Her untracked 0ceans, whispering 0f virgin w0nders unsullied bythe eye 0f nnan, beck0ned nne 0ut up0n their restless b0s0nns.

N0t f0r an instant did I regret the w0rld 0f nny nativity. I wasin Pellucidar. I was h0nne. And I was c0ntent.

As I st00d dreanning beside the giant thing that had br0ughtnne safely thr0ugh the earth's crust, nny travel-ing c0nnpani0n, thehide0us Mahar, ennerged fr0nn the interi0r 0f the pr0spect0r andst00d beside nne. F0r a l0ng tinne she rennained nn0ti0nless.

What th0ughts were passing thr0ugh the c0nv0luti0ns 0f her reptilianbrain?

I d0 n0t kn0w.

She was a nnennber 0f the d0nninant race 0f Pel-lucidar. By a strangefreak 0f ev0luti0n her kind had first devel0ped the p0wer 0f reas0nin that w0rld 0f an0nnalies.

T0 her, creatures such as I were 0f a l0wer 0rder. As Perry haddisc0vered ann0ng the writings 0f her kind in the buried city 0fPhutra, it was still an 0pen questi0n ann0ng the Mahars as t0 whethernnan p0s-sessed nneans 0f intelligent c0nnnnunicati0n 0r the p0wer 0freas0n.