mmals or reptiles. Yet
it was with the utmost caution that I crawled within its dark interior.

Here I found a rather large chamber, lighted by a narrow cleft in the
rock above which let the sunlight filter in in sufficient quantities
partially to dispel the utter darkness which I had expected. The cave
was entirely empty, nor were there any signs of its having been
recently occupied. The opening was comparatively small, so that after
considerable effort I was able to lug up a bowlder from the valley
below which entirely blocked it.

Then I returned again to the valley for an armful of grasses and on
this trip was fortunate enough to knock over an orthopi, the diminutive
horse of Pellucidar, a little animal about the size of a fox terrier,
which abounds in all parts of the inner world. Thus, with food and
bedding I returned to my lair, where after a meal of raw meat, to which
I had now become quite accustomed, I dragged the bowlder before the
entrance and curled myself upon a bed of grasses--a naked, primeval,
cave man, as savagely primitive as my prehistoric progenitors.

I awoke rested but hungry, and pushing the bowlder aside crawled out
upon the little rocky shelf which was my front porch. Before me spread
a small but beautiful valley, through the center of which a clear and
sparkling river wound its way down to an inland sea, the blue waters of
which were just visible between the two mountain ranges which embraced
this little paradise. The sides of the opposite hills were green with
verdure, for a great forest clothed them to the foot of the red and
yellow and copper green of the towering crags which formed their
summit. The valley itself was carpeted with a luxuriant grass, while
here and there patches of wild flowers made great splashes of vivid
color against the prevailing green.

Dotted over the face of the valley were little clusters of palmlike
trees--three or four together as a rule. Beneath these stood antelope,
while others grazed in the open, or wandered gracefully to a nearby
ford to drink. There were several species of this beautiful animal,
the most magnificent somewhat resembling the giant eland of Africa,
except that their spiral horns form a complete curve backward over
their ears and then forward again beneath them, ending in sharp and
formidable points some two feet before the face and above the eyes. In
size they remind one of a pure bred Hereford bull, yet they are very
agile and f