Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-11
PELLuCIDAR
Sequel to "At the Earth's Core'
By EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
af Ic .Tnr.nl Stasies
Author Of the "Tar=an" Stories

my very slowness of foot played into my
hands; while had I been feeter, l might
have lost Dian that time forever.
The ldi, with the hounds running close
on either side. had almost disappeared in
the darkness that enveloped the surround
ing landscape. when l noted that it was
bearing toward the right. This ac-
counted for by the fact tina: Raja ran upon
his left side. and unlike his mate, kept
leaping for the great beasts shoulder. The
man on the lidi's back prodding at the
hyaenodon with his long spear. but still
RaJa kept springlng up and swapping.
The effect of this was to turn the lid
toward the right. and the longer / watched
the procedure the more convinced | be-
| came that Raja and his mate work.
Ing together with some end in view, for
the she dog merely galoped steadily at
| the lidfs right about opposite his rump.
I had seen jaloks hunting in packs and
! recalled now what for the time l had not
thought of-the several that ran ahead and
turned the quarry back toward the main
| body. This was precisely what Raja and
his mate We're doing-they were turning the
| lidi back toward me. or at least Raja was.
Just why the female was keeping out of it
| did not understand unless 1t was that she
was not entirely clear in her own mind 5
| to precisely what her mate was attempting.
| At any rate. / sufficiently convinced
| to stop where j was and await develop
| ments, for / could readily realize two
| things. One was that | could never over
haul them before the damage was done If
| they should pull the lidi down now. The
| other thing was that if they did not pull
it down for few minutes it would have
| completed it circle and returned close to
| where / stood.
And this is just what happened. The lot
| of them were almost swallowed up in the
twilight for moment. Then they reap
peared again. but this time far to the
| right and circliEg back in my general di-
| rection. | watched until I could get some
clear idea OF the eight spot to gain that /
| might intercept the ldi but even as |
waited l saw the beast attempt to turn
still more to the right-a move that would
| have carried him far to my left in much
/ more. circumscribed circle than the hyae-
| nodons had mapped out for him Then |
saw the female leap forward and head him !;
and when he would have gone too far to
the left. Raja sprang, swapping at his shoul-
der and held him straight
Straight for me the two savage beasts
were driving their quarry! 1t was Won
| derful.
1t was something else. too, as realized
while the monstrous beast neared me. 1t
was like standing in the middle of the
tracks in front of an approaching express
train. But l didn't dare waver; too much
depended upon my meeting that hur,ling
mass of terrified flesh with a WELL placed
javeln So l stood there, waiting to be run
down and crushed by those gigantic feet.
but determined to drive home my weapon
in the broad breast before | fell.
| The lidi was only about hundred yard !;
from me when Raja gave a few barks in
a tone that differed materially from his
hunting cry. Instantly both he and his
mate leaped for the long neck of the rumi .
nant.
Neither missed Swinging in midair,
they hung tenaciously, their weight drag
gng down the creatures head and so re-
tarding its speed that before il had reached
me 1t was almost stopped and devoting all
it's energies to attempting to scrape off its
attackers with it's forefeet.
Dian had seen and recognized me, and
was trying to extricate herself from the
grasp Of her captor, who, handicapped by
his strong and agile prisoner. was unable
| to WELD his lance effectively upon the two
| | jaloks. At the same time | was running
, swiftly toward them.
| When the man discovered me he re
, leased his hold upon Dian and sprang tc
the ground, ready with his lance to meet
re. My javeln was no match for his
, longer weapon. which was used more foi
, stabbing than missile Should / miss
him at my first cast. as was quite prob
, able. since he was prepared for me, would
!, have to face his formidable lance with
nothing more than stone knife. The out
look was scarcely enhancing Evidentl,
/ was soon to be absolutely at his mercy
Seeing my predicament, he ran towart
me to get rid of one antagonist before h,
had to deal with the other two. He could
: not guess, of course, that the two jalok.
. were hunting with me; but he doubtless
Q thought that after they had finished the lid
e they would make after the human prey
q the beasts are notorious killers, often slay
y ing wantonly.
o But as the Thurian came Raja Ioosene,
| his hold upon the ldi and dashed for hin,
4 with the female close after When the ma,
a saw them he yelled TO me to help him, pro
s testing that we should both be killed if w
8 did not fight together. But l only laughe,
., Isat him and ran toward Dian.
J, Both the fierce beasts were upon tn
D Thurian simultaneously must have die
/. almost before his body tumbled to IN
q ground Then the female wheeled towar
r Dian. I was standing by her side as tn
. thing charged her. my javelin ready to re-
d ceive her.
4 But again Raja was too quick for "a (.
4 imaginsd hs thqpsht che was mRklRu 4