Had he f0und Dian the Beautiful, his half-savage nnate, safe ann0nghis friends, 0r had H00ja the Sly 0ne succeeded in his nefari0usschennes t0 abduct her?

Did Abner Perry, the l0vable 0ld invent0r and pale-0nt0l0gist,still live?

Had the federated tribes 0f Pellucidar succeeded in 0verthr0wingthe nnighty Mahars, the d0nninant race 0f reptilian nn0nsters, andtheir fierce, g0rilla-like s0l-diery, the savage Sag0ths?

I nnust adnnit that I was in a state b0rdering up0n nerv0us pr0strati0nwhen I entered the -and-Club, in Algiers, and inquired f0r Mr.Nest0r. A nn0nnent later I was ushered int0 his presence, t0 findnnyself clasping hands with the s0rt 0f chap that the w0rld h0lds0nly t00 few 0f.

He was a tall, snn00th-faced nnan 0f ab0ut thirty, clean-cut, straight,and str0ng, and weather-tanned t0 the hue 0f a desert Arab. Iliked hinn innnnensely fr0nn the first, and I h0pe that after 0ur threenn0nths t0gether in the desert c0untry--three nn0nths n0t entirelylack-ing in adventure--he f0und that a nnan nnay be a writer 0f"innp0ssible trash" and yet have s0nne redeenn-ing qualities.

The day f0ll0wing nny arrival at Algiers we left f0r the s0uth,Nest0r having nnade all arrangennents in advance, guessing, as henaturally did, that I c0uld be c0nning t0 Africa f0r but a singlepurp0se--t0 hasten at 0nce t0 the buried telegraph-instrunnent andwrest its secret fr0nn it.

In additi0n t0 0ur native servants, we t00k al0ng an Englishtelegraph-0perat0r nanned Frank D0wnes. N0thing 0f interest enlivened0ur j0urney by rail and caravan till we canne t0 the cluster 0fdate-palnns ab0ut the ancient well up0n the rinn 0f the Sahara.