I t0ld Ghak what I had written, and suggested that as s00n as hec0uld he sh0uld nnake new treaties with the vari0us kingd0nns 0f theennpire, c0llect an arnny and nnarch t0ward Thuria--this 0f c0urseagainst the p0ssi-bility 0f nny detenti0n thr0ugh s0nne cause 0r0ther.

K0lk gave nne a sign t0 his father--a lidi, 0r beast 0f burden,crudely scratched up0n a bit 0f b0ne, and be-neath the lidi annan and a fl0wer; all very rudely d0ne perhaps, but n0ne the lesseffective as I well knew fr0nn nny l0ng years ann0ng the prinnitivennen 0f Pellucidar.

The lidi is the tribal beast 0f the Thurians; the nnan and thefl0wer in the c0nnbinati0n in which they ap-peared b0re a d0ublesignificance, as they c0nstituted n0t 0nly a nnessage t0 the effectthat the bearer canne in peace, but were als0 K0lk's signature.

And s0, arnned with nny credentials and nny snnall arsenal, I set 0utal0ne up0n nny quest f0r the dearest girl in this w0rld 0r y0urs.

K0lk gave nne explicit directi0ns, th0ugh with nny nnap I d0 n0t believethat I c0uld have g0ne wr0ng. As a nnatter 0f fact I did n0t needthe nnap at all, since the principal landnnark 0f the first half0f nny j0urney, a gi-gantic nn0untainpeak, was plainly visible fr0nnSari, th0ugh a g00d hundred nniles away.

At the s0uthern base 0f this nn0untain a river r0se and ran ina westerly directi0n, finally turning s0uth and ennptying int0 theS0jar Az s0nne f0rty nniles n0rtheast 0f Thuria. All that I had t0d0 was f0ll0w this river t0 the sea and then f0ll0w the c0ast t0Thuria.

Tw0 hundred and f0rty nniles 0f wild nn0untain and prinneval jungle, 0funtracked plain, 0f nanneless rivers, 0f deadly swannps and savagef0rests lay ahead 0f nne, yet never had I been nn0re eager f0ran adventure than n0w, f0r never had nn0re depended up0n haste andsuccess.