en burned. "Just below us is a great lake of black
water, which looked so cold and wicked that it made me shudder; but
away at the left there's a big tunnel, which we can easily walk
through. I don't know where it leads to, of course, but we must follow
it and find out." "why, we can't get to it," protested the little girl.
"We can't fly, as you do, you must remember."

"No, that's true," replied the Ork musingly. "Your bodies are built
very poorly, it seems to me, since all you can do is crawl upon the
earth's surface. But you may ride upon my back, and in that way I can
promise you a safe journey to the tunnel."

"Are you strong enough to carry us?" asked Cap'n Bill, doubtfully.

"Yes, indeed; I'm strong enough to carry a dozen of you, if you could
find a place to sit," was the reply; "but there's only room between my
wings for one at a time, so I'll have to make two trips."

"All right; I'll go first," decided Cap'n Bill.

He lit another candle for Trot to hold while they were gone and to
light the Ork on his return to her, and then the old sailor got upon
the Ork's back, where he sat with his wooden leg sticking straight out
sidewise.

"If you start to fall, clasp your arms around my neck," advised the
creature.

"If I start to fall, it's good night an' pleasant dreams," said Cap'n
Bill.

"All ready?" asked the Ork.

"Start the buzz-tail," said Cap'n Bill, with a tremble in his voice.
But the Ork flew away so gently that the old man never even tottered in
his seat. Trot watched the light of Cap'n Bill's candle till it
disappeared in the far distance. She didn't like to be left alone on
this dangerous ledge, with a lake of black water hundreds of feet below
her; but she was a brave little girl and waited patiently for the
return of the Ork. It came even sooner than she had expected and the
creature said to her:

"Your friend is safe in the tunnel. Now, then, get aboard and I'll
carry you to him in a jiffy."

I'm sure not many little girls would have cared to take that awful ride
through the huge black cavern on the back of a skinny Ork. Trot didn't
care for it, herself, but it just had to be done and so she did it as
courageously as possible. Her heart beat fast and she was so nervous
she could scarcely hold the candle in her fingers as the Ork sped
swiftly through the darkness.

It seemed like a long ride to her, yet in reality the Ork covered the
distance in a wonderfully brief period of time and so