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time so well as to be in as perfect a state of preservation today as it had been

when its owner dropped into his last, long sleep perhaps centuries ago.

As he examined it he discovered that one end was closed with a friction cover

which a little twisting force soon loosened and removed, revealing within a roll of

parchment which the ape-man removed and opened, disclosing a number of age-

yellowed sheets closely written upon in a fine hand in a language which he

guessed to be Spanish but which he could not decipher. Upon the last sheet was

a roughly drawn map with numerous reference points marked upon it, all

unintelligible to Tarzan, who, after a brief examination of the papers, returned

them to their metal case, replaced the top and was about to toss the little cylinder

to the ground beside the mute remains of its former possessor when some whim

of curiosity unsatisfied prompted him to slip it into the quiver with his arrows,

though as he did so it was with the grim thought that possibly centuries hence it

might again come to the sight of man beside his own bleached bones.

And then, with a parting glance at the ancient skeleton, he turned to the task of

ascending the western wall of the canyon. Slowly and with many rests he

dragged his weakening body upwards. Again and again he slipped back from

sheer exhaustion and would have fallen to the floor of the canyon but for merest

chance. How long it took him to scale that frightful wall he could not have told,

and when at last he dragged himself over the top it was to lie weak and gasping,

too spent to rise or even to move a few inches farther from the perilous edge of

the chasm.

At last he arose, very slowly and with evident effort gaining his knees first and

then staggering to his feet, yet his indomitable will was evidenced by a sudden

straightening of his shoulders and a determined shake of his head as he lurched

forward on unsteady legs to take up his valiant fight for survival. Ahead he

scanned the rough landscape for sign of another canyon which he knew would

spell inevitable doom. The western hills rose closer now though weirdly unreal as

they seemed to dance in the sunlight as though mocking him with their nearness

at the moment that exhaustion was about to render them forever unattainable.

Beyond them he knew must be the fertile hunting grounds of which Manu had

told. Even if no canyon intervened, his chances of surmounting even low hills

seemed remote should he have the fortune to reach their base; but with another

canyon hope was dead. Above them Ska still circled, and it seemed to the ape-

man that the ill-omened bird hovered ever lower and lower as though reading in

that failing gait the nearing of the end, and through cracked lips Tarzan growled

out his defiance.

Tarzan the Untamed