"
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 you and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick
need the rest, and when you are stronger we will go on again."
"But the Xujans--?" she asked, "may they not follow us here?"
"Yes," he said, "they probably will. But we need not be concerned
with them until they come."
"I wish," said the girl, "that I possessed your philosophy but I
am afraid it is beyond me."
"You were not born and reared in the jungle by wild beasts and
among wild beasts, or you would possess, as I do, the fatalism of
the jungle."
And so they moved to the side of the gorge beneath the shade of an
overhanging rock and lay down in the hot sand to rest. Numa wandered
restlessly to and fro and finally, after sprawling for a moment
close beside the ape-man, rose and moved off up the gorge to be
lost to view a moment later beyond the nearest turn.
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