The girl revolved her right shoulder with an impatient gesture that fascinated him.
"Io. Io. Ca'min 'Kagan'!" she said, or so the words sounded. Then she touched her breast. "Na'min 'Lete'."
Obviously the girl was trying to tell him that the cave people were called "Kagan", but that her name was "Lete".
Pointing eagerly at the scaly octopods beneath the pavilion he said, "What are they?" in a questioning tone.
For an instant fear mirrored itself in Lete's yellow eyes. She shuddered, then she seemed to grasp what he wanted and said: "Anolyn."
"Anolyn," he repeated, "Anolyn." Next he pointed at the fighting men. They were "Nehogans", the porters were "Rik'gans".
Lete was an enthusiastic teacher and Jupiter began to acquire a sizable vocabulary. He didn't know how long they kept it up. Hours possibly. They were interrupted by the sudden opening of his cage door.
He stared at it in amazement, for it had swung back apparently of its own volition. There was no one within a dozen feet. There had been a "click", and then it had opened.
Before he could grasp what was happening, he found himself crawling out of the cage and standing up. Then he started for the pavilion where the purple-shelled octopods—the Anolyns as Lete called them—were waiting.
His brain reeled. He tried to stop. He couldn't! He had absolutely no command over his muscles!