of the hot water, for it warmed
her, and her ankle felt much better. They decided to follow the little
stream which would doubtless wind its way somehow around the present
ridge back to the ocean. Accordingly, they kept down the ravine, which
cut across the ridge in a southerly direction.

For the whole of that day and the next they followed the stream, which
grew to a small creek. At noon of the third day they dropped suddenly
down a steep slope to find themselves at the juncture of their stream,
with a river which flowed through a deep gorge out to the ocean. They
determined to follow it up toward its head.

"Somewhere inland must be a town," argued Claire. "At any rate, it's the
only way we can go."

After living for four days on berries, they were beginning to feel
acutely the need of other food, but they discussed the problem at length
without arriving at any feasible solution. Two days later fortune
temporarily relieved their difficulty.

They were following along the side of a steep ridge overlooking the
river, when Claire suddenly stopped him and gave a cry of delight. Near
them a small, furry animal, caught in a tangled mass of wirelike
creepers, was struggling to free itself. He killed the creature with his
stone-edged tool, and after barbecuing it on the end of a stick, they
ate it ravenously. Each of them would have disliked the whole scene at
any other time, but now neither thought anything of it until after they
were satisfied.

Leaning back against a rock, Lawrence stroked his chin, rapidly becoming
invisible under a heavy beard. "I hadn't known I was so hungry for real
food," he laughed.

Brown as a gipsy, her hair filled with tiny green leaves, Claire looked
at him, her eyes shining with the warm light of satisfied hunger. "We
ate like two beasts," she remarked languidly, and laughed. "It was
simply disgraceful."

"I know," he began to muse, "it doesn't take long for the most polished
man--not that I ever was that--to become a savage."

"You look the part," she laughed. "I suppose I do, too. My hair is
matted hopelessly; the curliness makes it worse. My face, too, is
rapidly hardening under this sun. If only I had a few more clothes--"
She stopped and looked at him. "I feel the need of them," she finished
lamely.

Claire had worn his coat continuously from the first night, and his
undershirt was tearing from contact with bush and tree. He grinned
contentedly, however.

"If you approach na