King of Fang and Claw | Page 5

him to satisfy all his
desires, he had purchased and maintained the plane that now lay in
ruins behind him.
And when Constance had received the telegram two days before, that
her father was seriously ill in Cairo, he had immediately suggested that
they make the trip to his bedside in the plane. That their course would
lay over thousands of miles of wild and dangerous territory, they had
never considered for a moment.
Rand sighed. If it had been himself alone who had crashed, he would
not have minded. But Constance and his son complicated the situation.
He shrugged philosophically. They would be there a couple of days at
the most. A rescue ship would surely come in search of them--probably
it was on its way already. He would be ready for it. In the morning he
would prepare a great signal fire in the center of the clearing, ready to
be lit at the first sound of an approaching plane. It was fortunate indeed
that they had crashed in the clearing instead of in the heart of the thick
jungle. A rescue ship could make a safe landing and easily take off.
The fire died down to glowing embers. He caught himself nodding,

prodded the blaze to life again and added more brush. Slowly the stars
wheeled their majestic course across the heavens and the hours passed.
Then at long last the impenetrable blackness slowly lightened to a
murky gray, the first herald of the coming day. Rand stirred, rose and
stretched and greeted the booming sunrise with a smile.
Young David pushed back the tarpaulin with chubby hands, sat up and
looked about him with wondering eyes Rand placed a finger to his lips,
lifted the youngster across the still form of his mother and led him
down to the lake.
To a three-year-old, to whom the common-place features of every-day
life are still a mystery and a delight, the heart of the African jungle is
hardly more startling. David was enchanted. To him, the Dark
Continent was a place of dazzling sunshine and brilliant color; of
pleasing smells and intriguing noises.
The night life of the jungle had died with the dawn to yield place to the
equally noisy life of day. A flight of long-tailed, scarlet birds wafted
across the lake and came to rest in a squawking group in the tree-tops.
Slender, spidery monkeys trooped through the branches and peered
curiously down at the strange invaders of their domain One, bolder than
the rest, cautiously approached the tail of the plane. With a gleeful
whoop, David ran to catch it.
Rand smiled at the comical mixture of surprise and disappointment on
his face when the monkey scurried agilely off, mocking the youngster
over his shoulder as he went.
When they came back to the lean-to to prepare breakfast they found
Constance awake. Her leg was setting nicely and bothered her little.
Rand adjusted the splints, served breakfast and then set to work to
prepare the signal fire. He warned his wife that yet another day might
pass before rescue came, but the sight of the towering brushpile and the
wet tarpaulin lying beside it, ready to blanket the smoke and send it up
in signal puffs, cheered her greatly.
She made no complaint, though Rand knew that her broken leg gave

her constant pain. The loaded rifle was set against the lean-to and
young David warned of dire results if he should touch it An automatic
was strapped to Rand's belt and thus prepared for whatever the day
might bring, he set to work to make their shelter yet more comfortable
and safe.
To the youngster, this task was delightful play. Despite his happy
conviction that he was being of great assistance, he was constantly
underfoot He picked up his father's knife, dropped it and the sharp
blade missed his foot by inches. He stumbled over a gnarled root and
the rush of his fall blew a shower of sparks from the fire a scant foot
away. Ten minutes later, while making faces at himself in the mirror of
the lake he fell into the water and was thoroughly drenched. After that
episode he was seated beside his mother and requested to remain there.
The day wore on, hot and sultry, with a sudden deluge in mid-afternoon.
A few minutes later the torrid sun turned the damp floor of the jungle to
a steaming mist. Always Rand and his wife listened, ears strained, for
the sound of an approaching motor.
The sun wheeled its long arc across the heavens and headed down
towards the distant mountain peak that rose up, to meet it. At last they
touched, quivering in a shimmer of heat and a riotous sunset flared its
vivid colors over the land. And then,