"Tell me, ancient one," he said, "not of thy loves but of thyself. Who are you? What do you here in the pits of O-Tar?" "I might ask you the same, young man," replied the other. "Few there are who visit the pits other than the dead, except my pupils--ey! That is it--you are new pupils! Good! But never before have they sent a woman to learn the great art from the greatest artist. But times have changed. Now, in my day the women did no work--they were just for kissing and loving. Ey, those were the women. I mind the one we captured in the south--ey! she was a devil, but how she could love. She had breasts of marble and a heart of fire. Why, she--" "Yes, yes," interrupted Turan; "we are pupils, and we are anxious to get to work. Lead on and we will follow." "Ey, yes! Ey, yes! Come! All is rush and hurry as though there were not another countless myriad of ages ahead. Ey, yes! as many as lie behind. Two thousand years have passed since I broke my shell and always rush, rush, rush, yet I cannot see that aught has been accomplished. Manator is the same today as it was then--except the girls. We had the girls then. There was one that I gained upon The Fields of Jetan. Ey, but you should have seen--" "Lead on!" cried Turan. "After we are at work you shall tell us of her." "Ey, yes," said the old fellow and shuffled off down a dimly lighted passage. "Follow me!" "You are going with him?" asked Tara. "Why not?" replied Turan. "We know not where we are, or the way from these pits; for I know not east from west; but he doubtless knows and if we are shrewd we may learn from him that which we would know. At least we cannot afford to arouse his suspicions"; and so they followed him--followed along winding corridors and through many chambers, until they came at last to a room in which there were several marble slabs raised upon pedestals some three feet above the floor and upon each slab lay a human corpse. "Here we are," exclaimed the old man. "These are fresh and we shall have to get to work upon them soon. I am working now on one for The Gate of Enemies. He slew many of our warriors. Truly is he entitled to a place in The Gate. Come, you shall see him." He led them to an adjoining apartment. Upon the floor were many fresh, human bones and upon a marble slab a mass of shapeless flesh.