CONQUEST AND PEACE
The directly for Hooja's island, to at its north-eastern the flat-topped hill that had been Hooja's stronghold. I sent one of the to an surrender; but as he told me they wouldn't all that he told them, so they on the cliff-top and at us.
In reply I had five of the them. When they away at the of the explosions, and at of the and the iron I a of hundred red and them to the opposite end of the hill into the that ran to its summit. Here we met a little resistance; but a from the muzzle-loaders those who our right of way, and presently we the mesa. Here again we met resistance, but at last the of Hooja's surrendered.
Juag was with me, and I no time in returning to him and his the that had been their home for until they were of it by Hooja. I a of the island, making Juag king there. Before we I to Gr-gr-gr, of the beast-men, taking Juag with me. There the three of us a of laws that would permit the brute-folk and the beings of the to live in peace and harmony. Gr-gr-gr sent his son with me to Sari, of my empire, that he might learn the of the beings. I have of this into the of Pellucidar. When I returned to the I that one of the of Juag's tribe, who had been when we arrived, had just returned from the with the news that a great army was in the Land of Awful Shadow, and that they were Thuria. I no time in and setting out for the continent, which we after a and easy voyage.
From the of the Amoz I the through the that Perry had with him. When we were close for the to be of value I saw that there was a of the walled-village of Goork, of the Thurians. As we approached smaller objects distinguishable. It was then that I and above the army of the besiegers.
I called Perry and passed the to him.
"Ghak of Sari," I said.
Perry looked through the of a moment, and then to me with a smile.
"The red, white, and of the empire," he said. "It is your majesty's army."
It soon that we had been by those on shore, for a great of had along the beach us. We came to as close in as we dared, which with our light was easy speaking-distance of the shore. Ghak was there and his were wide, too; for, as he told us later, though he this must be Perry's it was so to him that he not the of his own while he was it approach.
To give the proper to our meeting I that each fire twenty-one as a to His Majesty Ghak, King of Sari. Some of the gunners, in the of their enthusiasm, solid shot; but they had good judg-ment to train their pieces on the open sea, so no was done. After this we landed—an since each but a single light dugout.
I learned from Ghak that the Thurian chieftain, Goork, had been to haughtiness, and had told Ghak, the Hairy One, that he nothing of me and less; but I that the of the and the of the him to his senses, for it was not long he sent a to me, me to visit him in his village. Here he for the he had me, very to the empire, and in return the title of king.
We in Thuria only long to the with Goork, among the other of which was his promise to the army with a thousand lidi, or Thurian of burden, and for them. These were to Ghak's army to Sari by land, while the to the mouth of the great river from which Dian, Juag, and I had been blown.
The was uneventful. We the river easily, and up it for many miles through as rich and a plain as I have seen. At the of we disembarked, a for the feluccas, and the to Sari.
Ghak's army, which was of of all the original of the federation, how successful had been his to the empire, into Sari some time after we arrived. With them were the thousand from Thuria.
At a of the kings it was that we should at once the great against the Mahars, for these presented the to progress Pellucidar. I out a plan of which met with the of the kings. Pursuant to it, I at once fifty to the with orders to fifty to Sari. I also ordered the to at once to Anoroc, where they were to take all the and that had been since their departure, and with a full of men to sail along the in an attempt to a passage to the sea near which the Mahars' city of Phutra.
Ja was sure that a large and river the sea of Phutra with the Lural Az, and that, accident, the would be Phutra as soon as the land were.
At last the great army started upon its march. There were from every one of the kingdoms. All were either with and or muzzle-loaders, for nearly the entire Mezop had been for this march, only having been left the to man them properly. I the into divisions, regiments, battalions, companies, and to and sections, the full of officers and officers. On the long I them in their duties, and as fast as one learned I sent him among the others as a teacher.
Each was up of about a thousand bowmen, and to each was a company of Mezop and a of artillery—the latter, our guns, upon the of the lidi. There was also one full of Mezop and a of spearmen. The of the that we with us were used for animals and to transport our and children, for we had them with us, as it was our to from one Mahar city to another until we had every Mahar nation that the safety of any of the empire.
Before we the plain of Phutra we were by a company of Sagoths, who at to give battle; but upon the numbers of our army they and toward Phutra. The result of this was that when we came in of the hundred towers which mark the to the city we a great army of Sagoths and Mahars up to give us battle.
At a thousand yards we halted, and, our upon a at either flank, we to solid among them. Ja, who was officer, was in of this branch of the service, and he did some excellent work, for his Mezop had by this time. The Sagoths couldn't much of this of warfare, so they us, like fiends. We let them come close, and then the who the line opened up on them.
The was something frightful, but still the of them on until it was a of hand-to-hand fighting. Here our were of value, as were also the iron with which most of the were armed.
We in the after the Sagoths us; but they were exterminated—not one as a prisoner. The Mahars, how the was going, had to the safety of their city. When we had overcome their gorilla-men we after them.
But here we were to defeat, at least temporarily; for no sooner had the of our into the than many of them came and their way to the surface, half-choked by the of some that the had upon them. We a number of men here. Then I sent for Perry, who had in the rear, and had him a little that I had had in my mind against the possibility of our meeting with a check at the to the city.
Under my direction he one of his full of powder, small bullets, and pieces of stone, almost to the muzzle. Then he the tight with a cone-shaped of wood, and in as tight as it be. Next he a long fuse. A dozen men rolled the to the top of the stairs leading into the city, it from its carriage. One of them then the and the whole thing was a the stairway, while the and to a safe distance.
For what a very long time nothing happened. We had to think that the had been put out while the piece was the stairway, or that the Mahars had its purpose and it themselves, when the ground about the entrance rose into the air, to be by a and a of and that high in company with dirt, stone, and of cannon.
Perry had been on two more of these as soon as the was completed. Presently we these into two of the other entrances. They were all that were required, for almost after the third a of Mahars from the from us, rose upon their wings, and northward. A hundred men on were in pursuit, each two in to its driver. Guessing that the sea, which not north of Phutra, was their destination, I took a of and followed.
A low the Phutra plain where the city lies, and the sea where the Mahars were to themselves in the waters. Not until we had this did we a view of the sea.
Then we a that I shall so long as I may live.
Along the beach were up the of lidi, while a hundred yards from the surface of the water was black with the long and cold, of the Mahars. Our Mezop riflemen, and the shorter, squatter, white-skinned Thurian drivers, their with their hands, were the Mahars, were upon the same spot. My when I that which was the attention of them all. Twenty were moving across the of the sea toward the horde!
The must have the Mahars with and consternation, for had they the like of these before. For a time they unable to do but at the fleet; but when the Mezops opened on them with their the in the direction of the feluccas, that these would prove the to overcome. The of the permitted them to approach a hundred yards. Then he opened on them with all the that be to bear, as well as with the small arms of the sailors.
A great many of the were killed at the volley. They for a moment, then dived; did we see them again for a long time.
But they rose out the fleet, and when the came about and them they left the water and away toward the north.
Following the of Phutra I visited Anoroc, where I the people in the and the that Perry had established. I something, too, that he had not told me of—something that more promising than the powder-factory or the arsenal. It was a man over one of the books I had from the world! He was in the that Perry had had to as his sleeping and office. So was he that he did not notice our entrance. Perry saw the look of in my and smiled.
"I started teaching him the when we the prospector, and were taking out its contents," he explained. "He was much by the books and to know of what use they were. When I he asked me to teach him to read, and so I with him I could. He is very and quickly. Before I left he had great progress, and as soon as he is he is going to teach others to read. It was hard work started, though, for had to be into Pellucidarian.
"It will take a long time to solve this problem, but I think that by teaching a number of them to read and English we shall then be able more to give them a language of their own."
And this was the about which we were to our great of and colleges—this almost red warrior, in Perry's little upon the of Anoroc, out by from a work on farming. Now we have—
But I'll to all that I finish.
While we were at Anoroc I Ja in an to South Island, the of the three largest which the Anoroc group—Perry had it its name—where we peace with the there that had for long been toward Ja. They were now to make friends with him and come into the federation. From there we with sixty-five for Luana, the main of the group where the of Anoroc.
Twenty-five of the were of a new and larger type than those with which Ja and Perry had on the occasion when they to and Dian and me. They were longer, much larger sails, and were swifter. Each four of two, and these were so that one or more of them be into action no where the enemy lay.
The Luana group just the range of from the mainland. The largest of it alone is visible from Anoroc; but when we it we that it many islands, and that they were populated. The Luanians had not, of course, been of all that had been going on in the of their nearest and enemies. They of our and our guns, for of their riding-parties had had a taste of both. But their chief, an old man, had either. So, when he us, he put out to us, with him a of about a hundred large war-canoes, to with javelin-armed warriors. It was pitiful, and I told Ja as much. It a to these if there was any way out of it.
To my Ja much as I did. He said he had always to with other Mezops when there were so many to against. I that we the and a parley; but when Ja did so the old that we were afraid, and with loud of his upon us.
So we opened up on them, but at my our fire upon the chief's canoe. The result was that in about thirty there was nothing left of that but a of splinters, while its crew—those who were not killed—were in the water, with the terrible that had to them.
We saved some of them, but the majority died just as had Hooja and the of his that time our second them.
Again we called to the to enter into a with us; but the chief's son was there and he would not, now that he had his father killed. He was all for revenge. So we had to open up on the with all our guns; but it didn't last long at that, for there to be among the Luanians than their or his son had possessed. Presently, an old who one of the surrendered. After that they came in one by one until all had their upon our decks.
Then we called together upon the flag-ship all our captains, to give the weight and dignity, and all the men of Luana. We had them, and they either death or slavery; but they neither, and I told them so. It is always my here in Pellucidar to upon these people that is as a quality as physical bravery, and that next to the men who to with one, we should the men who against us, and if we are victorious, them the and that are their due.
By to this policy I have to the many great and peoples, who under the of the world would have been or after we had them; and thus I the Luanians. I gave them their freedom, and returned their to them after they had to me and and peace with Ja, and I the old fellow, who had had the good to surrender, king of Luana, for the old and his only son had died in the battle.
When I away from Luana she was among the of the empire, were thus pushed hundred miles.
We now returned to Anoroc and to the mainland, where I again took up the against the Mahars, from one great city to another until we had passed north of Amoz into a country where I had been. At each city we were victorious, killing or the Sagoths and the Mahars away.
I noticed that they always toward the north. The Sagoth we to trans-fer their to us, for they are little more than brutes, and when they that we their and give them of fighting, they were nothing to with us against the next Mahar city and with men of their own race.
Thus we proceeded, in a great half-circle north and west and south again until we had come to the of the Lidi Plains north of Thuria. Here we the Mahar city that had the Land of Awful Shadow for so many ages. When we on to Thuria, Goork and his people with at the we them.
During this long of we had passed through seven countries, by who had not yet of the federation, and succeeded in joining them all to the empire. It was that each of these had a Mahar city near by, which had upon them for and food for so many that not in had the population any folk-tale which did not in some an terror of the reptilians.
In each of these I left an officer and to train them in discipline, and prepare them to the arms that I them as as Perry's turn them out, for we that it would be a long, long time we should see the last of the Mahars. That they had north but until we should be gone with our great army and I was positive, and sure was I that they would presently return.
The of Pellucidar of these is one which in all will be completed, for their great must by the hundreds and thousands in the far-distant lands that no of the has upon.
But the present of my there are now none left that I know of, for I am sure we should have of any great Mahar city that had us, although of the army has by no means the area which I now rule.
After Thuria we returned to Sari, where the seat of government is located. Here, upon a vast, plateau, the great that into the from the Lural Az, we are the great city of Sari. Here we are and factories. Here we are teaching men and the of agriculture. Here Perry has the printing-press, and a dozen Sarians are teaching their to read and the language of Pellucidar.
We have just laws and only a of them. Our people are happy they are always at something which they enjoy. There is no money, is any money value upon any commodity. Perry and I were as one in that the of all should not be into Pellucidar while we lived.
A man may that which he produces for something which he that another has produced; but he cannot of the thing he thus acquires. In other words, a to have value the that it out of the hands of its producer. All to government; and, as this the production of the people as a government, government may of it to other in for that which they produce. Thus we are a kingdoms, the profits from which go to the of the people—to for the of implements, and for the we are teaching the people.
Already Anoroc and Luana are with one another in the of the ships they build. Each has large ship-yards. Anoroc makes and iron ore, and by means of their ships they on a very with Thuria, Sari, and Amoz. The Thurians lidi, which, having the and of an elephant, make excellent animals.
Around Sari and Amoz the men are the great antelope, the meat of which is most delicious. I am sure that it will not be long they will have them to and saddle. The of Pellucidar are too for such uses, some of them being little larger than fox-terriers.
Dian and I live in a great the gulf. There is no in our windows, for we have no windows, the but a above the floor-line, the of the space being open to the ceilings; but we have a to us from the noon-day sun. Perry and I to set a in that would not with the white plague, so we have of ventilation. Those of the people who prefer, still their caves, but many are houses to ours.
At Greenwich we have a town and an observatory—though there is nothing to but the sun directly overhead. Upon the of the Land of Awful Shadow is another observatory, from which the time is by to every of the twenty-four times a day. In to the wireless, we have a small telephone in Sari. Everything is yet in the early of development; but with the science of the outer-world century to upon we are making progress, and with all the and errors of the world to us clear of dangers, I think that it will not be long Pellucidar will as nearly a Utopia as one may to this of heaven.
Perry is away just now, out a railway-line from Sari to Amoz. There are coal-fields at the of the not from Sari, and the railway will these. Some of his students are on a now. It will be a to see an iron through the of the age, while bears, saber-toothed tigers, and the other terrible of the past look on from their in wide-eyed astonishment.
We are very happy, Dian and I, and I would not return to the world for all the of all its princes. I am here. Even without my powers and I should be content, for have I not that of all treasures, the love of a good woman—my empress, Dian the Beautiful?
