Part 51 (1/2)

”At least, it is a better toht

We still have soood man was lost in you”

Harry rose to his feet

”I'ot to do so

Gad, and it took us a month to build that raft!”

”The vanity of hu the strap round round ”Wait a , Desiree?”

But she was too tired to rise to her feet, and we left her behind, arranging what few skins we had as well as possible to protect her from the hard rock

”Rest your weary bones,” said Harry, stooping to kiss her ”There's meat here if you want it We'll be back soon”

So we left her, with her white body stretched out at its full length on the rudeoff to the left, we soon discovered that ould have no difficulty to leave the cavern; we had only to choose our way There was scarcely any wall at all, so broken was it by lanes and passages leading in all directions

We followed soave any particular proh which it was difficult to force a passage We spent an hour or more in these futile explorations, then followed the wall soht

Gradually the exits becah on a boulder near the entrance of onethe head of so down at us We hurled our spears at it, but missed; then were forced to climb up the steep side of the boulder to recover our weapons

”We'd better go back to Desiree,” said Harry e reached the ground again ”She'll wonder what's becoone nearly two hours”

After fifteen minutes' search we found the streaone farther than we thought, and ere looking for the end, where we had left Desiree, long before we reached it Several times we called her name, but there was no answer

”She's probably asleep,” said Harry And a minute later: ”There's the wall at last! But where is she?”

My foot struck soround, and I stooped over to examine it

It was the pile of skins on which Desiree had lain!

I called to Harry, and at the sa toward ot her! Look! Look at this! I found it on the ground over there”

He held the thing in his hand out before me

It was an Inca spear

Chapter XXI

THE MIDST OF THE ENEMY

Harry and I stood gazing at each other blankly in the semidarkness of the cavern

”But it isn't possible,” I objected finally to hts ”She would have cried out and ould have heard her The spear may have been there before”