close to the ceiling. Soon, however, she was able to make out the simple
furnishings: a low bed, formed by hairy pelts on a wooden framework; a
low bench; a stand, upon which were a large clay bowl and a length of
clean, rough cloth; and, on the floor, a soft rug of some woven material
unfamiliar to the cave-girl.

Utterly weary, the girl threw herself on the bed. Thoughts of Tharn came
unbidden to her mind. How she longed for his confidence-instilling
presence! Not that she cared for him in any way; of that she was very
certain. It was only that he was one of her own kind; he spoke as she
did, clothed himself as she was accustomed to seeing men clothed.

It was unthinkable that he was dead; impossible to believe that that
mighty heart had ceased to beat! Yet she had heard the dull impact of
wood against bone as the club had felled him, and he had not stirred
when the strange men broke from the bushes to seize her.

Yes, he was dead; and Dylara's eyes suddenly brimmed with burning tears.
She told herself that her sorrow was not so much from his death as the
fact that, without him alive, she could never hope to leave this place.

The show of bravado, maintained before her captors, began to slip away.
She was so lonely and afraid here in this grimly beautiful city. What
would become of her? And that proud, lovely girl at the table with all
those people--why had she looked at Dylara with such frank hatred?

She cried a little, there in the dim light, and still sobbing, fell
asleep.

CHAPTER IV

Came Tharn

Sadu, the lion, rounding a bend in the trail, came to an abrupt halt as
his eyes fell on the carcass of Bana lying across the path a few yards
ahead.

An idle breeze ruffled his heavy mane as he stood there, one great paw
half-lifted as though caught in mid-stride. Then, very slowly, impelled
solely by curiosity, he moved toward the dead animal.

Suddenly something stirred beyond the bulk of the deer. Sadu froze to
immobility again as the dusty blood-stained figure of a half-naked man
got to an upright position and faced him.

For a full minute the man and the lion stared woodenly into each other's
eyes, across a space of hardly more than a dozen paces.

Sadu's principal emotion was puzzled uncertainty. There was nothing of
menace in the attitude of this two-legged creature; neither did it show
any indication of being alarmed. Experience had taught the lion to
expect one or the other of those react