wondrous race of supermen.

Perry learned the language with me. When we halted, as we
occasionally did, though sometimes the halts seemed ages apart, he
would join in the conversation, as would Ghak the Hairy One, he who
was chained just ahead of Dian the Beautiful. Ahead of Ghak was
Hooja the Sly One. He too entered the conversation occasionally.
Most of his remarks were directed toward Dian the Beautiful. It
didn't take half an eye to see that he had developed a bad case; but
the girl appeared totally oblivious to his thinly veiled advances.
Did I say thinly veiled? There is a race of men in New Zealand,
or Australia, I have forgotten which, who indicate their preference
for the lady of their affections by banging her over the head with
a bludgeon. By comparison with this method Hooja's lovemaking might
be called thinly veiled. At first it caused me to blush violently
although I have seen several Old Years out at Rectors, and in other
less fashionable places off Broadway, and in Vienna, and Hamburg.

But the girl! She was magnificent. It was easy to see that she
considered herself as entirely above and apart from her present
surroundings and company. She talked with me, and with Perry, and
with the taciturn Ghak because we were respectful; but she couldn't
even see Hooja the Sly One, much less hear him, and that made him
furious. He tried to get one of the Sagoths to move the girl up
ahead of him in the slave gang, but the fellow only poked him with
his spear and told him that he had selected the girl for his own
property--that he would buy her from the Mahars as soon as they
reached Phutra. Phutra, it seemed, was the city of our destination.

After passing over the first chain of mountains we skirted a salt