day
they had carried the now useless rifles; but at last they had discarded
them and thrown away the cumbersome bandoleers, as well. How they had
managed to survive during the ensuing week she could never quite
understand, and then the Ho-don had come upon them and captured her.
Obergatz had escaped--she was living it all over again. Doubtless he
was dead unless he had been able to reach this side of the valley which
was quite evidently less overrun with savage beasts.

Jane's days were very full ones now, and the daylight hours seemed all
too short in which to accomplish the many things she had determined
upon, since she had concluded that this spot presented as ideal a place
as she could find to live until she could fashion the weapons she
considered necessary for the obtaining of meat and for self-defense.

She felt that she must have, in addition to a good spear, a knife, and
bow and arrows. Possibly when these had been achieved she might
seriously consider an attempt to fight her way to one of civilization's
nearest outposts. In the meantime it was necessary to construct some
sort of protective shelter in which she might feel a greater sense of
security by night, for she knew that there was a possibility that any
night she might receive a visit from a prowling panther, although she
had as yet seen none upon this side of the valley. Aside from this
danger she felt comparatively safe in her aerial retreat.

The cutting of the long poles for her home occupied all of the daylight
hours that were not engaged in the search for food. These poles she
carried high into her tree and with them constructed a flooring across
two stout branches binding the poles together and also to the branches
with fibers from the tough arboraceous grasses that grew in profusion
near the stream. Similarly she built walls and a roof, the latter
thatched with many layers of great leaves. The fashioning of the barred
windows and the door were matters of great importance and consuming
interest. The windows, there were two of them, were large and the bars
permanently fixed; but the door was small, the opening just large
enough to permit her to pass through easily on hands and knees, which
made it easier to barricade. She lost count of the days that the house
cost her; but time was a cheap commodity--she had more of it than of
anything else. It meant so little to her that she had not even any
desire to keep account of it. How long since she an