egotiated the ascent but none where the others could hope
successfully to reach the plateau, nor where Tarzan, powerful and
agile as he was, could have ventured safely to carry them aloft.

For half a day the ape-man had been either carrying or supporting
Smith-Oldwick and now, to his chagrin, he saw that the girl was
faltering. He had realized well how much she had undergone and
how greatly the hardships and dangers and the fatigue of the past
weeks must have told upon her vitality. He saw how bravely she
attempted to keep up, yet how often she stumbled and staggered as
she labored through the sand and gravel of the gorge. Nor could
he help but admire her fortitude and the uncomplaining effort she
was making to push on.

The Englishman must have noticed her condition too, for some time
after noon, he stopped suddenly and sat down in the sand. "It's
no use," he said to Tarzan. "I can go no farther. Miss Kircher is
rapidly weakening. You will have to go on without me."

"No," said the girl, "we cannot do that. We have all been through
so much together and the chances of our escape are still so remote
that whatever comes, let us remain together, unless," and she looked
up at Tarzan, "you, who have done so much for us to whom you are
under no obligations, will go on without us. I for one wish that
you would. It must be as evident to you as it is to me that you
cannot save us, for though you succeeded in dragging us from the
path of our pursuers, even your great strength and endurance could
never take one of us across the desert waste which lies between
here and the nearest fertile country."

The ape-man returned her serious look with a smile. "You are
not dead," he said to her, "nor is the lieutenant, nor Otobu, nor
myself. One is either dead or alive, and until we are dead we should
plan only upon continuing to live. Because we remain here and rest
is no indication that we shall die here. I cannot carry you both
to the country of the Wamabos, which is the nearest spot at which
we may expect to find game and water, but we shall not give up on
that account. So far we have found a way. Let us take things as
they come. Let us rest now because you and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick
need the rest, and when you are stronger we will go on again."

"But the Xujans--?" she asked, "may they not follow us here?"

"Yes," he said, "they probably will. But we need not be concerned
with them until they come."

"I wish," said the girl