ttle clearing
with the thatched huts of Numabo's village. He tried hard not to
think of the results of a sudden fall to the rapidly receding ground
below. He attempted to concentrate his mind upon the twenty-four
wives which this great bird most assuredly would permit him to
command. Higher and higher rose the plane, swinging in a wide circle
above the forest, river, and meadowland and presently, much to his
surprise, Usanga discovered that his terror was rapidly waning, so
that it was not long before there was forced upon him a consciousness
of utter security, and then it was that he began to take notice of
the manner in which the white man guided and manipulated the plane.

After half an hour of skillful maneuvering, the Englishman rose
rapidly to a considerable altitude, and then, suddenly, without
warning, he looped and flew with the plane inverted for a few
seconds.

"I said I'd give this beggar the lesson of his life," he murmured as
he heard, even above the whir of the propeller, the shriek of the
terrified Negro. A moment later Smith-Oldwick had righted the machine
and was dropping rapidly toward the earth. He circled slowly a few
times above the meadow until he had assured himself that Bertha
Kircher was there and apparently unharmed, then he dropped gently
to the ground so that the machine came to a stop a short distance
from where the girl and the warriors awaited them.

It was a trembling and ashen-hued Usanga who tumbled out of the
fuselage, for his nerves were still on edge as a result of the
harrowing experience of the loop, yet with terra firma once more
under foot, he quickly regained his composure. Strutting about
with great show and braggadocio, he strove to impress his followers
with the mere nothingness of so trivial a feat as flying birdlike
thousands of yards above the jungle, though it was long until he
had thoroughly convinced himself by the force of autosuggestion
that he had enjoyed every instant of the flight and was already
far advanced in the art of aviation.

So jealous was the black of his new-found toy that he would not
return to the village of Numabo, but insisted on making camp close
beside the plane, lest in some inconceivable fashion it should be
stolen from him. For two days they camped there, and constantly
during daylight hours Usanga compelled the Englishman to instruct
him in the art of flying.

Smith-Oldwick, in recalling the long months of arduous training he
had unde