"But," added Ja, "there is an entrance near the base of which even
the Mahars know nothing. Come," and he led me across the clearing
and about the end to a pile of loose rock which lay against the
foot of the wall. Here he removed a couple of large bowlders,
revealing a small opening which led straight within the building,
or so it seemed, though as I entered after Ja I discovered myself
in a narrow place of extreme darkness.
"We are within the outer wall," said Ja. "It is hollow. Follow
me closely."
The red man groped ahead a few paces and then began to ascend
a primitive ladder similar to that which leads from the ground to
the upper stories of his house. We ascended for some forty feet
when the interior of the space between the walls commenced to grow
lighter and presently we came opposite an opening in the inner
wall which gave us an unobstructed view of the entire interior of
the temple.
The lower floor was an enormous tank of clear water in which numerous
hideous Mahars swam lazily up and down. Artificial islands of
granite rock dotted this artificial sea, and upon several of them
I saw men and women like myself.
"What are the human beings doing here?" I asked.
"Wait and you shall see," replied Ja. "They are to take a leading
part in the ceremonies which will follow the advent of the queen.
You may be thankful that you are not upon the same side of the wall
as they."
Scarcely had he spoken than we heard a great fluttering of wings above
and a moment later a long procession of the frightful reptiles of
Pellucidar winged slowly and majestically through the large central
opening in the roof and circled in stately manner about the temple.
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