family and himself a man of
ample means, young, good-looking and affable. What more could a
girl ask for than to have such a man love her and that she possessed
Smith-Oldwick's love there was no doubt in Bertha Kircher's mind.

She sighed, and then, laying her hand impulsively on his forehead,
she whispered, "Do not give up hope, though. Try to live for my
sake and for your sake I will try to love you."

It was as though new life had suddenly been injected into the
man's veins. His face lightened instantly and with strength that
he himself did not know he possessed he rose slowly to his feet,
albeit somewhat unsteadily. The girl helped him and supported him
after he had arisen.

For the moment they had been entirely unconscious of their
surroundings and now as she looked at their captors she saw that
they had fallen again into their almost habitual manner of stolid
indifference, and at a gesture from one of them the march was
resumed as though no untoward incident had occurred.

Bertha Kircher experienced a sudden reaction from the momentary
exaltation of her recent promise to the Englishman. She knew that
she had spoken more for him than for herself but now that it was
over she realized, as she had realized the moment before she had
spoken, that it was unlikely she would ever care for him the way
he wished. But what had she promised? Only that she would try to
love him. "And now?" she asked herself.

She realized that there might be little hope of their ever returning
to civilization. Even if these people should prove friendly and
willing to let them depart in peace, how were they to find their
way back to the coast? With Tarzan dead, as she fully believed him
after having seen his body lying lifeless at the mouth of the cave
when she had been dragged forth by her captor, there seemed no
power at their command which could guide them safely.

The two had scarcely mentioned the ape-man since their capture, for
each realized fully what his loss meant to them. They had compared
notes relative to those few exciting moments of the final attack
and capture and had found that they agreed perfectly upon all that
had occurred. Smith-Oldwick had even seen the lion leap upon Tarzan
at the instant that the former was awakened by the roars of the
charging beasts, and though the night had been dark, he had been
able to see that the body of the savage ape-man had never moved
from the instant that it had come down beneath the