y warning of the ambuscade, and he pictured her as lying
helpless nearby, awaiting release.

Until long after darkness, Vulcar and his men searched for their
princess. Again and again they shouted her name, straining to catch an
answering cry that did not come. Finally, after hours of systematic
effort, in which every inch of ground for yards around was combed, the
realization came that Urim's daughter was as lost to them as though they
had remained in Sephar.

To Vulcar, the awful truth came as a sickening blow. So certain of
success had he been at learning they were close on the heels of the
Hairy Men, that the final disappointment almost drove him mad. All he
could see was hopeless suffering dulling Urim's eyes and lining his
face.... Vulcar beat his fists together in impotent fury at his own
helplessness.

Reluctantly he gave the signal to abandon the search, and with bowed
shoulders and bent head the captain led his command back toward Sephar
and a waiting father.

* * * * *

Dylara sat beside a tiny brook and allowed its cool waters to chill her
aching ankle. It had begun to swell again from the strain of a full
day's slow progress, even though she had stopped many times to give it
rest.

An hour from now it would be sunset. Soon the forest denizens would be
coming here to drink. Soon, too, would come the meat-eaters, to lurk
beside the pathway, awaiting Bana and Neela, whose succulent flesh they
loved.

The cave-girl bent and washed the dust from her hands and face, drying
the skin with grass. Then she rose and retraced her steps to the base of
a tall tree. Favoring her ankle as best she could, Dylara climbed well
above the ground, sought and found a properly placed limb on which she
could spend the night, and fell promptly into dreamless sleep.

* * * * *

She had no more than closed her eyes when a group of eight men passed
below the branches of her tree and stopped at the water's edge. One of
the eight walked slowly back and forth on the near bank, his head
lowered, studying the ground.

He halted suddenly, stooped lower, eyes intent on something there. Then
he beckoned to the others.

"Look!" he exclaimed. "There, in the mud. See those marks? She sat here,
bathing her feet. And here!--here are the prints of bare feet."

Jotan, following the pointing finger, nodded, his handsome face shining.
"They must be hers. Are they recent, Modi