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Rh "At least they cannot detain us," said Tarzan, and moved on again across the chamber toward a doorway on the opposite side.

"But they tell us something, possibly," ven­tured Komodoflorensal.

"What do they say?" asked the ape-man.

"That this corridor connected with the quar­ters of a very powerful Veltopismakusian," re­plied the prince. "So powerful was he that he might dispose of his enemies thus, without ques­tion; and it also tells us that all this happened long years ago."

"The condition of the bodies told us that," said Tarzan.

"Not entirely," replied Komodoflorensal. "The ants would have reduced them to that state in a short time. In past ages the dead were left within the domes, and the ants, who were then our scavengers, soon disposed of them, but the ants sometimes attacked the living. They grew from a nuisance to a menace, and then every pre­caution had to be taken to keep from attracting them. Also we fought them. There were great battles waged in Trohanadalmakus between the Minunians and the ants and thousands of our war­riors were devoured alive, and though we slew billions of ants their queens could propagate faster than we could kill the sexless workers who at­tacked us with their soldiers. But at last we turned our attention to their nests. Here the ­