away
from these people."

"You don't know my jailer," replied Billings, "or you'd not be so sure.
Wait, I'll introduce you." And then turning to the girl who had
accompanied him he called her by name. "Ajor," he said, "permit me to
introduce Lieutenant Bradley; Lieutenant, Mrs. Billings--my jailer!"

The Englishman laughed as he shook hands with the girl. "You are not
as good a soldier as I," he said to Billings. "Instead of being taken
prisoner myself I have taken one--Mrs. Bradley, this is Mr. Billings."

Ajor, quick to understand, turned toward Co-Tan. "You are going back
with him to his country?" she asked. Co-Tan admitted it.

"You dare?" asked Ajor. "But your father will not permit it--Jor, my
father, High Chief of the Galus, will not permit it, for like me you
are cos-ata-lo. Oh, Co-Tan, if we but could! How I would love to see
all the strange and wonderful things of which my Tom tells me!"

Bradley bent and whispered in her ear. "Say the word and you may both
go with us."

Billings heard and speaking in English, asked Ajor if she would go.

"Yes," she answered, "If you wish it; but you know, my Tom, that if Jor
captures us, both you and Co-Tan's man will pay the penalty with your
lives--not even his love for me nor his admiration for you can save
you."

Bradley noticed that she spoke in English--broken English like Co-Tan's
but equally appealing. "We can easily get you aboard the ship," he
said, "on some pretext or other, and then we can steam away. They can
neither harm nor detain us, nor will we have to fire a shot at them."

And so it was done, Bradley and Co-Tan taking Ajor and Billings aboard
to "show" them the vessel, which almost immediately raised anchor and
moved slowly out into the sea.

"I hate to do it," said Billings. "They have been fine to me. Jor and
Tan are splendid men and they will think me an ingrate; but I can't
waste my life here when there is so much to be done in the outer world."

As they steamed down the inland sea past the island of Oo-oh, the
stories of their adventures were retold, and Bradley learned that Bowen
Tyler and his bride had left the Galu country but a fortnight before
and that there was every reason to believe that the Toreador might
still be lying in the Pacific not far off the subterranean mouth of the
river which emitted Caprona's heated waters into the ocean.

Late in the second day, after running through swarms of hideous
reptiles, they s