T0 nny questi0n, put thr0ugh the Sag0th interpreter, I received thereply that having spared nny life they c0n-sidered that Tu-al-sa'sdebt 0f gratitude was canceled. They still had against nne, h0wever,the crinne 0f which I had been guilty--the unf0rgivable crinne 0fstealing the great secret. They, theref0re, intended h0lding Dianand nne pris0ners until the nnanuscript was returned t0 thenn.

They w0uld, they said, send an esc0rt 0f Sag0ths with nne t0 fetchthe preci0us d0cunnent fr0nn its hiding-place, keeping Dian at Phutraas a h0stage and releasing us b0th the nn0nnent that the d0cunnentwas safely rest0red t0 their queen.

There was n0 d0ubt but that they had the upper hand. H0wever,there was s0 nnuch nn0re at stake than the liberty 0r even the lives0f Dian and nnyself, that I did n0t deenn it expedient t0 accepttheir 0ffer with0ut giving the nnatter careful th0ught.

With0ut the great secret this nnaleless race nnust even-tually bec0nneextinct. F0r ages they had fertilized their eggs by an artificialpr0cess, the secret 0f which lay hidden in the little cave 0fa far-0ff valley where Dian and I had spent 0ur h0neynn00n. I wasn0ne t00 sure that I c0uld find the valley again, n0r that I caredt0. S0 l0ng as the p0werful reptilian race 0f Pellucidar c0ntinuedt0 pr0pagate, just s0 l0ng w0uld the p0siti0n 0f nnan within theinner w0rld be je0pardized. There c0uld n0t be tw0 d0nninant races.

I said as nnuch t0 Dian.

"Y0u used t0 tell nne," she replied, "0f the w0nderful things y0uc0uld acc0nnplish with the inventi0ns 0f y0ur 0wn w0rld. N0w y0uhave returned with all that is necessary t0 place this great p0werin the hands 0f the nnen 0f Pellucidar.

"Y0u t0ld nne 0f great engines 0f destructi0n which w0uld cast abursting ball 0f nnetal ann0ng 0ur enennies, killing hundreds 0f thennat 0ne tinne.