With almost the force of an explosion I was hurtled upward to crash through the foliage and the branches of the tree above, dropping my weapons as I went. Fortunately my head came in contact with no large limb, and so I retained consciousness through it all. I also retained my presence of mind and, clutching frantically, I succeeded in grasping a branch across which my body had fallen. From there I dragged myself to the safety of a larger limb. My first thought was of Duare. Was she safe? Had she been able to climb out of danger before the basto disposed of me and was upon her, or had he reached and gored her? My fears were almost immediately allayed by the sound of her voice. "Oh, Carson, Carson! Are you hurt?" she cried. The anguish of her tones was ample reward for any hurts I might have sustained. "I think not," I replied; "just shaken up a bit. Are you all right? Where are you?" "Here, in the next tree. Oh, I thought he had killed you!" I was testing out my joints and feeling of myself for possible injuries; but I discovered nothing more serious than bruises, and scratches, and of these I had plenty. As I was examining myself, Duare made her way along interlocking branches and presently she was at my side. "You're bleeding," she exclaimed. "You _are_ hurt." "These are nothing but scratches," I assured her; "only my pride is hurt." "You have nothing to be ashamed of; you should be very proud of what you did. I saw. I glanced behind me as I got to my feet, and I saw you standing right in the path of that terrible beast so that it would not reach me." "Perhaps," I suggested, "I was too terrified to run--just paralyzed by fear." She smiled and shook her head. "I know better than that; I know you too well." "Any risk would be worth taking if it won your approval." She was silent for a moment, looking down at the basto. The brute was pawing the ground and bellowing. Occasionally it would pause and look up at us. "We could get away from it by going through the trees," suggested Duare. "They grow very close together here." "And abandon my new weapons?" I demanded. "He'll probably go away in a few minutes, as soon as he realizes we are not coming down." But he didn't go away in a few minutes. He bellowed and pawed and gored the ground for half an hour, and then he lay down beneath the tree. "That fellow's an optimist," I remarked. "He thinks that if he waits long enough we'll probably come down of our own volition." Duare laughed. "Maybe he thinks we'll die of old age and fall down." "That's a joke on him; he doesn't know that we have been inoculated with the serum of longevity." "In the meantime, the joke is on us; and I am getting hungry." "Look, Duare!" I whispered, as I caught sight of something dimly visible through the tangled undergrowth beyond the basto. "What is it?" she asked. "I don't know, but it's something large."