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198 escape we will take you with us; but first he and I must find a way to be together more."

"I have a plan," said Komodoflorensal, "that might prove successful. They believe that you neither speak nor understand our language. To work a slave with whom they cannot communicate is, to say the least, annoying. I shall tell them that I can communicate with you, when it is quite prob­able that they will assign us to the same crew."

"But how will you communicate with me with­out using the Minunian language?" demanded the ape-man.

"Leave that to me," replied Komodoflorensal. "Until they discover in some other way that you speak Minunian I can continue to deceive them."

It was not long before the fruits of Komodoflorensal’s plan ripened. The guards had come for the slaves and the various parties had gone forth from the sleeping chamber, joining in the corridors without the thousands of others wend­ing their way to the scene of their daily labor. The ape-man joined the timbering crew at the ex­tension of the thirteenth tunnel at the thirty-sixth level where he once more attacked the monoto­nous work of shoring the sides and roof of the shaft with an enthusiasm that elicited commenda­tion from even the surly Kalfastoban, though Caraftap, who was removing rocks just ahead of Tarzan, often shot venomous looks at the ape-man.