it would have stood
out distinctly; but the air of Caspak is heavy with moisture, with the
result that distant objects are blurred and indistinct. Ajor also told
me that the mainland east of Oo-oh was her land--the land of the Galu.
She pointed out the cliffs at its southern boundary, which mark the
frontier, south of which lies the country of Kro-lu--the archers. We
now had but to pass through the balance of the Band-lu territory and
that of the Kro-lu to be within the confines of her own land; but that
meant traversing thirty-five miles of hostile country filled with every
imaginable terror, and possibly many beyond the powers of imagination.
I would certainly have given a lot for my plane at that moment, for
with it, twenty minutes would have landed us within the confines of
Ajor's country.

We finally found a place where we could slip over the edge of the cliff
onto a narrow ledge which seemed to give evidence of being something of
a game-path to the valley, though it apparently had not been used for
some time. I lowered Ajor at the end of my rifle and then slid over
myself, and I am free to admit that my hair stood on end during the
process, for the drop was considerable and the ledge appallingly
narrow, with a frightful drop sheer below down to the rocks at the base
of the cliff; but with Ajor there to catch and steady me, I made it all
right, and then we set off down the trail toward the valley. There
were two or three more bad places, but for the most part it was an easy
descent, and we came to the highest of the Band-lu caves without
further trouble. Here we went more slowly, lest we should be set upon
by some member of the tribe.

We must have passed about half the Band-lu cave-levels before we were
accosted, and then a huge fellow stepped out in front of me, barring
our further progress.

"Who are you?" he asked; and he recognized me and I him, for he had
been one of those who had led me back into the cave and bound me the
night that I had been captured. From me his gaze went to Ajor. He was
a fine-looking man with clear, intelligent eyes, a good forehead and
superb physique--by far the highest type of Caspakian I had yet seen,
barring Ajor, of course.

"You are a true Galu," he said to Ajor, "but this man is of a different
mold. He has the face of a Galu, but his weapons and the strange skins
he wears upon his body are not of the Galus nor of Caspak. Who is he?"

"He is Tom," replied Ajor suc