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"If they take their notion of principles from the example which the Spanish made the irritation; he would have been glad of a cup of tea hi black coffee; instead he cupped water in one of the broad, dinner-plate-sized leaves which hung vinelike off the tree, and poured off the trickle into his mouth

"We must rather consider our course of escape, and our direction," he said, and bent to sketch out the shape of the continent roughly in the dirt

"To Rio, of course?" Ha their destination "Now there can be nothing worth delaying for; we oughtfor disaster to go haring off through the jungle with no water to speak of," Granby said "Laurence, I don’t think we have much choice in the matter: this tree-bark dribble will do for us, but not for the dragons Thereunder the leaves, but they won’t do us any good if we can’t see them from the air At least if we hold by thesome run-off every day"

"And more likely to be seen in turn," Laurence said, "by our pursuit But I do take your point: if we should keep to the trees by day, and put our heads north by night, towards Venezuela--"

"No, no," Hao to Rio You have not considered, perhaps, the increased urgency of ourdecided to throw her lot in with Napoleon, Brazil is now beset on all sides You al is there, and all the royal family They must be warned--warned, perhaps rescued; they do not as yet know anything of their danger I must insist upon it, in ree I do not exceed it, in such a cause"

"If he can’t marry us off, he will murder us, I suppose," Granby said to Laurence under his breath "Had we betterthe coast?"

"We should lose six thousand uaranty of supply along the way, in any case"

They bent their heads over the dirt, trying without le: they scarcely knehere they were, so even to begin was difficult, and at Granby’s insistence had to allot full half each day’s flying for finding water "And that I would call ao so far that we could not fly back to some decent water within a day"

"Well, it will have to do," Laurence said finally, when they had at last agreed, and they round to take a little un to descend when Deone quiet," he said softly Laurence sat up listening, but the waterfall covered any sound of wings They sat together abranches, and a great orange-feathered dragon’s head thrust down and whispered in Quechua, "Ha up, and Churki landed ae to cast out the leaves and thich had been caught betwixt the feathers

"We must leave at once," she said "The tule near-by: I have bribed a lieutenant to let "

When they deths in their interest, "How can you call it so?" she protested "It isto choose to marry your enemy when I asked Hammond to join my ayllu What sort of creature would I be if I did not do all in my power to protect him, only because it has become inconvenient?"

Of course, her preferred notion of that protection was that Hammond should return with her, to her mother’s territory "For the Sapa Inca will not mind at all, I proive me more people to join the ayllu: you may have three wives all your own, if you would like"

"I call that justice," Granby said to Laurence, with a great deal of enjoyent retreat: all were piling aboard the dragons in great haste,and Ferris pushed the cluledclose to Teested teard of his wishes, when they were so plainly uided Until at last he hit in desperation upon the notion of adding, "And you know, I cannot desert ht brothers and sisters, with any number of children themselves--there must be three dozen by now--"

"Oh!" Churki said "Why did you not say so, at once? Dozens, and in that uncivilized country of yours, with no dragon to look after theo back to the in the way of the tumi patrol, of course; I am sure it will make trouble for my mother if it is known But she will understand, when I can send her word"

They were aloft scarce twentyFull dark had fallen, and even as they rose they were attacked by a patrol: five dragons, striking out of the dark, all with sreen feathers cropped short They were hts at most, each not a quarter of Temeraire’s size, but they ht-vision; their coloration ht, and plainly the hazy h the clouds was sufficient to enable the low calls to one another, in alently, as yet another of the dragons ca at Teed to join the other five in harrying their flanks "Tele must be alive with these beasts; if you should roar, you will draw theet ahead of their line before you roar"