'A storm is coming,' replied Tarzan.
'How do you know?' demanded Gregory. 'There is not a cloud in the sky.'
'Tarzan always knows,' said d'Arnot.
How Tarzan had known that a storm was approach-nig, not even he could have explained. Perhaps he shared with the wild things, by which and among which he had been raised, a peculiar sensitivity beyond the appreciation of men. However that may be, a half hour after he had foretold it, the ship raced into the heart of a tropical storm.
Lavac, who was accustomed to sudden tropical storms, assumed that it covered but a small area and would soon be astern of them. An experienced flier, with a ship equipped with all the instruments necessary for blind flying, he merely increased his elevation and flew into it. The ship rolled and tossed, and Ogabi became a few shades lighter. Wolff clenched Ms fists until Ms knuckles were white.
After an hour of it, Lavac turned and motioned d'Arnot to come forward. 'It's worse than I'd anticipated, Captain,' he said. 'Had I better turn back?'
'Got plenty of petrol?' asked d'Arnot.
Lavac nodded. 'Yes, sir,' he replied.
'Everything else all right?'
'I'm not so sure about the compass.'
'Then we wouldn't be any better off flying back than going on,' said d'Arnot. 'Let's keep on. We're bound to be out of it sooner or later.'
For two long hours more Lavac bucked the storm; then the engine spluttered. D'Arnot went forward hurriedly; but before he reached Lavac's side, the engine caught itself again and was purring sweetly. It had been a tense moment for these two. D'Arnot breathed a deep sigh of relief—and then the engine spluttered again and stopped. Lavac worked furiously with a hand pump. D'Arnot turned back toward the cabin.
'Fasten your life belts,' he said. 'We may have to come down.'
'The line's clogged,' said Lavac, 'and I can't clear it.'
D'Arnot glanced at the altimeter. 'You've got about three thousand meters,' he said. 'The average elevation in the vicinity of Bonga is around two hundred. Glide as far as you can, looking for a hole.'
'And if I don't find one?' asked Lavac.
D'Arnot shrugged and grimaced. 'You're the pilot,' he said, 'and I understand you're a very good one.'
'Thanks,' said Lavac. 'It will take a very good pilot to fly this ship through a forest. I am not that good. Are you going to tell them?'
'What's the use?' asked d'Arnot.
'They might wish to take up some matters with God—matters they have been neglecting to discuss with Hun.'
'What's wrong?' demanded Wolff. 'The engine isn't running.'
'You have answered your own question,' said d'Arnot, walking back to his seat.
'We're coming down,' said Wolff. 'He can't see to land. We'll crash.'
'Be calm,' admonished d'Arnot; 'we have not crashed yet.'
The passengers sat in tense expectancy as the ship nosed down through storm racked clouds.
'What altitude now, Lavac?' asked d'Arnot.
'Three hundred meters.'
'That means we can't be more than three hundred feet from ground at the best,' said Gregory. 'I remember looking at a map the other day. Nearly all this country back here runs about six hundred feet elevation.'
Suddenly Wolff leaped to his feet. 'I can't stand it,' he cried. 'I'm going to jump!'
Tarzan seized him and threw him back into his seat. 'Sit still,' he said.
'Yes, sit still!' snapped d'Arnot. 'Is it not bad enough without that?'
Lavac voiced an exclamation of relief. 'We're out of it!' he cried, 'and there's water just below us.'
A moment later the ship glided to an easy landing on the bosom of a little lake. Only the forest and the jungle were there to welcome it. If there were eyes to see, they remained hidden; and the voices of the jungle were momentarily stilled. The rain beat upon the water, and the wind moaned in the forest. Of these things and of their miraculous escape from death Ogabi was unconscious—he had fainted.
'Do you know where we are, Lieutenant?' asked d'Arnot.
'I haven't the least idea,' replied Lavac, '—never saw this lake before.'
'Then we are lost?' asked Gregory.
Lavac nodded. 'I'm afraid so, sir. My compass wasn't behaving very well; and then, naturally, we must have been blown way off our course.'
'How lonely and depressing it looks,' said Magra.
'It is the jungle,' breathed Tarzan, almost as one might say, 'It is home!'
'How discouraging,' said Gregory. 'Just when it seemed certain that we had overcome every obstacle and found a way to circumvent Thome and rescue Helen, this had to happen. Now we are absolutely helpless. We shall never reach her now, poor child.'
'Non! Non! my dear Monsieur Gregory, you must not give up,' said d'Arnot. 'This is only a temporary delay. Lieutenant Lavac will have that fuel line cleared in no time, and as soon as the weather lifts we'll take off again. We have plenty of time. Thome will not reach Bonga for three days yet. As soon as the weather clears, the lieutenant can find Bonga even with no compass at all.'
Lavac worked on the fuel line for half an hour; then he called d'Arnot. 'The line was not clogged, sir,' he said. He looked worried.
'Then what was the trouble?' demanded d'Arnot.
'We are out of fuel. The tank must have been leaking badly, as we had a full load when we left.'
'But the reserve tank—what of that?' demanded d'Arnot.
'It was the reserve tank that leaked, and we have emptied the other.'
D'Arnot shook his head. 'That poor little girl!' he said.
Chapter 6
OGABI WAS SINGING as he grilled antelope steaks over a fire beside which lay the carcass of the animal. Ogabi's spirits had been rising for four days, for now he was four marches away from that horrible bird thing, in the belly of which he had almost ridden to his death. He had been very fearful that the white men would decide to return to it and fly again. If they had, however, he should have run away into the jungle and hidden. Five white men sat around the fire watching him. 'Pretty well convinced you know where we are now, Tarzan?' asked d'Arnot.
'Yes. I'm quite certain that we are east of Bonga and a little south. That buck I killed ranges in that district.'
'Thome probably left Bonga today,' said Gregory.
'By the time we reach Bonga he'll be many marches ahead of us. We'll never overtake Mm.'
'We don't have to go to Bonga,' said Tarzan. 'We can strike out directly northeast and cut his trail; then we can follow! on faster than he can travel—boys with packs will slow him down. We're not handicapped by anything like that.'
'You mean we can travel without porters or provisions?' demanded Gregory.
'We have been for the last four days,' Tarzan reminded him. He looked quickly about the camp. 'Where's Magra?' he asked. 'I told her not to leave camp. This is lion country; and, if I'm right about the location, it's also cannibal country.'
Magra had not meant to go far from the camp; but the forest was intriguing, and it seemed so quiet and peaceful. She walked slowly, enjoying the blooms, watching the birds. She stopped before a lovely orchid, which, like some beautiful woman, sucked the Me blood from the giant that supported it. Presently she recalled Tarzan's injunction, and turned to retrace her steps to camp. She did not see the great lion behind her which had caught her scent and was stalking her on silent, padded feet.
The men in the camp saw Tarzan rise to his feet, his head up, his nostrils quivering; then, to their
