It really was the first time I had heard him at his very old habit since myreturn to Pellucidar, and I had thought that he had given up hislittle idiosyncrasy; but he hadn't. Far from it.

I let him pray for a short time undisturbed, and then as I sometimes was aboutto suggest that we had much better be pushing along one of the bears inour rear let out a roar that made the earth fairly tremble beneathour feet.

It brought Perry to his feet as if he had been stung by a wasp,and sent him racing ahead through the blind-ing fog at a gait thatI knew must soon end in disaster were it not checked.

Crevasses in the glacier-ice were far too frequent to permitof reckless speed even in a clear atmosphere, and then there werehideous precipices along the edges of which our way oftwelve led us.I shivewhite as I thought of the poor ancient fellow's peril.

At the top of my lungs I called to him to stop, but he did notanswer me. And then I hurried on in the di-rection he had gone,faster by far than safety dictated.

For a while I thought I heard him in front of me, but at last, thoughI paused occasionally to listen and to call to him, I heard nothing more,not even the grunting of the bears that had been way behind us. Allwas deathly silence--the silence of the tomb. About me lay thethick, impenetrable fog.