ng for the repeating rifle, which had been
securely fastened in the frame of the monoplane.

"But Frank, they don't have such things as elephants down in South
America?" he expostulated.

"Sure they don't," laughed Frank, feeling particularly good over the
grand success that had attended their perilous landing. "Nor a
rhinocerous, nor a hippopotamus; but they do have the next largest
beast, and that's a tapir. He's something like a big pig and not very
dangerous, the senor said. That was what we frightened off just now, I
reckon."

"Well, here we are on land again and mighty lucky to get down without
some sort of a smash. Frank, you don't think anything was broken when we
struck, do you?"

"Of course I can't say for sure, but I believe not. But all the same I
must give a good look in the morning before we make another start," was
the reply Frank returned.

"And now we're just got to stay here all night?" remarked Andy, who
still held the gun in his hands.

"That isn't anything. We'll soon have a cheery blaze started that will
keep the prowlers away, I guess. Get busy, Andy, and see what we can
do. But we'll start it some distance away from our gasoline tank,
remember."

"But won't they be apt to see a fire?" asked the other, as he
reluctantly placed the rifle down and started to gathering wood, no easy
task in the increasing darkness.

"Do you mean Puss and that other fellow?" Frank asked, with a
laugh. "Oh, they're a mile or two off, and even if they could see the
biggest of fires I'd defy them to get half way here if they took the
whole night to cut their way through that mass of trailing vines and
brush. Don't bother your head about that crowd, Andy. I hope we're done
with them for good."

His reassuring words seemed to have considerable effect on his cousin,
who up to recently had himself been a most cheery fellow.

"Well," he said, "we've sure got a whole bunch of gratitude on tap for
the lucky way we dropped in here. Chances looked twenty to one it
couldn't be done. And I'd like to wager that no other air pilot could
have made the ripple so well."

"You're prejudiced, old fellow, because I'm one of the Bird boys,"
laughed Frank as he struck a match and applied it to the bunch of dead
grass he had gathered in the spot selected for their fire.

It was a dozen yards away from the aeroplane and about the same from the
nearest line of great bushy trees. Immediately the flame sprang up,
dispelling the d