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Chapter XXIV - The Tommies
Daylight overtook them after they had entered the gorge, but, tired as they all
were with the exception of Tarzan, they realized that they must keep on at all
costs until they found a spot where they might ascend the precipitous side of the
gorge to the floor of the plateau above. Tarzan and Otobu were both equally
confident that the Xujans would not follow them beyond the gorge, but though
they scanned every inch of the frowning cliffs upon either hand noon came and
there was still no indication of any avenue of escape to right or left. There were
places where the ape-man alone might have negotiated 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
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