www.freeclassicebooks.com

Shortly after they passed the summit of the ridge which formed the boundary

between the desert and the fertile country, Ska, the vulture, winging his way at a

high altitude toward his aerie, caught sight of a strange new bird of gigantic

proportions encroaching upon the preserves of his aerial domain. Whether with

intent to give battle to the interloper or merely impelled by curiosity, Ska rose

suddenly upward to meet the plane. Doubtless he misjudged the speed of the

newcomer, but be that as it may, the tip of the propeller blade touched him and

simultaneously many things happened. The lifeless body of Ska, torn and

bleeding, dropped plummet-like toward the ground; a bit of splintered spruce

drove backward to strike the pilot on the forehead; the plane shuddered and

trembled and as Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick sank forward in

momentary unconsciousness the ship dived headlong toward the earth.

Only for an instant was the pilot unconscious, but that instant almost proved

their undoing. When he awoke to a realization of their peril it was also to discover

that his motor had stalled. The plane had attained frightful momentum, and the

ground seemed too close for him to hope to flatten out in time to make a safe

landing. Directly beneath him was a deep rift in the plateau, a narrow gorge, the

bottom of which appeared comparatively level and sand covered.

In the brief instant in which he must reach a decision, the safest plan seemed to

attempt a landing in the gorge, and this he did, but not without considerable

damage to the plane and a severe shaking-up for himself and his passenger.

Fortunately neither of them was injured but their condition seemed indeed a

hopeless one. It was a grave question as to whether the man could repair his

plane and continue the journey, and it seemed equally questionable as to their

ability either to proceed on foot to the coast or retrace their way to the country

they had just left. The man was confident that they could not hope to cross the

desert country to the east in the face of thirst and hunger, while behind them in

the valley of plenty lay almost equal danger in the form of carnivores and the

warlike natives.

After the plane came to its sudden and disastrous stop, Smith-Oldwick turned

quickly to see what the effect of the accident had been on the girl. He found her

pale but smiling, and for several seconds the two sat looking at each other in

silence.

This is the end?" the girl asked.

The Englishman shook his head. "It is the end of the first leg, anyway," he replied.

But you can't hope to make repairs here," she said dubiously.

Tarzan the Untamed