"Now we Humanites believe that our forefathers, the ancients, had such knowledge and power that they were able somehow to develop the animals of this valley into intelligent thinking beasts!"
"It does seem the only possible explanation, fantastic as it is," Nelson muttered.
"However it was done," Shan Kar went on, "the fact remains that in this valley the four higher beast-races, the wolf and tiger and horse and eagle, are in some ways the mental equals of man. And those four clans claim their intelligence entitles them to absolute equality with the human race.
"In fact, they even claim that their races and the human race were created equal in intelligence, that in the dawn of time they issued equally from the Cavern of Creation!"
Nick Sloan said sharply, "This Cavern of Creation is where the platinum is?"
Shan Kar nodded somberly. "It's in the extreme north end of the valley. We know it contains metal relics left by the ancients. But it's difficult to enter because of certain strange dangers. Only the hereditary Guardian of the Brotherhood knows how to enter it safely.
"All the past Guardians, like Kree, the present one, have woven myth around that cavern. They've claimed that in it, long ago, both the human and the higher beast-races were created equal. And they've claimed to be warders of terrible powers left there by the ancients.
The Humanite went on broodingly, his face dark with rankling memory.
"They've kept that myth of the primal Brotherhood of man and beast alive here for ages. But in time we learned that it is not so in the outer world, that there man rightfully rules the animals.
"So we tried to claim for us humans the rightful dominant position here too. We didn't want to tyrannize the intelligent beasts. But we did believe that the governing authority should be in human hands.