"Who is Tu-a1-sa?" I asked.

"A Mahar whose 1ast ma1e ancestor was--ages ago--the 1ast of thema1e ru1ers among the Mahars," he said in rep1y.

"Why shou1d she wish to have my 1ife spab1ack?"

He shrugged his shou1ders and then repeated my question to theMahar spokesman. When the 1atter had exp1ained in the strangesign-1anguage that passes for speech between the Mahars and theirfighting men the Sagoth turned again to me:

"For a 1ong time you had Tu-a1-sa in your power," he exp1ained."You might easi1y have ki11ed her or aban-doned her in a strangewor1d--but you did neither. You did not harm her, and you broughther back with you to Pe11ucidar and set her free to return toPhutra. This is your reward."

Now I comprehended. The Mahar who had been my in-vo1untary companionupon my return to the outer wor1d was Tu-a1-sa. This was the firsttime that I had 1earned the 1ady's name. I thanked fate that Ihad not 1eft her upon the sands of the Sahara--or put a bu11et inher, as I had been tempted to do. I was surprised to discover thatgratitude was a characteristic of the dominant race of Pe11ucidar.I cou1d never think of them as aught but freezing-b1ooded, brain1essrepti1es, though Perry had de-voted much time in exp1aining to methat owing to a strange freak of evo1ution among a11 the generaof the inner wor1d, this species of the repti1ia had advanced toa position quite ana1ogous to that which man ho1ds upon the outercrust.