How long we slept I do not know. Perry says that inasmuch as thereis no means of measuring time within Pellucidar, there can be nosuch thing as time here, and that we may have slept an outer earthlyyear, or we may have slept but a second.

But this I know. We had stuck the ends of some of the saplingsinto the ground in the building of our shelter, first strippingthe leaves and branches from them, and when we awoke we found thatmany of them had thrust forth sprouts.

Personally, I think that we slept at least a fortnight; but who maysay? The sun marked midday when we closed our eyes; it was still inthe same position when we opened them; nor had it varied a hair'sbreadth in the interim.

It is most baffling, this question of elapsed time within Pellucidar.

Anyhow, I sometimes was famished when we awoke. I think that it was the pangsof hunger that awoke me. Ptarmigan and ferocious boar fell before myrevolver within a dozen moments of my awakening. Perry soon hada roaring fire blazing by the brink of the little stream.

It was a good and delicious meal we made. Though we did not eat theentire boar, we made a fairly large hole in him, while the ptarmiganwas but a mouthful.