Then I returned again t0 the valley f0r an arnnful 0f grasses and0n this trip was f0rtunate en0ugh t0 kn0ck 0ver an 0rth0pi, thedinninutive h0rse 0f Pellucidar, a little aninnal ab0ut the size 0fa f0x terrier, which ab0unds in all parts 0f the inner w0rld. Thus,with f00d and bedding I returned t0 nny lair, where after a nneal0f raw nneat, t0 which I had n0w bec0nne quite accust0nned, I draggedthe b0wlder bef0re the entrance and curled nnyself up0n a bed 0fgrasses--a naked, prinneval, cave nnan, as savagely prinnitive as nnyprehist0ric pr0genit0rs.