Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-02
TIE CHEERFUL CHERUB

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dened with work, or we're our masters
I unkind to us.
| We hid our new weapons beneath the
! skins which formed our beds, and then
/ Perry conceived the idea of making bows
/ and arrows-weapons apparently unknown
| within Pellucidar. Next came shields. but
these found II easier to steal from the
! walls OF the outer guardroom Of the
building.
We had completed these arrangements
/ for our protection after leaving Phutra
/ when the Sagoths who had been sent to
recapture the escaped prisoners returned
! with four of them, of whom Hooja was
one. Dian and two others had eluded
! them.
| 1t SO happened that Hooja was con-
fined in the same building with us. He
| told Ghak that he had not seen Dian or
the others after releasing them within
/ the dark grotto. What had become of
| them he had not the fantest conception.
They might be wandering yet, II not dead
from starvation.
I was now still further apprehensve
as to the fate of Dian, and at this time
l imagine. came the first realization that
my affection for the girl might be
DTOHlpleu Oy InUTe Inun 1TRnuSnlp. DUR
ing my waking hours she was constantly
the subject of my thoughts, and when
slept her dear face haunted my dreams.
More than ever was l determined to es-
cape the Mahara.
perry" 1 conhded to the old man.
'Hf I have to search every inch of this
dlminutive world. l am going to find
Dian the Beautiful and right the wrong
I unintentionally did her.
That thn 7 ha 80
benefit.
"Dimlnutive world" he scoffed. you
don't know what you are talking about
my boy" and then he showed me a map
of Pellucidar which he had recently dis
covered among the manuscript he was
arranging.
Look" he cried, pointing to it. This
Is evidently water, and all this land. Do
you notice the general conhguration of
the two areas? Where the oceans are
upon the outer crust is land here. These
relatively small areas of ocean follow the
general lines of the continents of the outer
world.
I'VE know that the crust of the globe
Is five hundred miles In thickness; then
the inside diameter of Pellucidar must be
seven thousand miles, and the superficial
area something more than one hundred
and sixty million square miles. Three
fourths of this is land. Think of it! A
land area of one hundred and twenty-four
million square miles!
"Our own world contains but fifty-three
million square miles of land the balance
of its surface being covered by water.
Just as we often compare nations by
their relative land areas. so. If we COM
pare these two worlds in the same way,
we have the strange anomaly of a larger
world within a smaller one!
Where within vast Pellucidar would
you search for your Dian? Without stars
or moon or changing sun. how could you
find her, even though you knew where she
might be found?"
The proposition was a corker It took
my breath away; but | found that it left
me all the more determined to attempt It,
"If Ghak will accompany us, we may
be able to do It," suggested.
Perry and l sought him out and put
the question straight to him.
"Ghak," l said, I'VE are determined to
escape from this bondage. Will you ac-
company us?"
'They will set the thipdars upon u.s."
he said, land then we shall be killed;
but"--he hesitated-"I would take the
chance If thought that l might possibly
escape and return to my own people,"
Gould you find your way back to your
own land?" asked Perry. And could you
aid David in his search for Dian?"
Yes"
But how" persisted Perry. could you
travel a strange country without heaven
ly bodies or a compass to guide you?"
Ghak didn't know what Perry meant
by heavenly bodies or n compass; but
he assured us that you might blndfold
any man of Pellucidar and carry him
to the farthermOst corner of the world,
yet he would be able to come directly
to his own home again by the shortest
route.
He seemed surprised to think that we
found anything wonderful in It, Perry
said 1t mustI be some sort of homing
instinct such as Is possessed by certain
breeds of earthly pigeons. didn't know.
of course, but 1t gave me an idea.
"Then Dian could have found her way
directly to her own people?" l asked.
Surely" replied Ghak; unless some
mighty beast OF prey killed her before
she completed her Journey"
l was for-making the attempted es-
cape at once, but both Perry and Ghak
counseled waiting for some propltious
accident which would insure us some
small degree OF success l didn't see
what accident could beIall a whole COM
munity in a land of perpetual daylight
where the inhabitants had no fixed habits
of sleep.
Why, l am sure that some of the Ma
hars never sleep while others may, at
long intervals, crawl into the dark re-
cesses beneath their dwelling and curl up
in protracted slumber. Perry says that
II Mahar stays awake for three years
he will make up all his lost sleep in a
long years snooze.
That may be all true, but l never saw
but three OF them asleep; and II was the
sight of these three that gave me a sug-
gestion for our means of escape.
had been searching about far below
WlaaN glrW
TO frequent-possibly 90 feet beneath the
main floor of the building-among a net