TARZAN THE UNTAMED

Edgar Rice Burroughs

CONTENTS

CHAPTER
    I Murder and Pillage
   II The Lion's Cave
  III In the German Lines
   IV When the Lion Fed
    V The Golden Locket
   VI Vengeance and Mercy
  VII When Blood Told
 VIII Tarzan and the Great Apes
   IX Dropped from the Sky
    X In the Hands of Savages
   XI Finding the Airplane
  XII The Black Flier
 XIII Usanga's Reward
  XIV The Black Lion
   XV Mysterious Footprints
  XVI The Night Attack 
 XVII The Walled City
XVIII Among the Maniacs
  XIX The Queen's Story
   XX Came Tarzan
  XXI In the Alcove 
 XXII Out of the Niche 
XXIII The Flight from Xuja
 XXIV The Tommies

TARZAN
THE UNTAMED

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Murder and Pillage

Hauptmann Fritz Schneider trudged wearily through
the somber aisles of the dark forest. Sweat rolled down
his bullet head and stood upon his heavy jowls and bull
neck. His lieutenant marched beside him while Underlieutenant
von Goss brought up the rear, following with a handful of
askaris the tired and all but exhausted porters whom the black
soldiers, following the example of their white officer, en-
couraged with the sharp points of bayonets and the metal-shod
butts of rifles.

There were no porters within reach of Hauptmann Schnei-
der so he vented his Prussian spleen upon the askaris nearest
at hand, yet with greater circumspection since these men bore
loaded rifles -- and the three white men were alone with them
in the heart of Africa.

Ahead of the hauptmann marched half his company, be-
hind him the other half -- thus were the dangers of the savage
jungle minimized for the German captain. At the forefront
of the column staggered two naked savages fastened to each
other by a neck chain. These were the native guides im-
pressed into the service of Kultur and upon their poor, bruised
bodies Kultur's brand was revealed in divers cruel wounds and
bruises.

Thus even in darkest Africa was the light of German civili-
zation commencing to reflect itself upon the undeserving na-
tives just as at the same period, the fall of 1914, it was shed-
ding its glorious effulgence upon benighted Belgium.

It is true that the guides had led the party astray; but this
is the way of most African guides. Nor did it matter that ig-
norance rather than evil intent had been the cause of their
failure. It was enough for Hauptmann Fritz Schneider to
know that he was lost in the African wilderness and that he
had at hand human beings less powerful than he who could be
made to suffer by torture. That he did not kill them outright
was partially due to a faint hope that they might eventually
prove the means of extricating him from his difficulties and
partially that so long as they lived they might still be made
to suffer.

The poor creatures, hoping that chance might lead them at
last upon the right trail, insisted that they knew the way and
so led on through a dismal forest along a winding game trail
trodden deep by the feet of countless generations of the sav-
age denizens of the jungle.

Here Tantor, the elephant, took his long way from dust
wallow to water. Here Buto, the rhinoceros, blundered blindly
in his solitary majesty, while by night the great cats paced
silently upon their padded feet beneath the dense canopy of
overreaching trees toward the broad plain beyond, where they
found their best hunting.

It was at the edge of this plain which came suddenly and 
unexpectedly before the eyes of the guides that their sad hearts
beat with renewed hope. Here the hauptmann drew a deep
sigh of relief, for after days of hopeless wandering through
almost impenetrable jungle the broad vista of waving grasses
dotted here and there with open parklike woods and in the
far distance the winding line of green shrubbery that denoted
a river appeared to the European a veritable heaven.

The Hun smiled in his relief, passed a cheery word with his 
lieutenant, and then scanned the broad plain with his field
glasses. Back and forth they swept across the rolling land
until at last they came to rest upon a point near the center of
the landscape and close to the green-fringed contours of the
river.

"We are in luck," said Schneider to his companions. "Do
you see it?"

The lieutenant, who was also gazing through his own glasses, 
finally brought them to rest upon the same spot that had
held the attention of his superior.

"Yes," he said, "an English farm. It must be Greystoke's,
for there is none other in this part of British East Africa. God
is with us, Herr Captain."

"We have come upon the English schweinhund long before
he can have learned that his country is at war with ours,"
replied Schneider. "Let him be the first to feel the iron hand
of Germany."

"Let us hope that he is at home," said the lieutenant, "that
we may take him with us when we report to Kraut at Nairobi.
It will go well indeed with Herr Hauptmann Fritz Schneider
if he brings in the famous Tarzan of the Apes as a prisoner
of war."

Schneider smiled and puffed out his chest. "You are right,
my friend," he said, "it will go well with both of us; but I
shall have to travel far to catch General Kraut before he
reaches Mombasa. These English pigs with their contemptible
army will make good time to the Indian Ocean."

It was in a better frame of mind that the small force set
out across the open country toward the trim and well-kept
farm buildings of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke; but disap-
pointment was to be their lot since neither Tarzan of the Apes
nor his son was at home.

Lady Jane, ignorant of the fact that a state of war existed
between Great Britain and Germany, welcomed the officers
most hospitably and gave orders through her trusted Waziri
to prepare a feast for the black soldiers of the enemy.

Far to the east, Tarzan of the Apes was traveling rapidly
from Nairobi toward the farm. At Nairobi he had received
news of the World War that had already started, and, antici-
pating an immediate invasion of British East Africa by the
Germans, was hurrying homeward to fetch his wife to a place
of greater security. With him were a score of his ebon war-
riors, but far too slow for the ape-man was the progress of
these trained and hardened woodsmen.

When necessity demanded, Tarzan of the Apes sloughed
the thin veneer of his civilization and with it the hampering
apparel that was its badge. In a moment the polished Eng-
lish gentleman reverted to the naked ape man.

His mate was in danger. For the time, that single thought 
dominated. He did not think of her as Lady Jane Greystoke,
but rather as the she he had won by the might of his steel
thews, and that he must hold and protect by virtue of the
same offensive armament.

It was no member of the House of Lords who swung
swiftly and grimly through the tangled forest or trod with
untiring muscles the wide stretches of open plain -- it was a
great he ape filled with a single purpose that excluded all
thoughts of fatigue or danger.

Little Manu, the monkey, scolding and chattering in the
upper terraces of the forest, saw him pass. Long had it been
since he had thus beheld the great Tarmangani naked and
alone hurtling through the jungle. Bearded and gray was
Manu, the monkey, and to his dim old eyes came the fire of
recollection of those days when Tarzan of the Apes had ruled
supreme, Lord of the Jungle, over all the myriad life that trod
the matted vegetation between the boles of the great trees,
or flew or swung or climbed in the leafy fastness upward
to the very apex of the loftiest terraces.

And Numa, the lion, lying up for the day close beside last
night's successful kill, blinked his yellow-green eyes and
twitched his tawny tail as he caught the scent spoor of his
ancient enemy.

Nor was Tarzan senseless to the presence of Numa or Manu
or any of the many jungle beasts he passed in his rapid flight
towards the west. No particle had his shallow probing of
English society dulled his marvelous sense faculties. His nose
had picked out the presence of Numa, the lion, even before
the majestic king of beasts was aware of his passing.

He had heard noisy little Manu, and even the soft rustling
of the parting shrubbery where Sheeta passed before either
of these alert animals sensed his presence.

But however keen the senses of the ape-man, however
swift his progress through the wild country of his adoption,
however mighty the muscles that bore him, he was still mortal.
Time and space placed their inexorable limits upon him; nor
was there another who realized this truth more keenly than
Tarzan. He chafed and fretted that he could not travel with
the swiftness of thought and that the long tedious miles
stretching far ahead of him must require hours and hours of
tireless effort upon his part before he would swing at last from
the final bough of the fringing forest into the open plain and
in sight of his goal.

Days it took, even though he lay up at night for but a few
hours and left to chance the finding of meat directly on his
trail. If Wappi, the antelope, or Horta, the boar, chanced in
his way when he was hungry, he ate, pausing but long
enough to make the kill and cut himself a steak.

Then at last the long journey drew to its close and he was
passing through the last stretch of heavy forest that bounded
his estate upon the east, and then this was traversed and he
stood upon the plain's edge looking out across his broad
lands towards his home.

At the first glance his eyes narrowed and his muscles tensed.
Even at that distance he could see that something was amiss.
A thin spiral of smoke arose at the right of the bungalow
where the barns had stood, but there were no barns there
now, and from the bungalow chimney from which smoke
should have arisen, there arose nothing.

Once again Tarzan of the Apes was speeding onward, this
time even more swiftly than before, for he was goaded now
by a nameless fear, more product of intuition than of reason.
Even as the beasts, Tarzan of the Apes seemed to possess a
sixth sense. Long before he reached the bungalow, he had
almost pictured the scene that finally broke upon his view.

Silent and deserted was the vine-covered cottage. Smolder-
ing embers marked the site of his great barns. Gone were
the thatched huts of his sturdy retainers, empty the fields, the
pastures, and corrals. Here and there vultures rose and circled
above the carcasses of men and beasts.

It was with a feeling as nearly akin to terror as he ever had 
experienced that the ape-man finally forced himself to enter
his home. The first sight that met his eyes set the red haze
of hate and bloodlust across his vision, for there, crucified
against the wall of the living-room, was Wasimbu, giant son
of the faithful Muviro and for over a year the personal body-
guard of Lady Jane.

The overturned and shattered furniture of the room, the
brown pools of dried blood upon the floor, and prints of
bloody hands on walls and woodwork evidenced something
of the frightfulness of the battle that had been waged within
the narrow confines of the apartment. Across the baby grand
piano lay the corpse of another black warrior, while before
the door of Lady Jane's boudoir were the dead bodies of three
more of the faithful Greystoke servants.

The door of this room was closed. With drooping shoulders
and dull eyes Tarzan stood gazing dumbly at the insensate
panel which hid from him what horrid secret he dared not
even guess.

Slowly, with leaden feet, he moved toward the door. Grop-
ingly his hand reached for the knob. Thus he stood for
another long minute, and then with a sudden gesture he
straightened his giant frame, threw back his mighty shoulders
and, with fearless head held high, swung back the door and
stepped across the threshold into the room which held for
him the dearest memories and associations of his life. No
change of expression crossed his grim and stern-set features
as he strode across the room and stood beside the little couch
and the inanimate form which lay face downward upon it; the
still, silent thing that had pulsed with life and youth and
love.

No tear dimmed the eye of the ape-man, but the God who
made him alone could know the thoughts that passed through
that still half-savage brain. For a long time he stood there
just looking down upon the dead body, charred beyond
recognition, and then he stooped and lifted it in his arms.
As he turned the body over and saw how horribly death had
been meted he plumbed, in that instant, the uttermost depths
of grief and horror and hatred.

Nor did he require the evidence of the broken German
rifle in the outer room, or the torn and blood-stained service
cap upon the floor, to tell him who had been the perpetrators
of this horrid and useless crime.

For a moment he had hoped against hope that the black-
ened corpse was not that of his mate, but when his eyes dis-
covered and recognized the rings upon her fingers the last
faint ray of hope forsook him.

In silence, in love, and in reverence he buried, in the little
rose garden that had been Jane Clayton's pride and love, the
poor, charred form and beside it the great black warriors who
had given their lives so futilely in their mistress' protection.

At one side of the house Tarzan found other newly made
graves and in these he sought final evidence of the identity
of the real perpetrators of the atrocities that had been com-
mitted there in his absence.

Here he disinterred the bodies of a dozen German askaris
and found upon their uniforms the insignia of the company
and regiment to which they had belonged. This was enough
for the ape-man. White officers had commanded these men,
nor would it be a difficult task to discover who they were.

Returning to the rose garden, he stood among the Hun-
trampled blooms and bushes above the grave of his dead --
with bowed head he stood there in a last mute farewell. As
the sun sank slowly behind the towering forests of the west,
he turned slowly away upon the still-distinct trail of Haupt-
mann Fritz Schneider and his blood-stained company.

His was the suffering of the dumb brute -- mute; but though
voiceless no less poignant. At first his vast sorrow numbed
his other faculties of thought -- his brain was overwhelmed by
the calamity to such an extent that it reacted to but a single
objective suggestion: She is dead! She is dead! She is dead!
Again and again this phrase beat monotonously upon his brain
-- a dull, throbbing pain, yet mechanically his feet followed
the trail of her slayer while, subconsciously, his every sense
was upon the alert for the ever-present perils of the jungle.

Gradually the labor of his great grief brought forth another 
emotion so real, so tangible, that it seemed a companion walk-
ing at his side. It was Hate -- and it brought to him a measure
of solace and of comfort, for it was a sublime hate that en-
nobled him as it has ennobled countless thousands since --
hatred for Germany and Germans. It centered about the
slayer of his mate, of course; but it included everything Ger-
man, animate or inanimate. As the thought took firm hold
upon him he paused and raising his face to Goro, the moon,
cursed with upraised hand the authors of the hideous crime
that had been perpetrated in that once peaceful bungalow
behind him; and he cursed their progenitors, their progeny,
and all their kind the while he took silent oath to war upon
them relentlessly until death overtook him.

There followed almost immediately a feeling of content,
for, where before his future at best seemed but a void, now it
was filled with possibilities the contemplation of which
brought him, if not happiness, at least a surcease of absolute
grief, for before him lay a great work that would occupy his
time.

Stripped not only of all the outward symbols of civilization,
Tarzan had also reverted morally and mentally to the status
of the savage beast he had been reared. Never had his
civilization been more than a veneer put on for the sake of
her he loved because he thought it made her happier to see
him thus. In reality he had always held the outward evi-
dences of so-called culture in deep contempt. Civilization
meant to Tarzan of the Apes a curtailment of freedom in all
its aspects -- freedom of action, freedom of thought, freedom
of love, freedom of hate. Clothes he abhorred -- uncomfort-
able, hideous, confining things that reminded him somehow
of bonds securing him to the life he had seen the poor crea-
tures of London and Paris living. Clothes were the emblems
of that hypocrisy for which civilization stood -- a pretense that
the wearers were ashamed of what the clothes covered, of the
human form made in the semblance of God. Tarzan knew how
silly and pathetic the lower orders of animals appeared in
the clothing of civilization, for he had seen several poor
creatures thus appareled in various traveling shows in Europe,
and he knew, too, how silly and pathetic man appears in them
since the only men he had seen in the first twenty years of
his life had been, like himself, naked savages. The ape-man
had a keen admiration for a well-muscled, well-proportioned
body, whether lion, or antelope, or man, and it had ever been
beyond him to understand how clothes could be considered
more beautiful than a clear, firm, healthy skin, or coat and
trousers more graceful than the gentle curves of rounded
muscles playing beneath a flexible hide.

In civilization Tarzan had found greed and selfishness and
cruelty far beyond that which he had known in his familiar,
savage jungle, and though civilization had given him his mate
and several friends whom he loved and admired, he never
had come to accept it as you and I who have known little or
nothing else; so it was with a sense of relief that he now
definitely abandoned it and all that it stood for, and went
forth into the jungle once again stripped to his loin cloth and
weapons.

The hunting knife of his father hung at his left hip, his bow
and his quiver of arrows were slung across his shoulders,
while around his chest over one shoulder and beneath the
opposite arm was coiled the long grass rope without which
Tarzan would have felt quite as naked as would you should
you be suddenly thrust upon a busy highway clad only in a
union suit. A heavy war spear which he sometimes carried in
one hand and again slung by a thong about his neck so that
it hung down his back completed his armament and his
apparel. The diamond-studded locket with the pictures of
his mother and father that he had worn always until he had
given it as a token of his highest devotion to Jane Clayton
before their marriage was missing. She always had worn it
since, but it had not been upon her body when he found her
slain in her boudoir, so that now his quest for vengeance in-
cluded also a quest for the stolen trinket.

Toward midnight Tarzan commenced to feel the physical
strain of his long hours of travel and to realize that even
muscles such as his had their limitations. His pursuit of the
murderers had not been characterized by excessive speed; but
rather more in keeping with his mental attitude, which was
marked by a dogged determination to require from the Ger-
mans more than an eye for an eye and more than a tooth for
a tooth, the element of time entering but slightly into his
calculations.

Inwardly as well as outwardly Tarzan had reverted to beast
and in the lives of beasts, time, as a measurable aspect of
duration, has no meaning. The beast is actively interested
only in NOW, and as it is always NOW and always shall be, there
is an eternity of time for the accomplishment of objects. The
ape-man, naturally, had a slightly more comprehensive realiza-
tion of the limitations of time; but, like the beasts, he moved
with majestic deliberation when no emergency prompted him
to swift action.

Having dedicated his life to vengeance, vengeance became
his natural state and, therefore, no emergency, so he took his
time in pursuit. That he had not rested earlier was due to
the fact that he had felt no fatigue, his mind being occupied
by thoughts of sorrow and revenge; but now he realized that
he was tired, and so he sought a jungle giant that had harbored
him upon more than a single other jungle night.

Dark clouds moving swiftly across the heavens now and
again eclipsed the bright face of Goro, the moon, and fore-
warned the ape-man of impending storm. In the depth of
the jungle the cloud shadows produced a thick blackness that
might almost be felt -- a blackness that to you and me might
have proven terrifying with its accompaniment of rustling
leaves and cracking twigs, and its even more suggestive inter-

vals of utter silence in which the crudest of imaginations
might have conjured crouching beasts of prey tensed for the
fatal charge; but through it Tarzan passed unconcerned, yet
always alert. Now he swung lightly to the lower terraces
of the overarching trees when some subtle sense warned him
that Numa lay upon a kill directly in his path, or again he
sprang lightly to one side as Buto, the rhinoceros, lumbered
toward him along the narrow, deep-worn trail, for the ape-
man, ready to fight upon necessity's slightest pretext, avoided
unnecessary quarrels.

When he swung himself at last into the tree he sought, the
moon was obscured by a heavy cloud, and the tree tops were
waving wildly in a steadily increasing wind whose soughing
drowned the lesser noises of the jungle. Upward went Tarzan
toward a sturdy crotch across which he long since had laid
and secured a little platform of branches. It was very dark
now, darker even than it had been before, for almost the
entire sky was overcast by thick, black clouds.

Presently the man-beast paused, his sensitive nostrils dilat-
ing as he sniffed the air about him. Then, with the swiftness
and agility of a cat, he leaped far outward upon a swaying
branch, sprang upward through the darkness, caught another,
swung himself upon it and then to one still higher. What
could have so suddenly transformed his matter-of-fact ascent
of the giant bole to the swift and wary action of his detour
among the branches? You or I could have seen nothing --
not even the little platform that an instant before had been
just above him and which now was immediately below -- but
as he swung above it we should have heard an ominous growl;
and then as the moon was momentarily uncovered, we should
have seen both the platform, dimly, and a dark mass that lay
stretched upon it -- a dark mass that presently, as our eyes
became accustomed to the lesser darkness, would take the
form of Sheeta, the panther.

In answer to the cat's growl, a low and equally ferocious
growl rumbled upward from the ape-man's deep chest -- a
growl of warning that told the panther he was trespassing
upon the other's lair; but Sheeta was in no mood to be dis-
possessed. With upturned, snarling face he glared at the
brown-skinned Tarmangani above him. Very slowly the
ape-man moved inward along the branch until he was directly
above the panther. In the man's hand was the hunting knife
of his long-dead father -- the weapon that had first given him
his real ascendancy over the beasts of the jungle; but he hoped
not to be forced to use it, knowing as he did that more jungle
battles were settled by hideous growling than by actual com-
bat, the law of bluff holding quite as good in the jungle as
elsewhere -- only in matters of love and food did the great
beasts ordinarily close with fangs and talons.

Tarzan braced himself against the bole of the tree and
leaned closer toward Sheeta.

"Stealer of balus!" he cried. The panther rose to a sitting
position, his bared fangs but a few feet from the ape-man's
taunting face.  Tarzan growled hideously and struck at the
cat's face with his knife.  "I am Tarzan of the Apes," he
roared.  "This is Tarzan's lair.  Go, or I will kill you." 
Though
he spoke in the language of the great apes of the jungle, it is
doubtful that Sheeta understood the words, though he knew
well enough that the hairless ape wished to frighten him from
his well-chosen station past which edible creatures might be
expected to wander sometime during the watches of the night.

Like lightning the cat reared and struck a vicious blow at
his tormentor with great, bared talons that might well have
torn away the ape-man's face had the blow landed; but it did
not land -- Tarzan was even quicker than Sheeta.  As the
panther came to all fours again upon the little platform, Tar-
zan unslung his heavy spear and prodded at the snarling face,
and as Sheeta warded off the blows, the two continued their
horrid duet of blood-curdling roars and growls.

Goaded to frenzy the cat presently determined to come up
after this disturber of his peace; but when he essayed to leap
to the branch that held Tarzan he found the sharp spear point
always in his face, and each time as he dropped back he was
prodded viciously in some tender part; but at length, rage
having conquered his better judgment, he leaped up the
rough bole to the very branch upon which Tarzan stood.
Now the two faced each other upon even footing and Sheeta
saw a quick revenge and a supper all in one.  The hairless
ape-thing with the tiny fangs and the puny talons would be
helpless before him.

The heavy limb bent beneath the weight of the two beasts
as Sheeta crept cautiously out upon it and Tarzan backed
slowly away, growling.  The wind had risen to the proportions
of a gale so that even the greatest giants of the forest swayed,
groaning, to its force and the branch upon which the two
faced each other rose and fell like the deck of a storm-tossed
ship.  Goro was now entirely obscured, but vivid flashes of
lightning lit up the jungle at brief intervals, revealing the
grim
tableau of primitive passion upon the swaying limb.

Tarzan backed away, drawing Sheeta farther from the stem
of the tree and out upon the tapering branch, where his footing
became ever more precarious.  The cat, infuriated by the pain
of spear wounds, was overstepping the bounds of caution.
Already he had reached a point where he could do little more
than maintain a secure footing, and it was this moment that
Tarzan chose to charge.  With a roar that mingled with the
booming thunder from above he leaped toward the panther,
who could only claw futilely with one huge paw while he
clung to the branch with the other; but the ape-man did not
come within that parabola of destruction.  Instead he leaped
above menacing claws and snapping fangs, turning in mid-air 
and alighting upon Sheeta's back, and at the instant of impact 
his knife struck deep into the tawny side. Then Sheeta, im-
pelled by pain and hate and rage and the first law of Nature, 
went mad. Screaming and clawing he attempted to turn
upon the ape-thing clinging to his back. For an instant he
toppled upon the now wildly gyrating limb, clutched franti-
cally to save himself, and then plunged downward into the
darkness with Tarzan still clinging to him. Crashing through
splintering branches the two fell. Not for an instant did the
ape-man consider relinquishing his death-hold upon his ad-
versary. He had entered the lists in mortal combat and true
to the primitive instincts of the wild -- the unwritten law of
the jungle -- one or both must die before the battle ended.

Sheeta, catlike, alighted upon four out-sprawled feet, the 
weight of the ape-man crushing him to earth, the long knife 
again imbedded in his side. Once the panther struggled to
rise; but only to sink to earth again. Tarzan felt the giant
muscles relax beneath him. Sheeta was dead. Rising, the
ape-man placed a foot upon the body of his vanquished foe,
raised his face toward the thundering heavens, and as the
lightning flashed and the torrential rain broke upon him,
screamed forth the wild victory cry of the bull ape.

Having accomplished his aim and driven the enemy from
his lair, Tarzan gathered an armful of large fronds and
climbed to his dripping couch. Laying a few of the fronds
upon the poles he lay down and covered himself against the
rain with the others, and despite the wailing of the wind and
the crashing of the thunder, immediately fell asleep.

The Lion's Cave

The rain lasted for twenty-four hours and much of the time
it fell in torrents so that when it ceased, the trail he had
been following was entirely obliterated. Cold and uncom-
fortable -- it was a savage Tarzan who threaded the mazes of
the soggy jungle. Manu, the monkey, shivering and chatter-
ing in the dank trees, scolded and fled at his approach. Even
the panthers and the lions let the growling Tarmangani pass
unmolested.

When the sun shone again upon the second day and a wide,
open plain let the full heat of Kudu flood the chilled, brown
body, Tarzan's spirits rose; but it was still a sullen, surly
brute
that moved steadily onward into the south where he hoped
again to pick up the trail of the Germans. He was now in
German East Africa and it was his intention to skirt the moun-
tains west of Kilimanjaro, whose rugged peaks he was quite
willing to give a wide berth, and then swing eastward along
the south side of the range to the railway that led to Tanga,
for his experience among men suggested that it was toward
this railroad that German troops would be likely to converge.

Two days later, from the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro, he
heard the boom of cannon far away to the east. The after-
noon had been dull and cloudy and now as he was passing
through a narrow gorge a few great drops of rain began to
splatter upon his naked shoulders. Tarzan shook his head
and growled his disapproval; then he cast his eyes about for
shelter, for he had had quite enough of the cold and drenching.
He wanted to hasten on in the direction of the booming noise,
for he knew that there would be Germans fighting against the
English. For an instant his bosom swelled with pride at the
thought that he was English and then he shook his head
again viciously. "No!" he muttered, "Tarzan of the Apes is
not English, for the English are men and Tarzan is Tarman-
gani;" but he could not hide even from his sorrow or from his
sullen hatred of mankind in general that his heart warmed
at the thought it was Englishmen who fought the Germans.
His regret was that the English were human and not great
white apes as he again considered himself.

"Tomorrow," he thought, "I will travel that way and find
the Germans," and then he set himself to the immediate task
of discovering some shelter from the storm. Presently he
espied the low and narrow entrance to what appeared to be
a cave at the base of the cliffs which formed the northern side
of the gorge. With drawn knife he approached the spot
warily, for he knew that if it were a cave it was doubtless the
lair of some other beast. Before the entrance lay many large
fragments of rock of different sizes, similar to others scattered
along the entire base of the cliff, and it was in Tarzan's mind
that if he found the cave unoccupied he would barricade the
door and insure himself a quiet and peaceful night's repose
within the sheltered interior. Let the storm rage without --
Tarzan would remain within until it ceased, comfortable and
dry. A tiny rivulet of cold water trickled outward from the
opening.

Close to the cave Tarzan kneeled and sniffed the ground.
A low growl escaped him and his upper lip curved to expose
his fighting fangs. "Numa!" he muttered; but he did not
stop. Numa might not be at home -- he would investigate.
The entrance was so low that the ape-man was compelled to
drop to all fours before he could poke his head within the
aperture; but first he looked, listened, and sniffed in each
direction at his rear -- he would not be taken by surprise from
that quarter.

His first glance within the cave revealed a narrow tunnel
with daylight at its farther end. The interior of the tunnel
was not so dark but that the ape-man could readily see that
it was untenanted at present. Advancing cautiously he
crawled toward the opposite end imbued with a full realiza-
tion of what it would mean if Numa should suddenly enter
the tunnel in front of him; but Numa did not appear and the
ape-man emerged at length into the open and stood erect,
finding himself in a rocky cleft whose precipitous walls rose
almost sheer on every hand, the tunnel from the gorge passing
through the cliff and forming a passageway from the outer
world into a large pocket or gulch entirely inclosed by steep
walls of rock. Except for the small passageway from the
gorge, there was no other entrance to the gulch which was
some hundred feet in length and about fifty in width and
appeared to have been worn from the rocky cliff by the falling
of water during long ages. A tiny stream from Kilimanjaro's
eternal snow cap still trickled over the edge of the rocky wall
at the upper end of the gulch, forming a little pool at the
bottom of the cliff from which a small rivulet wound down-
ward to the tunnel through which it passed to the gorge
beyond. A single great tree flourished near the center of the
gulch, while tufts of wiry grass were scattered here and there
among the rocks of the gravelly floor.

The bones of many large animals lay about and among them
were several human skulls. Tarzan raised his eyebrows. "A
man-eater," he murmured, "and from appearances he has held
sway here for a long time. Tonight Tarzan will take the lair
of the man-eater and Numa may roar and grumble upon the
outside."

The ape-man had advanced well into the gulch as he in-
vestigated his surroundings and now as he stood near the
tree, satisfied that the tunnel would prove a dry and quiet
retreat for the night, he turned to retrace his way to the outer
end of the entrance that he might block it with bowlders
against Numa's return, but even with the thought there came
something to his sensitive ears that froze him into statuesque
immobility with eyes glued upon the tunnel's mouth. A
moment later the head of a huge lion framed in a great black
mane appeared in the opening. The yellow-green eyes glared,
round and unblinking, straight at the trespassing Tarmangani,
a low growl rumbled from the deep chest, and lips curled
back to expose the mighty fangs.

"Brother of Dango!" shouted Tarzan, angered that Numa's
return should have been so timed as to frustrate his plans for
a comfortable night's repose. "I am Tarzan of the Apes, Lord
of the Jungle. Tonight I lair here -- go!"

But Numa did not go. Instead he rumbled forth a menac-
ing roar and took a few steps in Tarzan's direction. The ape-
man picked up a rock and hurled it at the snarling face. One
can never be sure of a lion. This one might turn tail and run
at the first intimation of attack -- Tarzan had bluffed many in
his time -- but not now. The missile struck Numa full upon
the snout -- a tender part of a cat's anatomy -- and instead of
causing him to flee it transformed him into an infuriated
engine of wrath and destruction.

Up went his tail, stiff and erect, and with a series of fright-
ful roars he bore down upon the Tarmangani at the speed of
an express train. Not an instant too soon did Tarzan reach
the tree and swing himself into its branches and there he
squatted, hurling insults at the king of beasts while Numa
paced a circle beneath him, growling and roaring in rage.

It was raining now in earnest adding to the ape-man's dis-
comfort and disappointment. He was very angry; but as only
direct necessity had ever led him to close in mortal combat
with a lion, knowing as he did that he had only luck and
agility to pit against the frightful odds of muscle, weight,
fangs, and talons, he did not now even consider descending
and engaging in so unequal and useless a duel for the mere
reward of a little added creature comfort. And so he sat
perched in the tree while the rain fell steadily and the lion
padded round and round beneath, casting a baleful eye up-
ward after every few steps.

Tarzan scanned the precipitous walls for an avenue of es-
cape. They would have baffled an ordinary man; but the
ape-man, accustomed to climbing, saw several places where
he might gain a foothold, precarious possibly; but enough to
give him reasonable assurance of escape if Numa would but
betake himself to the far end of the gulch for a moment.
Numa, however, notwithstanding the rain, gave no evidence
of quitting his post so that at last Tarzan really began to
consider seriously if it might not be as well to take the chance
of a battle with him rather than remain longer cold and wet
and humiliated in the tree.

But even as he turned the matter over in his mind Numa
turned suddenly and walked majestically toward the tunnel
without even a backward glance. The instant that he disap-
peared, Tarzan dropped lightly to the ground upon the far
side of the tree and was away at top speed for the cliff. The
lion had no sooner entered the tunnel than he backed im-
mediately out again and, pivoting like a flash, was off across
the gulch in full charge after the flying ape-man; but Tarzan's
lead was too great -- if he could find finger or foothold upon
the sheer wall he would be safe; but should he slip from the
wet rocks his doom was already sealed as he would fall
directly into Numa's clutches where even the Great Tarman-
gani would be helpless.

With the agility of a cat Tarzan ran up the cliff for thirty
feet before he paused, and there finding a secure foothold,
he stopped and looked down upon Numa who was leaping
upward in a wild and futile attempt to scale the rocky wall
to his prey. Fifteen or twenty feet from the ground the lion
would scramble only to fall backward again defeated. Tarzan
eyed him for a moment and then commenced a slow and
cautious ascent toward the summit. Several times he had
difficulty in finding holds but at last he drew himself over the
edge, rose, picked up a bit of loose rock, hurled it at Numa
and strode away.

Finding an easy descent to the gorge, he was about to pursue
his journey in the direction of the still-booming guns when
a sudden thought caused him to halt and a half-smile to play
about his lips. Turning, he trotted quickly back to the outer
opening of Numa's tunnel. Close beside it he listened for a
moment and then rapidly began to gather large rocks and
pile them within the entrance. He had almost closed the
aperture when the lion appeared upon the inside -- a very
ferocious and angry lion that pawed and clawed at the rocks
and uttered mighty roars that caused the earth to tremble;
but roars did not frighten Tarzan of the Apes. At Kala's
shaggy breast he had closed his infant eyes in sleep upon
countless nights in years gone by to the savage chorus of
similar roars. Scarcely a day or night of his jungle life -- and
practically all his life had been spent in the jungle -- had
he not heard the roaring of hungry lions, or angry lions,
or love-sick lions. Such sounds affected Tarzan as the tooting
of an automobile horn may affect you -- if you are in front of
the automobile it warns you out of the way, if you are not in
front of it you scarcely notice it. Figuratively Tarzan was
not in front of the automobile -- Numa could not reach him
and Tarzan knew it, so he continued deliberately to choke the
entrance until there was no possibility of Numa's getting out
again. When he was quite through he made a grimace at the
hidden lion beyond the barrier and resumed his way toward
the east. "A man-eater who will eat no more men," he solilo-
quized.

That night Tarzan lay up under an overhanging shelf of
rock. The next morning he resumed his journey, stopping
only long enough to make a kill and satisfy his hunger. The
other beasts of the wild eat and lie up; but Tarzan never let
his belly interfere with his plans. In this lay one of the great-
est differences between the ape-man and his fellows of the
jungles and forests. The firing ahead rose and fell during
the day. He had noticed that it was highest at dawn and
immediately after dusk and that during the night it almost
ceased. In the middle of the afternoon of the second day he
came upon troops moving up toward the front. They ap-
peared to be raiding parties, for they drove goats and cows
along with them and there were native porters laden with
grain and other foodstuffs. He saw that these natives were
all secured by neck chains and he also saw that the troops
were composed of native soldiers in German uniforms. The
officers were white men. No one saw Tarzan, yet he was here
and there about and among them for two hours. He inspected
the insignia upon their uniforms and saw that they were not
the same as that which he had taken from one of the dead
soldiers at the bungalow and then he passed on ahead of
them, unseen in the dense bush. He had come upon Germans
and had not killed them; but it was because the killing of
Germans at large was not yet the prime motive of his existence
-- now it was to discover the individual who slew his mate.

After he had accounted for him he would take up the little
matter of slaying ALL Germans who crossed his path, and he
meant that many should cross it, for he would hunt them
precisely as professional hunters hunt the man-eaters.

As he neared the front lines the troops became more numer-
ous. There were motor trucks and ox teams and all the
impedimenta of a small army and always there were wounded
men walking or being carried toward the rear. He had
crossed the railroad some distance back and judged that the
wounded were being taken to it for transportation to a base
hospital and possibly as far away as Tanga on the coast.

It was dusk when he reached a large camp hidden in the
foothills of the Pare Mountains. As he was approaching from
the rear he found it but lightly guarded and what sentinels
there were, were not upon the alert, and so it was an easy
thing for him to enter after darkness had fallen and prowl
about listening at the backs of tents, searching for some clew
to the slayer of his mate.

As he paused at the side of a tent before which sat a num-
ber of native soldiers he caught a few words spoken in native
dialect that riveted his attention instantly: "The Waziri fought
like devils; but we are greater fighters and we killed them all.
When we were through the captain came and killed the
woman. He stayed outside and yelled in a very loud voice
until all the men were killed. Underlieutenant von Goss is
braver -- he came in and stood beside the door shouting at us,
also in a very loud voice, and bade us nail one of the Waziri
who was wounded to the wall, and then he laughed loudly
because the man suffered. We all laughed. It was very
funny."

Like a beast of prey, grim and terrible, Tarzan crouched in
the shadows beside the tent. What thoughts passed through
that savage mind? Who may say? No outward sign of
passion was revealed by the expression of the handsome face;
the cold, gray eyes denoted only intense watchfulness. Pres-
ently the soldier Tarzan had heard first rose and with a parting
word turned away. He passed within ten feet of the ape-man
and continued on toward the rear of the camp. Tarzan fol-
lowed and in the shadows of a clump of bushes overtook his
quarry. There was no sound as the man beast sprang upon
the back of his prey and bore it to the ground for steel fingers
closed simultaneously upon the soldier's throat, effectually
stifling any outcry. By the neck Tarzan dragged his victim
well into the concealment of the bushes.

"Make no sound," he cautioned in the man's own tribal
dialect as he released his hold upon the other's throat.

The fellow gasped for breath, rolling frightened eyes up-
ward to see what manner of creature it might be in whose
power he was. In the darkness he saw only a naked brown
body bending above him; but he still remembered the terrific
strength of the mighty muscles that had closed upon his wind
and dragged him into the bushes as though he had been but
a little child. If any thought of resistance had crossed his mind
he must have discarded it at once, as he made no move to
escape.

"What is the name of the officer who killed the woman
at the bungalow where you fought with the Waziri?" asked
Tarzan.

"Hauptmann Schneider," replied the black when he could
again command his voice.

"Where is he?" demanded the ape-man.

"He is here. It may be that he is at headquarters. Many
of the officers go there in the evening to receive orders."

"Lead me there," commanded Tarzan, "and if I am dis-
covered I will kill you immediately. Get up!"

The black rose and led the way by a roundabout route
back through the camp. Several times they were forced to
hide while soldiers passed; but at last they reached a great
pile of baled hay from about the corner of which the black
pointed out a two-story building in the distance.

"Headquarters," he said. "You can go no farther unseen.
There are many soldiers about."

Tarzan realized that he could not proceed farther in com-
pany with the black. He turned and looked at the fellow for
a moment as though pondering what disposition to make of
him.

"You helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri," he accused
in a low yet none the less terrible tone.

The black trembled, his knees giving beneath him. "He
ordered us to do it," he plead.

"Who ordered it done?" demanded Tarzan.

"Underlieutenant von Goss," replied the soldier. "He, too,
is here."

"I shall find him," returned Tarzan, grimly. "You helped to
crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri, and, while he suffered, you
laughed."

The fellow reeled. It was as though in the accusation he
read also his death sentence. With no other word Tarzan
seized the man again by the neck. As before there was no
outcry. The giant muscles tensed. The arms swung quickly
upward and with them the body of the black soldier who
had helped to crucify Wasimbu, the Waziri, described a
circle in the air -- once, twice, three times, and then it was
flung aside and the ape-man turned in the direction of General
Kraut's headquarters.

A single sentinel in the rear of the building barred the way.
Tarzan crawled, belly to the ground, toward him, taking ad-
vantage of cover as only the jungle-bred beast of prey can
do. When the sentinel's eyes were toward him, Tarzan hugged
the ground, motionless as stone; when they were turned away,
he moved swiftly forward. Presently he was within charging
distance. He waited until the man had turned his back once
more and then he rose and sped noiselessly down upon him.
Again there was no sound as he carried the dead body with
him toward the building.

The lower floor was lighted, the upper dark. Through the
windows Tarzan saw a large front room and a smaller room
in rear of it. In the former were many officers. Some moved
about talking to one another, others sat at field tables writing.
The windows were open and Tarzan could hear much of the
conversation; but nothing that interested him. It was mostly
about the German successes in Africa and conjectures as to
when the German army in Europe would reach Paris. Some
said the Kaiser was doubtlessly already there, and there was a
great deal of damning Belgium.

In the smaller back room a large, red-faced man sat be-
hind a table. Some other officers were also sitting a little in
rear of him, while two stood at attention before the general,
who was questioning them. As he talked, the general toyed
with an oil lamp that stood upon the table before him. Pres-
ently there came a knock upon the door and an aide entered
the room. He saluted and reported: "Fraulein Kircher has
arrived, sir."

"Bid her enter," commanded the general, and then nodded
to the two officers before him in sign of dismissal.

The Fraulein, entering, passed them at the door. The
officers in the little room rose and saluted, the Fraulein
acknowledging the courtesy with a bow and a slight smile.
She was a very pretty girl. Even the rough, soiled riding habit
and the caked dust upon her face could not conceal the fact,
and she was young. She could not have been over nineteen.

She advanced to the table behind which the general stood
and, taking a folded paper from an inside pocket of her coat,
handed it to him.

"Be seated, Fraulein," he said, and another officer brought
her a chair. No one spoke while the general read the con-
tents of the paper.

Tarzan appraised the various people in the room. He
wondered if one might not be Hauptmann Schneider, for two
of them were captains. The girl he judged to be of the intel-
ligence department -- a spy. Her beauty held no appeal for
him -- without a glimmer of compunction he could have wrung
that fair, young neck. She was German and that was enough;
but he had other and more important work before him. He
wanted Hauptmann Schneider.

Finally the general looked up from the paper.

"Good," he said to the girl, and then to one of his aides,
"Send for Major Schneider."

Major Schneider! Tarzan felt the short hairs at the back
of his neck rise. Already they had promoted the beast who
had murdered his mate -- doubtless they had promoted him
for that very crime.

The aide left the room and the others fell into a general
conversation from which it became apparent to Tarzan that
the German East African forces greatly outnumbered the
British and that the latter were suffering heavily. The ape-
man stood so concealed in a clump of bushes that he could
watch the interior of the room without being seen from within,
while he was at the same time hidden from the view of any-
one who might chance to pass along the post of the sentinel
he had slain. Momentarily he was expecting a patrol or a
relief to appear and discover that the sentinel was missing,
when he knew an immediate and thorough search would be
made.

Impatiently he awaited the coming of the man he sought
and at last he was rewarded by the reappearance of the aide
who had been dispatched to fetch him accompanied by an
officer of medium size with fierce, upstanding mustaches. The
newcomer strode to the table, halted and saluted, reporting.
The general acknowledged the salute and turned toward the
girl.

"Fraulein Kircher," he said, "allow me to present Major
Schneider --"

Tarzan waited to hear no more. Placing a palm upon the
sill of the window he vaulted into the room into the midst of
an astounded company of the Kaiser's officers. With a stride
he was at the table and with a sweep of his hand sent the
lamp crashing into the fat belly of the general who, in his
mad effort to escape cremation, fell over backward, chair and
all, upon the floor. Two of the aides sprang for the ape-man
who picked up the first and flung him in the face of the other.
The girl had leaped from her chair and stood flattened against
the wall. The other officers were calling aloud for the guard
and for help. Tarzan's purpose centered upon but a single
individual and him he never lost sight of. Freed from attack
for an instant he seized Major Schneider, threw him over his
shoulder and was out of the window so quickly that the
astonished assemblage could scarce realize what had occurred.

A single glance showed him that the sentinel's post was
still vacant and a moment later he and his burden were in
the shadows of the hay dump. Major Schneider had made
no outcry for the very excellent reason that his wind was shut
off. Now Tarzan released his grasp enough to permit the man
to breathe.

"If you make a sound you will be choked again," he said.

Cautiously and after infinite patience Tarzan passed the final 
outpost. Forcing his captive to walk before him he pushed
on toward the west until, late into the night, he recrossed the
railway where he felt reasonably safe from discovery. The
German had cursed and grumbled and threatened and asked
questions; but his only reply was another prod from Tarzan's
sharp war spear. The ape-man herded him along as he would
have driven a hog with the difference that he would have had
more respect and therefore more consideration for a hog.

Until now Tarzan had given little thought to the details of
revenge. Now he pondered what form the punishment should
take. Of only one thing was he certain -- it must end in death.
Like all brave men and courageous beasts Tarzan had little
natural inclination to torture -- none, in fact; but this case
was
unique in his experience. An inherent sense of justice called
for an eye for an eye and his recent oath demanded even
more. Yes, the creature must suffer even as he had caused
Jane Clayton to suffer. Tarzan could not hope to make the
man suffer as he had suffered, since physical pain may never
approach the exquisiteness of mental torture.

All through the long night the ape-man goaded on the
exhausted and now terrified Hun. The awful silence of his
captor wrought upon the German's nerves. If he would only
speak! Again and again Schneider tried to force or coax a
word from him; but always the result was the same -- con-
tinued silence and a vicious and painful prod from the spear
point. Schneider was bleeding and sore. He was so ex-
hausted that he staggered at every step, and often he fell only
to be prodded to his feet again by that terrifying and re-
morseless spear.

It was not until morning that Tarzan reached a decision
and it came to him then like an inspiration from above. A
slow smile touched his lips and he immediately sought a
place to lie up and rest -- he wished his prisoner to be fit now
for what lay in store for him. Ahead was a stream which
Tarzan had crossed the day before. He knew the ford for a
drinking place and a likely spot to make an easy kill. Cau-
tioning the German to utter silence with a gesture the two
approached the stream quietly. Down the game trail Tarzan
saw some deer about to leave the water. He shoved Schneider
into the brush at one side and, squatting next him, waited.
The German watched the silent giant with puzzled, frightened
eyes. In the new dawn he, for the first time, was able to ob-
tain a good look at his captor, and, if he had been puzzled
and frightened before, those sensations were nothing to what
he experienced now.

Who and what could this almost naked, white savage be?
He had heard him speak but once -- when he had cautioned
him to silence -- and then in excellent German and the well-
modulated tones of culture. He watched him now as the
fascinated toad watches the snake that is about to devour it.
He saw the graceful limbs and symmetrical body motionless
as a marble statue as the creature crouched in the conceal-
ment of the leafy foliage. Not a muscle, not a nerve moved.
He saw the deer coming slowly along the trail, down wind
and unsuspecting. He saw a buck pass -- an old buck -- and
then a young and plump one came opposite the giant in am-
bush, and Schneider's eyes went wide and a scream of terror
almost broke from his lips as he saw the agile beast at his side
spring straight for the throat of the young buck and heard
from those human lips the hunting roar of a wild beast. Down
went the buck and Tarzan and his captive had meat. The
ape-man ate his raw, but he permitted the German to build
a fire and cook his portion.

The two lay up until late in the afternoon and then took up
the journey once again -- a journey that was so frightful to
Schneider because of his ignorance of its destination that he at
times groveled at Tarzan's feet begging for an explanation
and for mercy; but on and on in silence the ape-man went,
prodding the failing Hun whenever the latter faltered.

It was noon of the third day before they reached their
destination. After a steep climb and a short walk they halted
at the edge of a precipitous cliff and Schneider looked down
into a narrow gulch where a single tree grew beside a tiny
rivulet and sparse grass broke from a rock-strewn soil. Tarzan
motioned him over the edge; but the German drew back in
terror. The Ape-man seized him and pushed him roughly
toward the brink. "Descend," he said. It was the second
time he had spoken in three days and perhaps his very silence,
ominous in itself, had done more to arouse terror in the breast
of the Boche than even the spear point, ever ready as it al-
ways was.

Schneider looked fearfully over the edge; but was about
to essay the attempt when Tarzan halted him. "I am Lord
Greystoke," he said. "It was my wife you murdered in the
Waziri country. You will understand now why I came for you. 
Descend."

The German fell upon his knees. "I did not murder your
wife," he cried. "Have mercy! I did not murder your wife.
I do not know anything about --"

"Descend!" snapped Tarzan, raising the point of his spear.
He knew that the man lied and was not surprised that he did.
A man who would murder for no cause would lie for less.
Schneider still hesitated and pled. The ape-man jabbed him
with the spear and Schneider slid fearfully over the top and
began the perilous descent. Tarzan accompanied and assisted
him over the worst places until at last they were within a few
feet of the bottom.

"Be quiet now," cautioned the ape-man. He pointed at the
entrance to what appeared to be a cave at the far end of the
gulch. "There is a hungry lion in there. If you can reach
that tree before he discovers you, you will have several days
longer in which to enjoy life and then -- when you are too weak
to cling longer to the branches of the tree Numa, the man-
eater, will feed again for the last time." He pushed Schneider
from his foothold to the ground below. "Now run," he said.

The German trembling in terror started for the tree. He
had almost reached it when a horrid roar broke from the
mouth of the cave and almost simultaneously a gaunt, hunger-
mad lion leaped into the daylight of the gulch. Schneider
had but a few yards to cover; but the lion flew over the ground
to circumvent him while Tarzan watched the race with a
slight smile upon his lips.

Schneider won by a slender margin, and as Tarzan scaled
the cliff to the summit, he heard behind him mingled with the
roaring of the baffled cat, the gibbering of a human voice that
was at the same time more bestial than the beast's.

Upon the brink of the cliff the ape-man turned and looked
back into the gulch. High in the tree the German clung
frantically to a branch across which his body lay. Beneath
him was Numa -- waiting.

The ape-man raised his face to Kudu, the sun, and from
his mighty chest rose the savage victory cry of the bull ape.

In the German Lines

Tarzan was not yet fully revenged. There were many
millions of Germans yet alive -- enough to keep Tarzan
pleasantly occupied the balance of his life, and yet not
enough, should he kill them all, to recompense him for the
great loss he had suffered -- nor could the death of all those
million Germans bring back his loved one.

While in the German camp in the Pare Mountains, which
lie just east of the boundary line between German and British
East Africa, Tarzan had overheard enough to suggest that
the British were getting the worst of the fighting in Africa. At
first he had given the matter but little thought, since, after
the
death of his wife, the one strong tie that had held him to
civilization, he had renounced all mankind, considering him-
self no longer man, but ape.

After accounting for Schneider as satisfactorily as lay within
his power he circled Kilimanjaro and hunted in the foothills
to the north of that mightiest of mountains as he had dis-
covered that in the neighborhood of the armies there was no
hunting at all. Some pleasure he derived through conjuring
mental pictures from time to time of the German he had left
in the branches of the lone tree at the bottom of the high-
walled gulch in which was penned the starving lion. He
could imagine the man's mental anguish as he became weak-
ened from hunger and maddened by thirst, knowing that
sooner or later he must slip exhausted to the ground where
waited the gaunt man-eater. Tarzan wondered if Schneider
would have the courage to descend to the little rivulet for
water should Numa leave the gulch and enter the cave, and
then he pictured the mad race for the tree again when the
lion charged out to seize his prey as he was certain to do,
since the clumsy German could not descend to the rivulet
without making at least some slight noise that would attract
Numa's attention.

But even this pleasure palled, and more and more the ape-
man found himself thinking of the English soldiers fighting
against heavy odds and especially of the fact that it was Ger-
mans who were beating them. The thought made him lower
his head and growl and it worried him not a little -- a bit, per-
haps, because he was finding it difficult to forget that he was
an Englishman when he wanted only to be an ape. And at
last the time came when he could not longer endure the
thought of Germans killing Englishmen while he hunted in
safety a bare march away.

His decision made, he set out in the direction of the German
camp, no well-defined plan formulated; but with the general
idea that once near the field of operations he might find an
opportunity to harass the German command as he so well
knew how to do. His way took him along the gorge close to
the gulch in which he had left Schneider, and, yielding to a
natural curiosity, he scaled the cliffs and made his way to the
edge of the gulch. The tree was empty, nor was there sign of
Numa, the lion. Picking up a rock he hurled it into the gulch,
where it rolled to the very entrance to the cave. Instantly the
lion appeared in the aperture; but such a different-looking lion
from the great sleek brute that Tarzan had trapped there two
weeks before. Now he was gaunt and emaciated, and when he
walked he staggered.

"Where is the German?" shouted Tarzan. "Was he good
eating, or only a bag of bones when he slipped and fell from
the tree?"

Numa growled. "You look hungry, Numa," continued the
ape-man. "You must have been very hungry to eat all the
grass from your lair and even the bark from the tree as far up
as you can reach. Would you like another German?" and
smiling he turned away.

A few minutes later he came suddenly upon Bara, the deer,
asleep beneath a tree, and as Tarzan was hungry he made a
quick kill, and squatting beside his prey proceeded to eat his
fill. As he was gnawing the last morsel from a bone his quick
ears caught the padding of stealthy feet behind him, and
turning he confronted Dango, the hyena, sneaking upon him.
With a growl the ape-man picked up a fallen branch and
hurled it at the skulking brute. "Go away, eater of carrion!"
he cried; but Dango was hungry and being large and power-
ful he only snarled and circled slowly about as though watch-
ing for an opportunity to charge. Tarzan of the Apes knew
Dango even better than Dango knew himself. He knew that
the brute, made savage by hunger, was mustering its courage
for an attack, that it was probably accustomed to man and
therefore more or less fearless of him and so he unslung his
heavy spear and laid it ready at his side while he continued
his meal, all the time keeping a watchful eye upon the hyena.

He felt no fear, for long familiarity with the dangers of his
wild world had so accustomed him to them that he took what-
ever came as a part of each day's existence as you accept the
homely though no less real dangers of the farm, the range, or
the crowded metropolis. Being jungle bred he was ready
to protect his kill from all comers within ordinary limitations
of caution. Under favorable conditions Tarzan would face
even Numa himself and, if forced to seek safety by flight, he
could do so without any feeling of shame. There was no
braver creature roamed those savage wilds and at the same
time there was none more wise -- the two factors that had
permitted him to survive.

Dango might have charged sooner but for the savage
growls of the ape-man -- growls which, coming from human
lips, raised a question and a fear in the hyena's heart. He
had attacked women and children in the native fields and he
had frightened their men about their fires at night; but he
never had seen a man-thing who made this sound that re-
minded him more of Numa angry than of a man afraid.

When Tarzan had completed his repast he was about to
rise and hurl a clean-picked bone at the beast before he went
his way, leaving the remains of his kill to Dango; but a sud-
den thought stayed him and instead he picked up the carcass
of the deer, threw it over his shoulder, and set off in the
direc-
tion of the gulch. For a few yards Dango followed, growling,
and then realizing that he was being robbed of even a taste
of the luscious flesh he cast discretion to the winds and
charged. Instantly, as though Nature had given him eyes in
the back of his head, Tarzan sensed the impending danger and,
dropping Bara to the ground, turned with raised spear. Far
back went the brown, right hand and then forward, lightning-
like, backed by the power of giant muscles and the weight of
his brawn and bone. The spear, released at the right instant,
drove straight for Dango, caught him in the neck where it
joined the shoulders and passed through the body.

When he had withdrawn the shaft from the hyena Tarzan
shouldered both carcasses and continued on toward the gulch.
Below lay Numa beneath the shade of the lone tree and at the
ape-man's call he staggered slowly to his feet, yet weak as he
was, he still growled savagely, even essaying a roar at the sight
of his enemy. Tarzan let the two bodies slide over the rim
of the cliff. "Eat, Numa!" he cried. "It may be that I shall
need you again." He saw the lion, quickened to new life at
the sight of food, spring upon the body of the deer and then
he left him rending and tearing the flesh as he bolted great
pieces into his empty maw.

The following day Tarzan came within sight of the German
lines. From a wooded spur of the hills he looked down upon
the enemy's left flank and beyond to the British lines. His
position gave him a bird's-eye view of the field of battle, and
his keen eyesight picked out many details that would not have
been apparent to a man whose every sense was not trained
to the highest point of perfection as were the ape-man's. He
noted machine-gun emplacements cunningly hidden from the
view of the British and listening posts placed well out in No
Man's Land.

As his interested gaze moved hither and thither from one
point of interest to another he heard from a point upon the
hillside below him, above the roar of cannon and the crack
of rifle fire, a single rifle spit. Immediately his attention was
centered upon the spot where he knew a sniper must be hid.
Patiently he awaited the next shot that would tell him more
surely the exact location of the rifleman, and when it came he
moved down the steep hillside with the stealth and quietness
of a panther. Apparently he took no cognizance of where he
stepped, yet never a loose stone was disturbed nor a twig
broken -- it was as though his feet saw.

Presently, as he passed through a clump of bushes, he came
to the edge of a low cliff and saw upon a ledge some fifteen
feet below him a German soldier prone behind an embank-
ment of loose rock and leafy boughs that hid him from the
view of the British lines. The man must have been an ex-
cellent shot, for he was well back of the German lines, firing
over the heads of his fellows. His high-powered rifle was
equipped with telescope sights and he also carried binoculars
which he was in the act of using as Tarzan discovered him,
either to note the effect of his last shot or to discover a new
target. Tarzan let his eye move quickly toward that part of
the British line the German seemed to be scanning, his keen
sight revealing many excellent targets for a rifle placed so high
above the trenches.

The Hun, evidently satisfied with his observations, laid aside
his binoculars and again took up his rifle, placed its butt in
the hollow of his shoulder and took careful aim. At the same
instant a brown body sprang outward from the cliff above him.
There was no sound and it is doubtful that the German ever
knew what manner of creature it was that alighted heavily
upon his back, for at the instant of impact the sinewy fingers
of the ape-man circled the hairy throat of the Boche. There
was a moment of futile struggling followed by the sudden
realization of dissolution -- the sniper was dead.

Lying behind the rampart of rocks and boughs, Tarzan
looked down upon the scene below. Near at hand were the
trenches of the Germans. He could see officers and men mov-
ing about in them and almost in front of him a well-hidden
machine gun was traversing No Man's Land in an oblique di-
rection, striking the British at such an angle as to make it dif-
ficult for them to locate it.

Tarzan watched, toying idly with the rifle of the dead Ger-
man. Presently he fell to examining the mechanism of the
piece. He glanced again toward the German trenches and
changed the adjustment of the sights, then he placed the rifle to
his shoulder and took aim. Tarzan was an excellent shot. With
his civilized friends he had hunted big game with the weapons
of civilization and though he never had killed except for food
or in self-defense he had amused himself firing at inanimate
targets thrown into the air and had perfected himself in the
use of firearms without realizing that he had done so. Now
indeed would he hunt big game. A slow smile touched his lips
as his finger closed gradually upon the trigger. The rifle
spoke and a German machine gunner collapsed behind his
weapon. In three minutes Tarzan picked off the crew of that
gun. Then he spotted a German officer emerging from a dug-
out and the three men in the bay with him. Tarzan was care-
ful to leave no one in the immediate vicinity to question how
Germans could be shot in German trenches when they were
entirely concealed from enemy view.

Again adjusting his sights he took a long-range shot at a
distant machine-gun crew to his right. With calm deliberation
he wiped them out to a man. Two guns were silenced. He
saw men running through the trenches and he picked off
several of them. By this time the Germans were aware that
something was amiss -- that an uncanny sniper had discovered
a point of vantage from which this sector of the trenches was
plainly visible to him. At first they sought to discover his
location in No Man's Land; but when an officer looking over
the parapet through a periscope was struck full in the back
of the head with a rifle bullet which passed through his skull
and fell to the bottom of the trench they realized that it was
beyond the parados rather than the parapet that they should
search.

One of the soldiers picked up the bullet that had killed his
officer, and then it was that real excitement prevailed in that
particular bay, for the bullet was obviously of German make.
Hugging the parados, messengers carried the word in both
directions and presently periscopes were leveled above the
parados and keen eyes were searching out the traitor. It did
not take them long to locate the position of the hidden sniper
and then Tarzan saw a machine gun being trained upon him.
Before it had gotten into action its crew lay dead about it; but
there were other men to take their places, reluctantly perhaps;
but driven on by their officers they were forced to it and at
the same time two other machine guns were swung around to-
ward the ape-man and put into operation.

Realizing that the game was about up Tarzan with a fare-
well shot laid aside the rifle and melted into the hills behind
him. For many minutes he could hear the sputter of machine-
gun fire concentrated upon the spot he had just quit and
smiled as he contemplated the waste of German ammunition.

"They have paid heavily for Wasimbu, the Waziri, whom
they crucified, and for his slain fellows," he mused; "but for
Jane they can never pay -- no, not if I killed them all."

After dark that night he circled the flanks of both armies
and passed through the British out-guards and into the British
lines. No man saw him come. No man knew that he was there.

Headquarters of the Second Rhodesians occupied a shel-
tered position far enough back of the lines to be compara-
tively safe from enemy observation. Even lights were per-
mitted, and Colonel Capell sat before a field table, on which
was spread a military map, talking with several of his officers.
A large tree spread above them, a lantern sputtered dimly
upon the table, while a small fire burned upon the ground
close at hand. The enemy had no planes and no other ob-
servers could have seen the lights from the German lines.

The officers were discussing the advantage in numbers pos-
sessed by the enemy and the inability of the British to more
than hold their present position. They could not advance. Al-
ready they had sustained severe losses in every attack and had
always been driven back by overwhelming numbers. There
were hidden machine guns, too, that bothered the colonel con-
siderably. It was evidenced by the fact that he often reverted
to them during the conversation.

"Something silenced them for a while this afternoon," said
one of the younger officers. "I was observing at the time and
I couldn't make out what the fuss was about; but they seemed
to be having a devil of a time in a section of trench on their
left. At one time I could have sworn they were attacked in
the rear -- I reported it to you at the time, sir, you'll recall
--
for the blighters were pepperin' away at the side of that bluff
behind them. I could see the dirt fly. I don't know what it
could have been."

There was a slight rustling among the branches of the tree
above them and simultaneously a lithe, brown body dropped
in their midst. Hands moved quickly to the butts of pistols;
but otherwise there was no movement among the officers.
First they looked wonderingly at the almost naked white man
standing there with the firelight playing upon rounded muscles,
took in the primitive attire and the equally primitive arma-
ment and then all eyes turned toward the colonel.

"Who the devil are you, sir?" snapped that officer.

"Tarzan of the Apes," replied the newcomer.

"Oh, Greystoke!" cried a major, and stepped forward with 
outstretched hand.

"Preswick," acknowledged Tarzan as he took the proffered 
hand.

"I didn't recognize you at first," apologized the major. "The
last time I saw you you were in London in evening dress.
Quite a difference -- 'pon my word, man, you'll have to admit
it.

Tarzan smiled and turned toward the colonel. "I overheard
your conversation," he said. "I have just come from behind
the German lines. Possibly I can help you."

The colonel looked questioningly toward Major Preswick
who quickly rose to the occasion and presented the ape-man
to his commanding officer and fellows. Briefly Tarzan told
them what it was that brought him out alone in pursuit of the
Germans.

"And now you have come to join us?" asked the colonel.

Tarzan shook his head. "Not regularly," he replied. "I
must fight in my own way; but I can help you. Whenever I
wish I can enter the German lines."

Capell smiled and shook his head. "It's not so easy as you
think," he said; "I've lost two good officers in the last week
trying it -- and they were experienced men; none better in the
Intelligence Department."

"Is it more difficult than entering the British lines?" asked
Tarzan.

The colonel was about to reply when a new thought ap-
peared to occur to him and he looked quizzically at the ape-
man. "Who brought you here?" he asked. "Who passed you
through our out-guards?"

"I have just come through the German lines and yours and
passed through your camp," he replied. "Send word to as-
certain if anyone saw me."

"But who accompanied you?" insisted Capell.

"I came alone," replied Tarzan and then, drawing himself to
his full height, "You men of civilization, when you come into
the jungle, are as dead among the quick. Manu, the monkey,
is a sage by comparison. I marvel that you exist at all -- only
your numbers, your weapons, and your power of reason-
ing save you. Had I a few hundred great apes with your reason-
ing power I could drive the Germans into the ocean as quickly
as the remnant of them could reach the coast. Fortunate it is
for you that the dumb brutes cannot combine. Could they,
Africa would remain forever free of men. But come, can I
help you? Would you like to know where several machine-
gun emplacements are hidden?"

The colonel assured him that they would, and a moment
later Tarzan had traced upon the map the location of three
that had been bothering the English. "There is a weak spot
here," he said, placing a finger upon the map. "It is held by
blacks; but the machine guns out in front are manned by
whites. If -- wait! I have a plan. You can fill that trench
with your own men and enfilade the trenches to its right with
their own machine guns."

Colonel Capell smiled and shook his head. "It sounds very
easy," he said.

"It IS easy -- for me," replied the ape-man. "I can empty
that section of trench without a shot. I was raised in the
jungle -- I know the jungle folk -- the Gomangani as well as
the others. Look for me again on the second night," and he
turned to leave.

"Wait," said the colonel. "I will send an officer to pass you
through the lines."

Tarzan smiled and moved away. As he was leaving the
little group about headquarters he passed a small figure
wrapped in an officer's heavy overcoat. The collar was turned
up and the visor of the military cap pulled well down over the
eyes; but, as the ape-man passed, the light from the fire illumi-
nated the features of the newcomer for an instant, revealing
to Tarzan a vaguely familiar face. Some officer he had known
in London, doubtless, he surmised, and went his way through
the British camp and the British lines all unknown to the
watchful sentinels of the out-guard.

Nearly all night he moved across Kilimanjaro's foothills,
tracking by instinct an unknown way, for he guessed that what
he sought would be found on some wooded slope higher up
than he had come upon his other recent journeys in this, to
him, little known country. Three hours before dawn his keen
nostrils apprised him that somewhere in the vicinity he would
find what he wanted, and so he climbed into a tall tree and
settled himself for a few hours' sleep.

When the Lion Fed

Kudu, the sun, was well up in the heavens when Tarzan
awoke. The ape-man stretched his giant limbs, ran his
fingers through his thick hair, and swung lightly down to
earth. Immediately he took up the trail he had come in search
of, following it by scent down into a deep ravine. Cautiously
he went now, for his nose told him that the quarry was close
at hand, and presently from an overhanging bough he looked
down upon Horta, the boar, and many of his kinsmen. Un-
slinging his bow and selecting an arrow, Tarzan fitted the shaft
and, drawing it far back, took careful aim at the largest of the
great pigs. In the ape-man's teeth were other arrows, and
no sooner had the first one sped, than he had fitted and shot
another bolt. Instantly the pigs were in turmoil, not knowing
from whence the danger threatened. They stood stupidly at
first and then commenced milling around until six of their
number lay dead or dying about them; then with a chorus of
grunts and squeals they started off at a wild run, disappearing
quickly in the dense underbrush.

Tarzan then descended from the tree, dispatched those that
were not already dead and proceeded to skin the carcasses.
As he worked, rapidly and with great skill, he neither hummed
nor whistled as does the average man of civilization. It was
in numerous little ways such as these that he differed from
other men, due, probably, to his early jungle training. The
beasts of the jungle that he had been reared among were
playful to maturity but seldom thereafter. His fellow-apes,
especially the bulls, became fierce and surly as they grew
older. Life was a serious matter during lean seasons -- one had
to fight to secure one's share of food then, and the habit once
formed became lifelong. Hunting for food was the life labor
of the jungle bred, and a life labor is a thing not to be ap-
proached with levity nor prosecuted lightly. So all work
found Tarzan serious, though he still retained what the other
beasts lost as they grew older -- a sense of humor, which he
gave play to when the mood suited him. It was a grim humor
and sometimes ghastly; but it satisfied Tarzan.

Then, too, were one to sing and whistle while working on
the ground, concentration would be impossible. Tarzan pos-
sessed the ability to concentrate each of his five senses upon
its particular business. Now he worked at skinning the six
pigs and his eyes and his fingers worked as though there was
naught else in all the world than these six carcasses; but his
ears and his nose were as busily engaged elsewhere -- the
former ranging the forest all about and the latter assaying each
passing zephyr. It was his nose that first discovered the ap-
proach of Sabor, the lioness, when the wind shifted for a mo-
ment.

As clearly as though he had seen her with his eyes, Tarzan
knew that the lioness had caught the scent of the freshly
killed pigs and immediately had moved down wind in their
direction. He knew from the strength of the scent spoor and
the rate of the wind about how far away she was and that she
was approaching from behind him. He was finishing the last
pig and he did not hurry. The five pelts lay close at hand --
he had been careful to keep them thus together and near
him -- an ample tree waved its low branches above him.

He did not even turn his head for he knew she was not yet
in sight; but he bent his ears just a bit more sharply for the
first sound of her nearer approach. When the final skin had
been removed he rose. Now he heard Sabor in the bushes to
his rear, but not yet too close. Leisurely he gathered up the
six pelts and one of the carcasses, and as the lioness appeared
between the boles of two trees he swung upward into the
branches above him. Here he hung the hides over a limb,
seated himself comfortably upon another with his back against
the bole of the tree, cut a hind quarter from the carcass he had
carried with him and proceeded to satisfy his hunger. Sabor
slunk, growling, from the brush, cast a wary eye upward
toward the ape-man and then fell upon the nearest carcass.

Tarzan looked down upon her and grinned, recalling an
argument he had once had with a famous big-game hunter who
had declared that the king of beasts ate only what he himself
had killed. Tarzan knew better for he had seen Numa and
Sabor stoop even to carrion.

Having filled his belly, the ape-man fell to work upon the
hides -- all large and strong. First he cut strips from them
about half an inch wide. When he had sufficient number
of these strips he sewed two of the hides together, afterwards
piercing holes every three or four inches around the edges.
Running another strip through these holes gave him a large
bag with a drawstring. In similar fashion he produced four
other like bags, but smaller, from the four remaining hides and
had several strips left over.

All this done he threw a large, juicy fruit at Sabor, cached
the remainder of the pig in a crotch of the tree and swung off
toward the southwest through the middle terraces of the
forest, carrying his five bags with him. Straight he went to
the rim of the gulch where he had imprisoned Numa, the lion.
Very stealthily he approached the edge and peered over.
Numa was not in sight. Tarzan sniffed and listened. He could
hear nothing, yet he knew that Numa must be within the cave.
He hoped that he slept -- much depended upon Numa not
discovering him.

Cautiously he lowered himself over the edge of the cliff, and
with utter noiselessness commenced the descent toward the
bottom of the gulch. He stopped often and turned his keen
eyes and ears in the direction of the cave's mouth at the far
end of the gulch, some hundred feet away. As he neared the
foot of the cliff his danger increased greatly. If he could
reach the bottom and cover half the distance to the tree that
stood in the center of the gulch he would feel comparatively
safe for then, even if Numa appeared, he felt that he could
beat him either to the cliff or to the tree, but to scale the
first thirty feet of the cliff rapidly enough to elude the
leaping
beast would require a running start of at least twenty feet as
there were no very good hand- or footholds dose to the bottom
-- he had had to run up the first twenty feet like a squirrel
running up a tree that other time he had beaten an infuriated
Numa to it. He had no desire to attempt it again unless the
conditions were equally favorable at least, for he had escaped
Numa's raking talons by only a matter of inches on the former
occasion.

At last he stood upon the floor of the gulch. Silent as a
disembodied spirit he advanced toward the tree. He was half
way there and no sign of Numa. He reached the scarred bole
from which the famished lion had devoured the bark and even
torn pieces of the wood itself and yet Numa had not appeared.
As he drew himself up to the lower branches he commenced
to wonder if Numa were in the cave after all. Could it be
possible that he had forced the barrier of rocks with which
Tarzan had plugged the other end of the passage where it
opened into the outer world of freedom? Or was Numa dead?
The ape-man doubted the verity of the latter suggestion as
he had fed the lion the entire carcasses of a deer and a hyena
only a few days since -- he could not have starved in so short a
time, while the little rivulet running across the gulch furnished
him with water a-plenty.

Tarzan started to descend and investigate the cavern when
it occurred to him that it would save effort were he to lure
Numa out instead. Acting upon the thought he uttered a low
growl. Immediately he was rewarded by the sound of a move-
ment within the cave and an instant later a wild-eyed, haggard
lion rushed forth ready to face the devil himself were he edible.
When Numa saw Tarzan, fat and sleek, perched in the tree
he became suddenly the embodiment of frightful rage. His
eyes and his nose told him that this was the creature respon-
sible for his predicament and also that this creature was good
to eat. Frantically the lion sought to scramble up the bole of
the tree. Twice he leaped high enough to catch the lowest
branches with his paws, but both times he fell backward to
the earth. Each time he became more furious. His growls
and roars were incessant and horrible and all the time Tarzan
sat grinning down upon him, taunting him in jungle billings-
gate for his inability to reach him and mentally exulting that
always Numa was wasting his already waning strength.

Finally the ape-man rose and unslung his rope. He arranged
the coils carefully in his left hand and the noose in his right,
and then he took a position with each foot on one of two
branches that lay in about the same horizontal plane and with
his back pressed firmly against the stem of the tree. There
he stood hurling insults at Numa until the beast was again
goaded into leaping upward at him, and as Numa rose the
noose dropped quickly over his head and about his neck. A
quick movement of Tarzan's rope hand tightened the coil and
when Numa slipped backward to the ground only his hind
feet touched, for the ape-man held him swinging by the neck.

Moving slowly outward upon the two branches Tarzan
swung Numa out so that he could not reach the bole of the
tree with his raking talons, then he made the rope fast after
drawing the lion clear of the ground, dropped his five pigskin
sacks to earth and leaped down himself. Numa was striking
frantically at the grass rope with his fore claws. At any mo-
ment he might sever it and Tarzan must, therefore, work
rapidly.

First he drew the larger bag over Numa's head and secured
it about his neck with the draw string, then he managed, after
considerable effort, during which he barely escaped being torn
to ribbons by the mighty talons, to hog-tie Numa -- drawing
his four legs together and securing them in that position with
the strips trimmed from the pigskins.

By this time the lion's efforts had almost ceased -- it was
evident that he was being rapidly strangled and as that did
not at all suit the purpose of the Tarmangani the latter swung
again into the tree, unfastened the rope from above and
lowered the lion to the ground where he immediately fol-
lowed it and loosed the noose about Numa's neck. Then he
drew his hunting knife and cut two round holes in the front
of the head bag opposite the lion's eyes for the double purpose
of permitting him to see and giving him sufficient air to
breathe.

This done Tarzan busied himself fitting the other bags, one
over each of Numa's formidably armed paws. Those on the
hind feet he secured not only by tightening the draw strings
but also rigged garters that fastened tightly around the legs
above the hocks. He secured the front-feet bags in place
similarly above the great knees. Now, indeed, was Numa, the
lion, reduced to the harmlessness of Bara, the deer.

By now Numa was showing signs of returning life. He
gasped for breath and struggled; but the strips of pigskin that
held his four legs together were numerous and tough. Tarzan
watched and was sure that they would hold, yet Numa is
mightily muscled and there was the chance, always, that he
might struggle free of his bonds after which all would depend
upon the efficacy of Tarzan's bags and draw strings.

After Numa had again breathed normally and was able to
roar out his protests and his rage, his struggles increased to
Titanic proportions for a short time; but as a lion's powers of
endurance are in no way proportionate to his size and strength
he soon tired and lay quietly. Amid renewed growling and
another futile attempt to free himself, Numa was finally forced
to submit to the further indignity of having a rope secured
about his neck; but this time it was no noose that might
tighten and strangle him; but a bowline knot, which does not
tighten or slip under strain.

The other end of the rope Tarzan fastened to the stem of
the tree, then he quickly cut the bonds securing Numa's legs
and leaped aside as the beast sprang to his feet. For a mo-
ment the lion stood with legs far outspread, then he raised
first one paw and then another, shaking them energetically in
an effort to dislodge the strange footgear that Tarzan had
fastened upon them. Finally he began to paw at the bag
upon his head. The ape-man, standing with ready spear,
watched Numa's efforts intently. Would the bags hold? He
sincerely hoped so. Or would all his labor prove fruitless?

As the clinging things upon his feet and face resisted his
every effort to dislodge them, Numa became frantic. He
rolled upon the ground, fighting, biting, scratching, and roar-
ing; he leaped to his feet and sprang into the air; he charged
Tarzan, only to be brought to a sudden stop as the rope secur-
ing him to the tree tautened. Then Tarzan stepped in and
rapped him smartly on the head with the shaft of his spear.
Numa reared upon his hind feet and struck at the are-man
and in return received a cuff on one ear that sent him reeling
sideways. When he returned to the attack he was again sent
sprawling. After the fourth effort it appeared to dawn upon
the king of beasts that he had met his master, his head and
tail dropped and when Tarzan advanced upon him he backed
away, though still growling.

Leaving Numa tied to the tree Tarzan entered the tunnel
and removed the barricade from the opposite end, after which
he returned to the gulch and strode straight for the tree.
Numa lay in his path and as Tarzan approached growled
menacingly. The ape-man cuffed him aside and unfastened
the rope from the tree. Then ensued a half-hour of stubbornly
fought battle while Tarzan endeavored to drive Numa through
the tunnel ahead of him and Numa persistently refused to be
driven. At last, however, by dint of the unrestricted use of
his spear point, the ape-man succeeded in forcing the lion to
move ahead of him and eventually guided him into the pas-
sageway. Once inside, the problem became simpler since
Tarzan followed closely in the rear with his sharp spear point,
an unremitting incentive to forward movement on the part of
the lion. If Numa hesitated he was prodded. If he backed
up the result was extremely painful and so, being a wise lion
who was learning rapidly, he decided to keep on going and
at the end of the tunnel, emerging into the outer world, he
sensed freedom, raised his head and tail and started off at a
run.

Tarzan, still on his hands and knees just inside the entrance,
was taken unaware with the result that he was sprawled
forward upon his face and dragged a hundred yards across the
rocky ground before Numa was brought to a stand. It was
a scratched and angry Tarzan who scrambled to his feet. At
first he was tempted to chastise Numa; but, as the ape-man
seldom permitted his temper to guide him in any direction not
countenanced by reason, he quickly abandoned the idea.

Having taught Numa the rudiments of being driven, he
now urged him forward and there commenced as strange a
journey as the unrecorded history of the jungle contains. The
balance of that day was eventful both for Tarzan and for
Numa. From open rebellion at first the lion passed through
stages of stubborn resistance and grudging obedience to final
surrender. He was a very tired, hungry, and thirsty lion when
night overtook them; but there was to be no food for him that
day or the next -- Tarzan did not dare risk removing the head
bag, though he did cut another hole which permitted Numa
to quench his thirst shortly after dark. Then he tied him to
a tree, sought food for himself, and stretched out among the
branches above his captive for a few hours' sleep.

Early the following morning they resumed their journey,
winding over the low foothills south of Kilimanjaro, toward
the east. The beasts of the jungle who saw them took one
look and fled. The scent spoor of Numa, alone, might have
been enough to have provoked flight in many of the lesser
animals, but the sight of this strange apparition that smelled
like a lion, but looked like nothing they ever had seen before,
being led through the jungles by a giant Tarmangani was too
much for even the more formidable denizens of the wild.

Sabor, the lioness, recognizing from a distance the scent of
her lord and master intermingled with that of a Tarmangani
and the hide of Horta, the boar, trotted through the aisles of
the forest to investigate. Tarzan and Numa heard her coming,
for she voiced a plaintive and questioning whine as the baffling
mixture of odors aroused her curiosity and her fears, for lions,
however terrible they may appear, are often timid animals and
Sabor, being of the gentler sex, was, naturally, habitually in-
quisitive as well.

Tarzan unslung his spear for he knew that he might now
easily have to fight to retain his prize. Numa halted and
turned his outraged head in the direction of the coming she.
He voiced a throaty growl that was almost a purr. Tarzan
was upon the point of prodding him on again when Sabor
broke into view, and behind her the ape-man saw that which
gave him instant pause -- four full-grown lions trailing the
lioness.

To have goaded Numa then into active resistance might
have brought the whole herd down upon him and so Tarzan
waited to learn first what their attitude would be. He had
no idea of relinquishing his lion without a battle; but knowing
lions as he did, he knew that there was no assurance as to
just what the newcomers would do.

The lioness was young and sleek, and the four males were
in their prime -- as handsome lions as he ever had seen. Three
of the males were scantily maned but one, the foremost, car-
ried a splendid, black mane that rippled in the breeze as he
trotted majestically forward. The lioness halted a hundred
feet from Tarzan, while the lions came on past her and stopped
a few feet nearer. Their ears were upstanding and their eyes
filled with curiosity. Tarzan could not even guess what they
might do. The lion at his side faced them fully, standing
silent now and watchful.

Suddenly the lioness gave vent to another little whine, at
which Tarzan's lion voiced a terrific roar and leaped forward
straight toward the beast of the black mane. The sight of this
awesome creature with the strange face was too much for the
lion toward which he leaped, dragging Tarzan after him, and
with a growl the lion turned and fled, followed by his com-
panions and the she.

Numa attempted to follow them; Tarzan held him in
leash and when he turned upon him in rage, beat him un-
mercifully across the head with his spear. Shaking his head
and growling, the lion at last moved off again in the direction
they had been traveling; but it was an hour before he ceased
to sulk. He was very hungry -- half famished in fact -- and
consequently of an ugly temper, yet so thoroughly subdued
by Tarzan's heroic methods of lion taming that he was pres-
ently pacing along at the ape-man's side like some huge St.
Bernard.

It was dark when the two approached the British right, after
a slight delay farther back because of a German patrol it had
been necessary to elude. A short distance from the British line
of out-guard sentinels Tarzan tied Numa to a tree and con-
tinued on alone. He evaded a sentinel, passed the out-guard
and support, and by devious ways came again to Colonel
Capell's headquarters, where he appeared before the officers
gathered there as a disembodied spirit materializing out of
thin air.

When they saw who it was that came thus unannounced
they smiled and the colonel scratched his head in perplexity.

"Someone should be shot for this," he said. "I might just
as well not establish an out-post if a man can filter through
whenever he pleases."

Tarzan smiled. "Do not blame them," he said, "for I am not
a man. I am Tarmangani. Any Mangani who wished to,
could enter your camp almost at will; but if you have them for
sentinels no one could enter without their knowledge."

"What are the Mangani?" asked the colonel. "Perhaps we
might enlist a bunch of the beggars."

Tarzan shook his head. "They are the great apes," he
explained; "my people; but you could not use them. They
cannot concentrate long enough upon a single idea. If I told
them of this they would be much interested for a short time --
I might even hold the interest of a few long enough to get
them here and explain their duties to them; but soon they
would lose interest and when you needed them most they
might be off in the forest searching for beetles instead of
watching their posts. They have the minds of little children
-- that is why they remain what they are."

"You call them Mangani and yourself Tarmangani -- what is
the difference?" asked Major Preswick.

"Tar means white," replied Tarzan, "and Mangani, great
ape. My name -- the name they gave me in the tribe of Ker-
chak -- means White-skin. When I was a little balu my skin,
I presume, looked very white indeed against the beautiful,
black coat of Kala, my foster mother and so they called me
Tarzan, the Tarmangani. They call you, too, Tarmangani," he
concluded, smiling.

Capell smiled. "It is no reproach, Greystoke," he said; "and,
by Jove, it would be a mark of distinction if a fellow could
act the part. And now how about your plan? Do you still
think you can empty the trench opposite our sector?"

"Is it still held by Gomangani?" asked Tarzan.

"What are Gomangani?" inquired the colonel. "It is still
held by native troops, if that is what you mean."

"Yes," replied the ape-man, "the Gomangani are the great
black apes -- the Negroes."

"What do you intend doing and what do you want us to
do?" asked Capell.

Tarzan approached the table and placed a finger on the
map. "Here is a listening post," he said; "they have a machine
gun in it. A tunnel connects it with this trench at this point."
His finger moved from place to place on the map as he talked.
"Give me a bomb and when you hear it burst in this listening
post let your men start across No Man's Land slowly. Pres-
ently they will hear a commotion in the enemy trench; but
they need not hurry, and, whatever they do, have them come
quietly. You might also warn them that I may be in the
trench and that I do not care to be shot or bayoneted."

"And that is all?" queried Capell, after directing an officer
to give Tarzan a hand grenade; "you will empty the trench
alone?"

"Not exactly alone," replied Tarzan with a grim smile; "but
I shall empty it, and, by the way, your men may come in
through the tunnel from the listening post if you prefer. In
about half an hour, Colonel," and he turned and left them.

As he passed through the camp there flashed suddenly upon
the screen of recollection, conjured there by some reminder
of his previous visit to headquarters, doubtless, the image of
the officer he had passed as he quit the colonel that other
time and simultaneously recognition of the face that had been
revealed by the light from the fire. He shook his head dubi-
ously. No, it could not be and yet the features of the young
officer were identical with those of Fraulein Kircher, the Ger-
man spy he had seen at German headquarters the night he
took Major Schneider from under the nose of the Hun general
and his staff.

Beyond the last line of sentinels Tarzan moved quickly in
the direction of Numa, the lion. The beast was lying down as
Tarzan approached, but he rose as the ape-man reached his
side. A low whine escaped his muzzled lips. Tarzan smiled
for he recognized in the new note almost a supplication -- it
was more like the whine of a hungry dog begging for food
than the voice of the proud king of beasts.

"Soon you will kill -- and feed," he murmured in the ver-
nacular of the great apes.

He unfastened the rope from about the tree and, with Numa
close at his side, slunk into No Man's Land. There was little
rifle fire and only an occasional shell vouched for the presence
of artillery behind the opposing lines. As the shells from
both sides were falling well back of the trenches, they consti-
tuted no menace to Tarzan; but the noise of them and that
of the rifle fire had a marked effect upon Numa who crouched,
trembling, close to the Tarmangani as though seeking protec-
tion.

Cautiously the two beasts moved forward toward the listen-
ing post of the Germans. In one hand Tarzan carried the
bomb the English had given him, in the other was the coiled
rope attached to the lion. At last Tarzan could see the posi-
tion a few yards ahead. His keen eyes picked out the head
and shoulders of the sentinel on watch. The ape-man grasped
the bomb firmly in his right hand. He measured the distance
with his eye and gathered his feet beneath him, then in a
single motion he rose and threw the missile, immediately
flattening himself prone upon the ground.

Five seconds later there was a terrific explosion in the center
of the listening post. Numa gave a nervous start and at-
tempted to break away; but Tarzan held him and, leaping to
his feet, ran forward, dragging Numa after him. At the edge
of the post he saw below him but slight evidence that the
position had been occupied at all, for only a few shreds of
torn flesh remained. About the only thing that had not been
demolished was a machine gun which had been protected by
sand bags.

There was not an instant to lose. Already a relief might be
crawling through the communication tunnel, for it must have
been evident to the sentinels in the Hun trenches that the
listening post had been demolished. Numa hesitated to fol-
low Tarzan into the excavation; but the ape-man, who was in
no mood to temporize, jerked him roughly to the bottom.
Before them lay the mouth of the tunnel that led back from
No Man's Land to the German trenches. Tarzan pushed Numa
forward until his head was almost in the aperture, then as
though it were an afterthought, he turned quickly and, taking
the machine gun from the parapet, placed it in the bottom of
the hole close at hand, after which he turned again to Numa,
and with his knife quickly cut the garters that held the bags
upon his front paws. Before the lion could know that a part
of his formidable armament was again released for action,
Tarzan had cut the rope from his neck and the head bag from
his face, and grabbing the lion from the rear had thrust him
partially into the mouth of the tunnel.

Then Numa balked, only to feel the sharp prick of Tarzan's
knife point in his hind quarters. Goading him on the ape-man
finally succeeded in getting the lion sufficiently far into the
tunnel so that there was no chance of his escaping other than
by going forward or deliberately backing into the sharp blade
at his rear. Then Tarzan cut the bags from the great hind
feet, placed his shoulder and his knife point against Numa's
seat, dug his toes into the loose earth that had been broken
up by the explosion of the bomb, and shoved.

Inch by inch at first Numa advanced. He was growling
now and presently he commenced to roar. Suddenly he
leaped forward and Tarzan knew that he had caught the
scent of meat ahead. Dragging the machine gun beside him
the ape-man followed quickly after the lion whose roars he
could plainly hear ahead mingled with the unmistakable
screams of frightened men. Once again a grim smile touched
the lips of this man-beast.

"They murdered my Waziri," he muttered; "they crucified
Wasimbu, son of Muviro."

When Tarzan reached the trench and emerged into it there
was no one in sight in that particular bay, nor in the next, nor
the next as he hurried forward in the direction of the German
center; but in the fourth bay he saw a dozen men jammed in
the angle of the traverse at the end while leaping upon them
and rending with talons and fangs was Numa, a terrific in-
carnation of ferocity and ravenous hunger.

Whatever held the men at last gave way as they fought
madly with one another in their efforts to escape this dread
creature that from their infancy had filled them with terror,
and again they were retreating. Some clambered over the
parados and some even over the parapet preferring the dan-
gers of No Man's Land to this other soul-searing menace.

As the British advanced slowly toward the German trenches,
they first met terrified blacks who ran into their arms only
too willing to surrender. That pandemonium had broken
loose in the Hun trench was apparent to the Rhodesians not
only from the appearance of the deserters, but from the sounds
of screaming, cursing men which came clearly to their ears;
but there was one that baffled them for it resembled nothing
more closely than the infuriated growling of an angry lion.

And when at last they reached the trench, those farthest on
the left of the advancing Britishers heard a machine gun
sputter suddenly before them and saw a huge lion leap over
the German parados with the body of a screaming Hun soldier
between his jaws and vanish into the shadows of the night,
while squatting upon a traverse to their left was Tarzan of
the Apes with a machine gun before him with which he was
raking the length of the German trenches.

The foremost Rhodesians saw something else -- they saw a
huge German officer emerge from a dugout just in rear of the
ape-man. They saw him snatch up a discarded rifle with
bayonet fixed and creep upon the apparently unconscious Tar-
zan. They ran forward, shouting warnings; but above the
pandemonium of the trenches and the machine gun their
voices could not reach him. The German leaped upon the
parapet behind him -- the fat hands raised the rifle butt aloft
for the cowardly downward thrust into the naked back and
then, as moves Ara, the lightning, moved Tarzan of the Apes.

It was no man who leaped forward upon that Boche officer, 
striking aside the sharp bayonet as one might strike aside a
straw in a baby's hand -- it was a wild beast and the roar of
a wild beast was upon those savage lips, for as that strange
sense that Tarzan owned in common with the other jungle-
bred creatures of his wild domain warned him of the presence
behind him and he had whirled to meet the attack, his eyes
had seen the corps and regimental insignia upon the other's
blouse -- it was the same as that worn by the murderers of his
wife and his people, by the despoilers of his home and his
happiness.

It was a wild beast whose teeth fastened upon the shoulder
of the Hun -- it was a wild beast whose talons sought that fat
neck. And then the boys of the Second Rhodesian Regiment
saw that which will live forever in their memories. They saw
the giant ape-man pick the heavy German from the ground
and shake him as a terrier might shake a rat -- as Sabor, the
lioness, sometimes shakes her prey. They saw the eyes of the
Hun bulge in horror as he vainly struck with his futile hands
against the massive chest and head of his assailant. They saw
Tarzan suddenly spin the man about and placing a knee in
the middle of his back and an arm about his neck bend his
shoulders slowly backward. The German's knees gave and
he sank upon them, but still that irresistible force bent him
further and further. He screamed in agony for a moment --
then something snapped and Tarzan cast him aside, a limp
and lifeless thing.

The Rhodesians started forward, a cheer upon their lips --
a cheer that never was uttered -- a cheer that froze in their
throats, for at that moment Tarzan placed a foot upon the
carcass of his kill and, raising his face to the heavens, gave
voice to the weird and terrifying victory cry of the bull ape.

Underlieutenant von Goss was dead.

Without a backward glance at the awe-struck soldiers Tar-
zan leaped the trench and was gone.

The Golden Locket

The little British army in East Africa, after suffering severe
reverses at the hands of a numerically much superior
force, was at last coming into its own. The German offen-
sive had been broken and the Huns were now slowly and dog-
gedly retreating along the railway to Tanga. The break in the
German lines had followed the clearing of a section of their
left-flank trenches of native soldiers by Tarzan and Numa,
the lion, upon that memorable night that the ape-man had
loosed a famishing man-eater among the superstitious and
terror-stricken blacks. The Second Rhodesian Regiment had
immediately taken possession of the abandoned trench and
from this position their flanking fire had raked contiguous sec-
tions of the German line, the diversion rendering possible a
successful night attack on the part of the balance of the
British forces.

Weeks had elapsed. The Germans were contesting stub-
bornly every mile of waterless, thorn-covered ground and
clinging desperately to their positions along the railway. The
officers of the Second Rhodesians had seen nothing more of
Tarzan of the Apes since he had slain Underlieutenant von
Goss and disappeared toward the very heart of the German
position, and there were those among them who believed that
he had been killed within the enemy lines.

"They may have killed him," assented Colonel Capell; "but
I fancy they never captured the beggar alive."

Nor had they, nor killed him either. Tarzan had spent those
intervening weeks pleasantly and profitably. He had
amassed a considerable fund of knowledge concerning the
disposition and strength of German troops, their methods of
warfare, and the various ways in which a lone Tarmangani
might annoy an army and lower its morale.

At present he was prompted by a specific desire. There was
a certain German spy whom he wished to capture alive and
take back to the British When he had made his first visit
to German headquarters, he had seen a young woman deliver
a paper to the German general, and later he had seen that
same young woman within the British lines in the uniform of a
British officer. The conclusions were obvious -- she was a spy.

And so Tarzan haunted German headquarters upon many
nights hoping to see her again or to pick up some clew as to
her whereabouts, and at the same time he utilized many an
artifice whereby he might bring terror to the hearts of the
Germans. That he was successful was often demonstrated by
the snatches of conversation he overheard as he prowled
through the German camps. One night as he lay concealed
in the bushes close beside a regimental headquarters he
listened to the conversation of several Boche officers. One of
the men reverted to the stories told by the native troops in
connection with their rout by a lion several weeks before and
the simultaneous appearance in their trenches of a naked,
white giant whom they were perfectly assured was some
demon of the jungle.

"The fellow must have been the same as he who leaped
into the general's headquarters and carried off Schneider,"
asserted one. "I wonder how he happened to single out the
poor major. They say the creature seemed interested in no
one but Schneider. He had von Kelter in his grasp, and he
might easily have taken the general himself; but he ignored
them all except Schneider. Him he pursued about the room,
seized and carried off into the night. Gott knows what his
fate was."

"Captain Fritz Schneider has some sort of theory," said
another. "He told me only a week or two ago that he thinks
he knows why his brother was taken -- that it was a case of
mistaken identity. He was not so sure about it until von Goss
was killed, apparently by the same creature, the night the
lion entered the trenches. Von Goss was attached to Schneid-
er's company. One of Schneider's men was found with his
neck wrung the same night that the major was carried off and
Schneider thinks that this devil is after him and his command
-- that it came for him that night and got his brother by
mistake. He says Kraut told him that in presenting the major
to Fraulein Kircher the former's name was no sooner spoken
than this wild man leaped through the window and made for
him."

Suddenly the little group became rigid -- listening. "What
was that?" snapped one, eyeing the bushes from which a
smothered snarl had issued as Tarzan of the Apes realized
that through his mistake the perpetrator of the horrid crime at
his bungalow still lived -- that the murderer of his wife went
yet unpunished.

For a long minute the officers stood with tensed nerves,
every eye rivetted upon the bushes from whence the ominous
sound had issued. Each recalled recent mysterious disap-
pearances from the heart of camps as well as from lonely
out-guards. Each thought of the silent dead he had seen,
slain almost within sight of their fellows by some unseen
creature. They thought of the marks upon dead throats --
made by talons or by giant fingers, they could not tell which
-- and those upon shoulders and jugulars where powerful
teeth had fastened and they waited with drawn pistols.

Once the bushes moved almost imperceptibly and an instant
later one of the officers, without warning, fired into them; but
Tarzan of the Apes was not there. In the interval between
the moving of the bushes and the firing of the shot he had
melted into the night. Ten minutes later he was hovering on
the outskirts of that part of camp where were bivouacked for
the night the black soldiers of a native company commanded
by one Hauptmann Fritz Schneider. The men were stretched
upon the ground without tents; but there were tents pitched
for the officers. Toward these Tarzan crept. It was slow
and perilous work, as the Germans were now upon the alert
for the uncanny foe that crept into their camps to take his toll
by night, yet the ape-man passed their sentinels, eluded the
vigilance of the interior guard, and crept at last to the rear of
the officers' line.

Here he flattened himself against the ground close behind
the nearest tent and listened. From within came the regular
breathing of a sleeping man -- one only. Tarzan was satisfied.
With his knife he cut the tie strings of the rear flap and
entered. He made no noise. The shadow of a falling leaf,
floating gently to earth upon a still day, could have been no
more soundless. He moved to the side of the sleeping man
and bent low over him. He could not know, of course,
whether it was Schneider or another, as he had never seen
Schneider; but he meant to know and to know even more.
Gently he shook the man by the shoulder. The fellow turned
heavily and grunted in a thick guttural.

"Silence!" admonished the ape-man in a low whisper. "Si-
lence -- I kill."

The Hun opened his eyes. In the dim light he saw a giant
figure bending over him. Now a mighty hand grasped his
shoulder and another closed lightly about his throat.

"Make no outcry," commanded Tarzan; "but answer in a
whisper my questions. What is your name?"

"Luberg," replied the officer. He was trembling. The weird
presence of this naked giant filled him with dread. He, too,
recalled the men mysteriously murdered in the still watches of
the night camps. "What do you want?"

"Where is Hauptmann Fritz Schneider?" asked Tarzan,
"Which is his tent?"

"He is not here," replied Luberg. "He was sent to Wil-
helmstal yesterday."

"I shall not kill you -- now," said the ape-man. "First I
shall go and learn if you have lied to me and if you have
your death shall be the more terrible. Do you know how
Major Schneider died?"

Luberg shook his head negatively.

"I do," continued Tarzan, "and it was not a nice way to die
-even for an accursed German. Turn over with your face
down and cover your eyes. Do not move or make any sound."

The man did as he was bid and the instant that his eyes
were turned away, Tarzan slipped from the tent. An hour
later he was outside the German camp and headed for the
little hill town of Wilhelmstal, the summer seat of govern-
ment of German East Africa.

Fraulein Bertha Kircher was lost. She was humiliated and
angry -- it was long before she would admit it, that she, who
prided herself upon her woodcraft, was lost in this little patch
of country between the Pangani and the Tanga railway.
She knew that Wilhelmstal lay southeast of her about fifty miles;
but, through a combination of untoward circumstances, she
found herself unable to determine which was southeast.

In the first place she had set out from German headquarters
on a well-marked road that was being traveled by troops and
with every reason to believe that she would follow that road
to Wilhelmstal. Later she had been warned from this road
by word that a strong British patrol had come down the west
bank of the Pangani, effected a crossing south of her, and
was even then marching on the railway at Tonda.

After leaving the road she found herself in thick bush and
as the sky was heavily overcast she presently had recourse to
her compass and it was not until then that she discovered to
her dismay that she did not have it with her. So sure was she
of her woodcraft, however, that she continued on in the
direction she thought west until she had covered sufficient
distance to warrant her in feeling assured that, by now turning
south, she could pass safely in rear of the British patrol.

Nor did she commence to feel any doubts until long after
she had again turned toward the east well south, as she
thought, of the patrol. It was late afternoon -- she should
long since have struck the road again south of Tonda; but she
had found no road and now she began to feel real anxiety.

Her horse had traveled all day without food or water,
night was approaching and with it a realization that she was
hopelessly lost in a wild and trackless country notorious princi-
pally for its tsetse flies and savage beasts. It was maddening
to know that she had absolutely no knowledge of the direction
she was traveling -- that she might be forging steadily further
from the railway, deeper into the gloomy and forbidding
country toward the Pangani; yet it was impossible to stop --
she must go on.

Bertha Kircher was no coward, whatever else she may have
been, but as night began to close down around her she could
not shut out from her mind entirely contemplation of the
terrors of the long hours ahead before the rising sun should
dissipate the Stygian gloom -- the horrid jungle night -- that
lures forth all the prowling, preying creatures of destruction.

She found, just before dark, an open meadow-like break in
the almost interminable bush. There was a small clump of
trees near the center and here she decided to camp. The
grass was high and thick, affording feed for her horse and a
bed for herself, and there was more than enough dead wood
lying about the trees to furnish a good fire well through the
night. Removing the saddle and bridle from her mount she
placed them at the foot of a tree and then picketed the animal
close by. Then she busied herself collecting firewood and by
the time darkness had fallen she had a good fire and enough
wood to last until morning.

From her saddlebags she took cold food and from her
canteen a swallow of water. She could not afford more than
a small swallow for she could not know how long a time it
might be before she should find more. It filled her with sor-
row that her poor horse must go waterless, for even German
spies may have hearts and this one was very young and very
feminine.

It was now dark. There was neither moon nor stars and
the light from her fire only accentuated the blackness beyond.
She could see the grass about her and the boles of the trees
which stood out in brilliant relief against the solid background
of impenetrable night, and beyond the firelight there was
nothing.

The jungle seemed ominously quiet. Far away in the dis-
tance she heard faintly the boom of big guns; but she could
not locate their direction. She strained her ears until her
nerves were on the point of breaking; but she could not tell
from whence the sound came. And it meant so much to her to
know, for the battle-lines were north of her and if she could
but locate the direction of the firing she would know which
way to go in the morning.

In the morning! Would she live to see another morning?
She squared her shoulders and shook herself together. Such
thoughts must be banished -- they would never do. Bravely
she hummed an air as she arranged her saddle near the fire
and pulled a quantity of long grass to make a comfortable
seat over which she spread her saddle blanket. Then she
unstrapped a heavy, military coat from the cantle of her saddle
and donned it, for the air was already chill.

Seating herself where she could lean against the saddle
she prepared to maintain a sleepless vigil throughout the
night. For an hour the silence was broken only by the distant
booming of the guns and the low noises of the feeding horse
and then, from possibly a mile away, came the rumbling
thunder of a lion's roar. The girl started and laid her hand
upon the rifle at her side. A little shudder ran through her
slight frame and she could feel the goose flesh rise upon her
body.

Again and again was the awful sound repeated and each
time she was certain that it came nearer. She could locate
the direction of this sound although she could not that of the
guns, for the origin of the former was much closer. The lion
was up wind and so could not have caught her scent as yet,
though he might be approaching to investigate the light of
the fire which could doubtless be seen for a considerable
distance.

For another fear-filled hour the girl sat straining her eyes
and ears out into the black void beyond her little island of
light. During all that time the lion did not roar again; but
there was constantly the sensation that it was creeping upon
her. Again and again she would start and turn to peer into
the blackness beyond the trees behind her as her overwrought
nerves conjured the stealthy fall of padded feet. She held the
rifle across her knees at the ready now and she was trembling
from head to foot.

Suddenly her horse raised his head and snorted, and with
a little cry of terror the girl sprang to her feet. The animal
turned and trotted back toward her until the picket rope
brought him to a stand, and then he wheeled about and with
ears up-pricked gazed out into the night; but the girl could
neither see nor hear aught.

Still another hour of terror passed during which the horse
often raised his head to peer long and searchingly into the
dark. The girl replenished the fire from time to time. She
found herself becoming very sleepy. Her heavy lids persisted
in drooping; but she dared not sleep. Fearful lest she might
be overcome by the drowsiness that was stealing through her
she rose and walked briskly to and fro, then she threw some
more wood on the fire, walked over and stroked her horse's
muzzle and returned to her seat.

Leaning against the saddle she tried to occupy her mind
with plans for the morrow; but she must have dozed. With
a start she awoke. It was broad daylight. The hideous night
with its indescribable terrors was gone.

She could scarce believe the testimony of her senses. She
had slept for hours, the fire was out and yet she and the horse
were safe and alive, nor was there sign of savage beast about.
And, best of all, the sun was shining, pointing the straight
road to the east. Hastily she ate a few mouthfuls of her preci-
ous rations, which with a swallow of water constituted her
breakfast. Then she saddled her horse and mounted. Already
she felt that she was as good as safe in Wilhelmstal.

Possibly, however, she might have revised her conclusions
could she have seen the two pairs of eyes watching her every
move intently from different points in the bush.

Light-hearted and unsuspecting, the girl rode across the
clearing toward the bush while directly before her two yellow-
green eyes glared round and terrible, a tawny tail twitched
nervously and great, padded paws gathered beneath a sleek barrel
for a mighty spring. The horse was almost at the edge
of the bush when Numa, the lion, launched himself through
the air. He struck the animal's right shoulder at the instant
that it reared, terrified, to wheel in flight. The force of the
impact hurled the horse backward to the ground and so
quickly that the girl had no opportunity to extricate herself;
but fell to the earth with her mount, her left leg pinned be-
neath its body.

Horror-stricken, she saw the king of beasts open his mighty
jaws and seize the screaming creature by the back of its neck.
The great jaws closed, there was an instant's struggle as Numa
shook his prey. She could hear the vertebrae crack as the
mighty fangs crunched through them, and then the muscles
of her faithful friend relaxed in death.

Numa crouched upon his kill. His terrifying eyes rivetted
themselves upon the girl's face -- she could feel his hot breath
upon her cheek and the odor of the fetid vapor nauseated her.
For what seemed an eternity to the girl the two lay staring at
each other and then the lion uttered a menacing growl.

Never before had Bertha Kircher been so terrified -- never
before had she had such cause for terror. At her hip was a
pistol -- a formidable weapon with which to face a man; but
a puny thing indeed with which to menace the great beast
before her. She knew that at best it could but enrage him
and yet she meant to sell her life dearly, for she felt that she
must die. No human succor could have availed her even had
it been there to offer itself. For a moment she tore her gaze
from the hypnotic fascination of that awful face and breathed
a last prayer to her God. She did not ask for aid, for she felt
that she was beyond even divine succor -- she only asked that
the end might come quickly and with as little pain as possible.

No one can prophesy what a lion will do in any given
emergency. This one glared and growled at the girl for a
moment and then fell to feeding upon the dead horse. Fraulein
Kircher wondered for an instant and then attempted to
draw her leg cautiously from beneath the body of her mount;
but she could not budge it. She increased the force of her
efforts and Numa looked up from his feeding to growl again.
The girl desisted. She hoped that he might satisfy his hunger
and then depart to lie up, but she could not believe that he
would leave her there alive. Doubtless he would drag the
remains of his kill into the bush for hiding and, as there could
be no doubt that he considered her part of his prey, he would
certainly come back for her, or possibly drag her in first and
kill her.

Again Numa fell to feeding. The girl's nerves were at the
breaking point. She wondered that she had not fainted under
the strain of terror and shock. She recalled that she often had
wished she might see a lion, close to, make a kill and feed
upon it. God! how realistically her wish had been granted.

Again she bethought herself of her pistol. As she had
fallen, the holster had slipped around so that the weapon now
lay beneath her. Very slowly she reached for it; but in so
doing she was forced to raise her body from the ground.
Instantly the lion was aroused. With the swiftness of a cat
he reached across the carcass of the horse and placed a heavy,
taloned paw upon her breast, crushing her back to earth, and
all the time he growled and snarled horribly. His face was a
picture of frightful rage incarnate. For a moment neither
moved and then from behind her the girl heard a human
voice uttering bestial sounds.

Numa suddenly looked up from the girl's face at the thing
beyond her. His growls increased to roars as he drew back,
ripping the front of the girl's waist almost from her body with
his long talons, exposing her white bosom, which through
some miracle of chance the great claws did not touch.

Tarzan of the Apes had witnessed the entire encounter
from the moment that Numa had leaped upon his prey. For
some time before, he had been watching the girl, and after the
lion attacked her he had at first been minded to let Numa have
his way with her. What was she but a hated German and a
spy besides? He had seen her at General Kraut's headquarters,
in conference with the German staff and again he had seen her
within the British lines masquerading as a British officer. It
was the latter thought that prompted him to interfere. Doubt-
less General Jan Smuts would be glad to meet and question
her. She might be forced to divulge information of value to
the British commander before Smuts had her shot.

Tarzan had recognized not only the girl, but the lion as well.
All lions may look alike to you and me; but not so to their
intimates of the jungle. Each has his individual characteristics
of face and form and gait as well defined as those that dif-
ferentiate members of the human family, and besides these
the creatures of the jungle have a still more positive test --
that of scent. Each of us, man or beast, has his own peculiar
odor, and it is mostly by this that the beasts of the jungle,
endowed with miraculous powers of scent, recognize indi-
viduals.

It is the final proof. You have seen it demonstrated a thou-
sand times -- a dog recognizes your voice and looks at you.
He knows your face and figure. Good, there can be no doubt
in his mind but that it is you; but is he satisfied? No, sir --
he
must come up and smell of you. All his other senses may be
fallible, but not his sense of smell, and so he makes assurance
positive by the final test.

Tarzan recognized Numa as he whom he had muzzled with
the hide of Horta, the boar -- as he whom he handled by a
rope for two days and finally loosed in a German front-line
trench, and he knew that Numa would recognize him -- that
he would remember the sharp spear that had goaded him
into submission and obedience and Tarzan hoped that the
lesson he had learned still remained with the lion.

Now he came forward calling to Numa in the language of
the great apes -- warning him away from the girl. It is open
to question that Numa, the lion, understood him; but he did
understand the menace of the heavy spear that the Tarman-
gani carried so ready in his brown, right hand, and so he drew
back, growling, trying to decide in his little brain whether
to charge or flee.

On came the ape-man with never a pause, straight for the
lion. "Go away, Numa," he cried, "or Tarzan will tie you up
again and lead you through the jungle without food. See
Arad, my spear! Do you recall how his point stuck into you
and how with his haft I beat you over the head? Go, Numa!
I am Tarzan of the Apes!"

Numa wrinkled the skin of his face into great folds, until
his eyes almost disappeared and he growled and roared and
snarled and growled again, and when the spear point came
at last quite close to him he struck at it viciously with his
armed paw; but he drew back. Tarzan stepped over the
dead horse and the girl lying behind him gazed in wide-eyed
astonishment at the handsome figure driving an angry lion
deliberately from its kill.

When Numa had retreated a few yards, the ape-man called
back to the girl in perfect German, "Are you badly hurt?"

"I think not," she replied; "but I cannot extricate my foot
from beneath my horse."

"Try again," commanded Tarzan. "I do not know how long
I can hold Numa thus."

The girl struggled frantically; but at last she sank back
upon an elbow.

"It is impossible," she called to him.

He backed slowly until he was again beside the horse, when
he reached down and grasped the cinch, which was still intact.
Then with one hand he raised the carcass from the ground.
The girl freed herself and rose to her feet.

"You can walk?" asked Tarzan.

"Yes," she said; "my leg is numb; but it does not seem to be
injured."

"Good," commented the ape-man. "Back slowly away be-
hind me -- make no sudden movements. I think he will not
charge."

With utmost deliberation the two backed toward the bush.
Numa stood for a moment, growling, then he followed them,
slowly. Tarzan wondered if he would come beyond his kill
or if he would stop there. If he followed them beyond, then
they could look for a charge, and if Numa charged it was
very likely that he would get one of them. When the lion
reached the carcass of the horse Tarzan stopped and so did
Numa, as Tarzan had thought that he would and the ape-man
waited to see what the lion would do next. He eyed them for
a moment, snarled angrily and then looked down at the tempt-
ing meat. Presently he crouched upon his kill and resumed
feeding.

The girl breathed a deep sigh of relief as she and the ape-
man resumed their slow retreat with only an occasional glance
from the lion, and when at last they reached the bush and had
turned and entered it, she felt a sudden giddiness overwhelm
her so that she staggered and would have fallen had Tarzan
not caught her. It was only a moment before she regained
control of herself.

"I could not help it," she said, in half apology. "I was so
close to death -- such a horrible death -- it unnerved me for an
instant; but I am all right now. How can I ever thank you?
It was so wonderful -- you did not seem to fear the frightful
creature in the least; yet he was afraid of you. Who are you?"

"He knows me," replied Tarzan, grimly -- "that is why he
fears me."

He was standing facing the girl now and for the first time
he had a chance to look at her squarely and closely. She was
very beautiful -- that was undeniable; but Tarzan realized her
beauty only in a subconscious way. It was superficial -- it did
not color her soul which must be black as sin. She was Ger-
man -- a German spy. He hated her and desired only to
compass her destruction; but he would choose the manner so
that it would work most grievously against the enemy cause.

He saw her naked breasts where Numa had torn her clothing
from her and dangling there against the soft, white flesh he
saw that which brought a sudden scowl of surprise and anger
to his face -- the diamond-studded, golden locket of his youth
-- the love token that had been stolen from the breast of his
mate by Schneider, the Hun. The girl saw the scowl but did
not interpret it correctly. Tarzan grasped her roughly by the
arm.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded, as he tore the
bauble from her.

The girl drew herself to her full height. "Take your hand
from me," she demanded, but the ape-man paid no attention
to her words, only seizing her more forcibly.

"Answer me!" he snapped. "Where did you get this?"

"What is it to you?" she countered.

"It is mine," he replied. "Tell me who gave it to you or I
will throw you back to Numa."

"You would do that?" she asked.

"Why not?" he queried. "You are a spy and spies must die
if they are caught."

"You were going to kill me, then?"

"I was going to take you to headquarters. They would
dispose of you there; but Numa can do it quite as effectively.
Which do you prefer?"

"Hauptmann Fritz Schneider gave it to me," she said.

"Headquarters it will be then," said Tarzan. "Come!"
The girl moved at his side through the bush and all the
time her mind worked quickly. They were moving east, which
suited her, and as long as they continued to move east she was
glad to have the protection of the great, white savage. She
speculated much upon the fact that her pistol still swung at her
hip. The man must be mad not to take it from her.

"What makes you think I am a spy?" she asked after a long
silence.

"I saw you at German headquarters," he replied, "and then
again inside the British lines."

She could not let him take her back to them. She must
reach Wilhelmstal at once and she was determined to do so
even if she must have recourse to her pistol. She cast a side
glance at the tall figure. What a magnificent creature! But
yet he was a brute who would kill her or have her killed if she
did not slay him. And the locket! She must have that back
-- it must not fail to reach Wilhelmstal. Tarzan was now a
foot or two ahead of her as the path was very narrow. Cau-
tiously she drew her pistol. A single shot would suffice and
he was so close that she could not miss. As she figured it all
out her eyes rested on the brown skin with the graceful
muscles rolling beneath it and the perfect limbs and head
and the carriage that a proud king of old might have envied.
A wave of revulsion for her contemplated act surged through
her. No, she could not do it -- yet, she must be free and she
must regain possession of the locket. And then, almost blindly,
she swung the weapon up and struck Tarzan heavily upon the
back of the head with its butt. Like a felled ox he dropped in
his tracks.

Vengeance and Mercy

It was an hour later that Sheeta, the panther, hunting,
chanced to glance upward into the blue sky where his at-
tention was attracted by Ska, the vulture, circling slowly
above the bush a mile away and downwind. For a long minute
the yellow eyes stared intently at the gruesome bird. They saw
Ska dive and rise again to continue his ominous circling and
in these movements their woodcraft read that which, while
obvious to Sheeta, would doubtless have meant nothing to
you or me.

The hunting cat guessed that on the ground beneath Ska
was some living thing of flesh -- either a beast feeding upon
its kill or a dying animal that Ska did not yet dare attack. In
either event it might prove meat for Sheeta, and so the wary
feline stalked by a circuitous route, upon soft, padded feet
that gave forth no sound, until the circling aasvogel> and his
intended prey were upwind. Then, sniffing each vagrant
zephyr, Sheeta, the panther, crept cautiously forward, nor
had he advanced any considerable distance before his keen
nostrils were rewarded with the scent of man -- a Tarmangani.

Sheeta paused. He was not a hunter of men. He was
young and in his prime; but always before he had avoided
this hated presence. Of late he had become more accustomed
to it with the passing of many soldiers through his ancient
hunting ground, and as the soldiers had frightened away a
great part of the game Sheeta had been wont to feed upon, the
days had been lean, and Sheeta was hungry.

The circling Ska suggested that this Tarmangani might be
helpless and upon the point of dying, else Ska would not have
been interested in him, and so easy prey for Sheeta. With
this thought in mind the cat resumed his stalking. Presently
he pushed through the thick bush and his yellow-green eyes
rested gloatingly upon the body of an almost naked Tarman-
gani lying face down in a narrow game trail.

Numa, sated, rose from the carcass of Bertha Kircher's
horse and seized the partially devoured body by the neck and
dragged it into the bush; then he started east toward the lair
where he had left his mate. Being uncomfortably full he was
inclined to be sleepy and far from belligerent. He moved
slowly and majestically with no effort at silence or conceal-
ment. The king walked abroad, unafraid.

With an occasional regal glance to right or left he moved
along a narrow game trail until at a turn he came to a sudden
stop at what lay revealed before him -- Sheeta, the panther,
creeping stealthily upon the almost naked body of a Tar-
mangani lying face down in the deep dust of the pathway.
Numa glared intently at the quiet body in the dust. Recog-
nition came. It was his Tarmangani. A low growl of warning
rumbled from his throat and Sheeta halted with one paw
upon Tarzan's back and turned suddenly to eye the intruder.

What passed within those savage brains? Who may say?
The panther seemed debating the wisdom of defending his
find, for he growled horribly as though warning Numa away
from the prey. And Numa? Was the idea of property rights
dominating his thoughts? The Tarmangani was his, or he
was the Tarmangani's. Had not the Great White Ape mas-
tered and subdued him and, too, had he not fed him? Numa
recalled the fear that he had felt of this man-thing and his
cruel spear; but in savage brains fear is more likely to en-
gender respect than hatred and so Numa found that he re-
spected the creature who had subdued and mastered him.
He saw Sheeta, upon whom he looked with contempt, daring
to molest the master of the lion. Jealousy and greed alone
might have been sufficient to prompt Numa to drive Sheeta
away, even though the lion was not sufficiently hungry to
devour the flesh that he thus wrested from the lesser cat; but
then, too, there was in the little brain within the massive head
a sense of loyalty, and perhaps this it was that sent Numa
quickly forward, growling, toward the spitting Sheeta.

For a moment the latter stood his ground with arched back
and snarling face, for all the world like a great, spotted tabby.

Numa had not felt like fighting; but the sight of Sheeta
daring to dispute his rights kindled his ferocious brain to
sudden fire. His rounded eyes glared with rage, his undulating
tail snapped to stiff erectness as, with a frightful roar, he
charged this presuming vassal.

It came so suddenly and from so short a distance that Sheeta
had no chance to turn and flee the rush, and so he met it with
raking talons and snapping jaws; but the odds were all against
him. To the larger fangs and the more powerful jaws of his
adversary were added huge talons and the preponderance of
the lion's great weight. At the first clash Sheeta was crushed
and, though he deliberately fell upon his back and drew up
his powerful hind legs beneath Numa with the intention of
disemboweling him, the lion forestalled him and at the same
time closed his awful jaws upon Sheeta's throat.

It was soon over. Numa rose, shaking himself, and stood
above the torn and mutilated body of his foe. His own sleek
coat was cut and the red blood trickled down his flank; though
it was but a minor injury, it angered him. He glared down
at the dead panther and then, in a fit of rage, he seized and
mauled the body only to drop it in a moment, lower his head,
voice a single terrific roar, and turn toward the ape-man.

Approaching the still form he sniffed it over from head to
foot. Then he placed a huge paw upon it and turned it over
with its face up. Again he smelled about the body and at
last with his rough tongue licked Tarzan's face. It was then
that Tarzan opened his eyes.

Above him towered the huge lion, its hot breath upon his
face, its rough tongue upon his cheek. The ape-man had
often been close to death; but never before so close as this,
he thought, for he was convinced that death was but a matter
of seconds. His brain was still numb from the effects of the
blow that had felled him, and so he did not, for a moment,
recognize the lion that stood over him as the one he had so
recently encountered.

Presently, however, recognition dawned upon him and with
it a realization of the astounding fact that Numa did not seem
bent on devouring him -- at least not immediately. His po-
sition was a delicate one. The lion stood astraddle Tarzan with
his front paws. The ape-man could not rise, therefore, without
pushing the lion away and whether Numa would tolerate
being pushed was an open question. Too, the beast might con-
sider him already dead and any movement that indicated the
contrary was true would, in all likelihood, arouse the killing
instinct of the man-eater.

But Tarzan was tiring of the situation. He was in no mood
to lie there forever, especially when he contemplated the fact
that the girl spy who had tried to brain him was undoubtedly
escaping as rapidly as possible.

Numa was looking right into his eyes now evidently aware
that he was alive. Presently the lion cocked his head on one
side and whined. Tarzan knew the note, and he knew that it
spelled neither rage nor hunger, and then he risked all on a
single throw, encouraged by that low whine.

"Move, Numa!" he commanded and placing a palm against
the tawny shoulder he pushed the lion aside. Then he rose
and with a hand on his hunting knife awaited that which might
follow. It was then that his eyes fell for the first time on the
torn body of Sheeta. He looked from the dead cat to the live
one and saw the marks of conflict upon the latter, too, and in
an instant realized something of what had happened -- Numa
had saved him from the panther!

It seemed incredible and yet the evidence pointed clearly to
the fact. He turned toward the lion and without fear ap-
proached and examined his wounds which he found super-
ficial, and as Tarzan knelt beside him Numa rubbed an itching
ear against the naked, brown shoulder. Then the ape-man
stroked the great head, picked up his spear, and looked about
for the trail of the girl. This he soon found leading toward the
east, and as he set out upon it something prompted him to feel
for the locket he had hung about his neck. It was gone!

No trace of anger was apparent upon the ape-man's face un-
less it was a slight tightening of the jaws; but he put his hand
ruefully to the back of his head where a bump marked the
place where the girl had struck him and a moment later a
half-smile played across his lips. He could not help but ad-
mit that she had tricked him neatly, and that it must have
taken nerve to do the thing she did and to set out armed only
with a pistol through the trackless waste that lay between
them and the railway and beyond into the hills where Wil-
helmstal lies.

Tarzan admired courage. He was big enough to admit it
and admire it even in a German spy, but he saw that in this
case it only added to her resourcefulness and made her all
the more dangerous and the necessity for putting her out of
the way paramount. He hoped to overtake her before she
reached Wilhelmstal and so he set out at the swinging trot that
he could hold for hours at a stretch without apparent fatigue.

That the girl could hope to reach the town on foot in less
than two days seemed improbable, for it was a good thirty
miles and part of it hilly. Even as the thought crossed his
mind he heard the whistle of a locomotive to the east and knew
that the railway was in operation again after a shutdown of
several days. If the train was going south the girl would sig-
nal it if she had reached the right of way. His keen ears
caught the whining of brake shoes on wheels and a few min-
utes later the signal blast for brakes off. The train had stopped
and started again and, as it gained headway and greater dis-
tance, Tarzan could tell from the direction of the sound that
it was moving south.

The ape-man followed the trail to the railway where it
ended abruptly on the west side of the track, showing that the
girl had boarded the train, just as he thought. There was
nothing now but to follow on to Wilhelmstal, where he hoped
to find Captain Fritz Schneider, as well as the girl, and to re-
cover his diamond-studded locket.

It was dark when Tarzan reached the little hill town of
Wilhelmstal. He loitered on the outskirts, getting his bear-
ings and trying to determine how an almost naked white man
might explore the village without arousing suspicion. There
were many soldiers about and the town was under guard, for
he could see a lone sentinel walking his post scarce a hundred
yards from him. To elude this one would not be difficult; but
to enter the village and search it would be practically impos-
sible, garbed, or ungarbed, as he was.

Creeping forward, taking advantage of every cover, lying
flat and motionless when the sentry's face was toward him, the
ape-man at last reached the sheltering shadows of an outhouse
just inside the lines. From there he moved stealthily from
building to building until at last he was discovered by a large
dog in the rear of one of the bungalows. The brute came
slowly toward him, growling. Tarzan stood motionless be-
side a tree. He could see a light in the bungalow and uni-
formed men moving about and he hoped that the dog would
not bark. He did not; but he growled more savagely and,
just at the moment that the rear door of the bungalow opened
and a man stepped out, the animal charged.

He was a large dog, as large as Dango, the hyena, and he
charged with all the vicious impetuosity of Numa, the lion.
As he came Tarzan knelt and the dog shot through the air for
his throat; but he was dealing with no man now and he found
his quickness more than matched by the quickness of the
Tarmangani. His teeth never reached the soft flesh -- strong
fingers, fingers of steel, seized his neck. He voiced a single
startled yelp and clawed at the naked breast before him with
his talons; but he was powerless. The mighty fingers closed
upon his throat; the man rose, snapped the clawing body once,
and cast it aside. At the same time a voice from the open
bungalow door called: "Simba!"

There was no response. Repeating the call the man de-
scended the steps and advanced toward the tree. In the light
from the doorway Tarzan could see that he was a tall, broad-
shouldered man in the uniform of a German officer. The ape-
man withdrew into the shadow of the tree's stem. The man
came closer, still calling the dog -- he did not see the savage
beast, crouching now in the shadow, awaiting him. When
he had approached within ten feet of the Tarmangani, Tarzan
leaped upon him -- as Sabor springs to the kill, so sprang the
ape-man. The momentum and weight of his body hurled
the German to the ground, powerful fingers prevented an out-
cry and, though the officer struggled, he had no chance and a
moment later lay dead beside the body of the dog.

As Tarzan stood for a moment looking down upon his kill
and regretting that he could not risk voicing his beloved vic-
tory cry, the sight of the uniform suggested a means whereby
he might pass to and fro through Wilhelmstal with the mini-
mum chance of detection. Ten minutes later a tall, broad-
shouldered officer stepped from the yard of the bungalow
leaving behind him the corpses of a dog and a naked man.

He walked boldly along the little street and those who
passed him could not guess that beneath Imperial Germany's
uniform beat a savage heart that pulsed with implacable
hatred for the Hun. Tarzan's first concern was to locate the
hotel, for here he guessed he would find the girl, and where
the girl was doubtless would be Hauptmann Fritz Schneider,
who was either her confederate, her sweetheart, or both, and
there, too, would be Tarzan's precious locket.

He found the hotel at last, a low, two-storied building with
a veranda. There were lights on both floors and people,
mostly officers, could be seen within. The ape-man considered
entering and inquiring for those he sought; but his better judg-
ment finally prompted him to reconnoiter first. Passing around
the building he looked into all the lighted rooms on the first
floor and, seeing neither of those for whom he had come, he
swung lightly to the roof of the veranda and continued his
investigations through windows of the second story.

At one corner of the hotel in a rear room the blinds were
drawn; but he heard voices within and once he saw a figure
silhouetted momentarily against the blind. It appeared to be
the figure of a woman; but it was gone so quickly that he could
not be sure. Tarzan crept close to the window and listened.
Yes, there was a woman there and a man -- he heard distinctly
the tones of their voices although he could overhear no words,
as they seemed to be whispering.

The adjoining room was dark. Tarzan tried the window
and found it unlatched. All was quiet within. He raised the
sash and listened again -- still silence. Placing a leg over the
sill he slipped within and hurriedly glanced about. The room
was vacant. Crossing to the door he opened it and looked out
into the hall. There was no one there, either, and he stepped
out and approached the door of the adjoining room where
the man and woman were.

Pressing close to the door he listened. Now he distinguished
words, for the two had raised their voices as though in argu-
ment. The woman was speaking.

"I have brought the locket," she said, "as was agreed upon
between you and General Kraut, as my identification. I carry
no other credentials. This was to be enough. You have noth-
ing to do but give me the papers and let me go."

The man replied in so low a tone that Tarzan could not
catch the words and then the woman spoke again -- a note of
scorn and perhaps a little of fear in her voice.

"You would not dare, Hauptmann Schneider," she said, and
then: "Do not touch me! Take your hands from me!"

It was then that Tarzan of the Apes opened the door and
stepped into the room. What he saw was a huge, bull-necked
German officer with one arm about the waist of Fraulein
Bertha Kircher and a hand upon her forehead pushing her
head back as he tried to kiss her on the mouth. The girl was
struggling against the great brute; but her efforts were futile.
Slowly the man's lips were coming closer to hers and slowly,
step by step, she was being carried backward.

Schneider heard the noise of the opening and closing door
behind him and turned. At sight of this strange officer he
dropped the girl and straightened up.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion, Lieutenant?" he de-
manded, noting the other's epaulettes. "Leave the room at
once."

Tarzan made no articulate reply; but the two there with
him heard a low growl break from those firm lips -- a growl
that sent a shudder through the frame of the girl and brought
a pallor to the red face of the Hun and his hand to his pistol
but even as he drew his weapon it was wrested from him and
hurled through the blind and window to the yard beyond.
Then Tarzan backed against the door and slowly removed the
uniform coat.

"You are Hauptmann Schneider," he said to the German.

"What of it?" growled the latter.

"I am Tarzan of the Apes," replied the ape-man. "Now you
know why I intrude."

The two before him saw that he was naked beneath the
coat which he threw upon the floor and then he slipped quickly
from the trousers and stood there clothed only in his loin cloth.
The girl had recognized him by this time, too.

"Take your hand off that pistol," Tarzan admonished her.
Her hand dropped at her side. "Now come here!"

She approached and Tarzan removed the weapon and
hurled it after the other. At the mention of his name Tarzan
had noted the sickly pallor that overspread the features of the
Hun. At last he had found the right man. At last his mate
would be partially avenged -- never could she be entirely
avenged. Life was too short and there were too many Germans.

"What do you want of me?" demanded Schneider.

"You are going to pay the price for the thing you did at the
little bungalow in the Waziri country," replied the ape-man.

Schneider commenced to bluster and threaten. Tarzan turned
the key in the lock of the door and hurled the former through
the window after the pistols. Then he turned to the girl. "Keep
out of the way," he said in a low voice. "Tarzan of the Apes
is going to kill."

The Hun ceased blustering and began to plead. "I have a
wife and children at home," he cried. "I have done nothing,"
I --"

"You are going to die as befits your kind," said Tarzan,
"with blood on your hands and a lie on your lips." He started
across the room toward the burly Hauptmann. Schneider was
a large and powerful man -- about the height of the ape-man
but much heavier. He saw that neither threats nor pleas would
avail him and so he prepared to fight as a cornered rat fights
for its life with all the maniacal rage, cunning, and ferocity
that the first law of nature imparts to many beasts.

Lowering his bull head he charged for the ape-man and
in the center of the floor the two clinched. There they stood
locked and swaying for a moment until Tarzan succeeded in
forcing his antagonist backward over a table which crashed to
the floor, splintered by the weight of the two heavy bodies.

The girl stood watching the battle with wide eyes. She saw
the two men rolling hither and thither across the floor and she
heard with horror the low growls that came from the lips of
the naked giant. Schneider was trying to reach his foe's
throat with his fingers while, horror of horrors, Bertha Kircher
could see that the other was searching for the German's
jugular with his teeth!

Schneider seemed to realize this too, for he redoubled his
efforts to escape and finally succeeded in rolling over on top
of the ape-man and breaking away. Leaping to his feet he ran
for the window; but the ape-man was too quick for him and
before he could leap through the sash a heavy hand fell upon
his shoulder and he was jerked back and hurled across the
room to the opposite wall. There Tarzan followed him, and
once again they locked, dealing each other terrific blows,
until Schneider in a piercing voice screamed, "Kamerad!
Kamerad!"

Tarzan grasped the man by the throat and drew his hunting
knife. Schneider's back was against the wall so that though
his knees wobbled he was held erect by the ape-man. Tarzan
brought the sharp point to the lower part of the German's
abdomen.

"Thus you slew my mate," he hissed in a terrible voice.
"Thus shall you die!"

The girl staggered forward. "Oh, God, no!" she cried.
"Not that. You are too brave -- you cannot be such a beast as
that!"

Tarzan turned at her. "No," he said, "you are right, I cannot
do it -- I am no German," and he raised the point of his blade
and sunk it deep into the putrid heart of Hauptmann Fritz
Schneider, putting a bloody period to the Hun's last gasping
cry: "I did not do it! She is not --"

Then Tarzan turned toward the girl and held out his hand.
"Give me my locket," he said.

She pointed toward the dead officer. "He has it." Tarzan
searched him and found the trinket. "Now you may give me
the papers," he said to the girl, and without a word she handed
him a folded document.

For a long time he stood looking at her before ho spoke
again.

"I came for you, too," he said. "It would be difficult to take
you back from here and so I was going to kill you, as I have
sworn to kill all your kind; but you were right when you said
that I was not such a beast as that slayer of women. I could
not slay him as he slew mine, nor can I slay you, who are a
woman."

He crossed to the window, raised the sash and an instant
later he had stepped out and disappeared into the night. And
then Fraulein Bertha Kircher stepped quickly to the corpse
upon the floor, slipped her hand inside the blouse and drew
forth a little sheaf of papers which she tucked into her waist
before she went to the window and called for help.

When Blood Told

Tarzan of the Apes was disgusted. He had had the Ger-
man spy, Bertha Kircher, in his power and had left her
unscathed. It is true that he had slain Hauptmann Fritz
Schneider, that Underlieutenant von Goss had died at his
hands, and that he had otherwise wreaked vengeance upon the
men of the German company who had murdered, pillaged, and
raped at Tarzan's bungalow in the Waziri country. There was
still another officer to be accounted for, but him he could
not find. It was Lieutenant Obergatz he still sought, though
vainly, for at last he learned that the man had been sent upon
some special mission, whether in Africa or back to Europe
Tarzan's informant either did not know or would not divulge.

But the fact that he had permitted sentiment to stay his
hand when he might so easily have put Bertha Kircher out of
the way in the hotel at Wilhelmstal that night rankled in the
ape-man's bosom. He was shamed by his weakness, and when
he had handed the paper she had given him to the British chief
of staff, even though the information it contained permitted
the British to frustrate a German flank attack, he was still much
dissatisfied with himself. And possibly the root of this
dissatis-
faction lay in the fact that he realized that were he again to
have the same opportunity he would still find it as impossible
to slay a woman as it had been in Wilhelmstal that night.

Tarzan blamed this weakness, as he considered it, upon his
association with the effeminating influences of civilization, for
in the bottom of his savage heart he held in contempt both
civilization and its representatives -- the men and women of the
civilized countries of the world. Always was he comparing
their weaknesses, their vices, their hypocrisies, and their
little
vanities with the open, primitive ways of his ferocious jungle
mates, and all the while there battled in that same big heart
with these forces another mighty force -- Tarzan's love and
loyalty for his friends of the civilized world.

The ape-man, reared as he had been by savage beasts amid
savage beasts, was slow to make friends. Acquaintances he
numbered by the hundreds; but of friends he had few. These
few he would have died for as, doubtless, they would have
died for him; but there were none of these fighting with the
British forces in East Africa, and so, sickened and disgusted
by the sight of man waging his cruel and inhuman warfare,
Tarzan determined to heed the insistent call of the remote
jungle of his youth, for the Germans were now on the run and
the war in East Africa was so nearly over that he realized that
his further services would be of negligible value.

Never regularly sworn into the service of the King, he was
under no obligation to remain now that the moral obligation
had been removed, and so it was that he disappeared from
the British camp as mysteriously as he had appeared a few
months before.

More than once had Tarzan reverted to the primitive only to
return again to civilization through love for his mate; but now
that she was gone he felt that this time he had definitely de-
parted forever from the haunts of man, and that he should live
and die a beast among beasts even as he had been from infancy
to maturity.

Between him and destination lay a trackless wilderness
of untouched primeval savagery where, doubtless in many
spots, his would be the first human foot to touch the virgin
turf. Nor did this prospect dismay the Tarmangani -- rather
was it an urge and an inducement, for rich in his veins flowed
that noble strain of blood that has made most of the earth's
surface habitable for man.

The question of food and water that would have risen
paramount in the mind of an ordinary man contemplating such
an excursion gave Tarzan little concern. The wilderness was
his natural habitat and woodcraft as inherent to him as breath-
ing. Like other jungle animals he could scent water from a
great distance and, where you or I might die of thirst, the ape-
man would unerringly select the exact spot at which to dig and
find water.

For several days Tarzan traversed a country rich in game
and watercourses. He moved slowly, hunting and fishing, or
again fraternizing or quarreling with the other savage denizens
of the jungle. Now it was little Manu, the monkey, who
chattered and scolded at the mighty Tarmangani and in the
next breath warned him that Histah, the snake, lay coiled in
the long grass just ahead. Of Manu Tarzan inquired concern-
ing the great apes -- the Mangani -- and was told that few
inhabited this part of the jungle, and that even these were
hunting farther to the north this season of the year.

"But there is Bolgani," said Manu. "Would you like to see
Bolgani?"

Manu's tone was sneering, and Tarzan knew that it was be-
cause little Manu thought all creatures feared mighty Bolgani,
the gorilla. Tarzan arched his great chest and struck it with a
clinched fist. "I am Tarzan," he cried. "While Tarzan was
yet a balu he slew a Bolgani. Tarzan seeks the Mangani, who
are his brothers, but Bolgani he does not seek, so let Bolgani
keep from the path of Tarzan."

Little Manu, the monkey, was much impressed, for the way
of the jungle is to boast and to believe. It was then that he
condescended to tell Tarzan more of the Mangani.

"They go there and there and there," he said, making a wide
sweep with a brown hand first toward the north, then west, and
then south again. "For there," and he pointed due west, "is
much hunting; but between lies a great place where there is no
food and no water, so they must go that way," and again he
swung his hand through the half-circle that explained to
Tarzan the great detour the apes made to come to their hunt-
ing ground to the west.

That was all right for the Mangani, who are lazy and do not
care to move rapidly; but for Tarzan the straight road would
be the best. He would cross the dry country and come to the
good hunting in a third of the time that it would take to go far
to the north and circle back again. And so it was that he con-
tinued on toward the west, and crossing a range of low moun-
tains came in sight of a broad plateau, rock strewn and deso-
late. Far in the distance he saw another range of mountains
beyond which he felt must lie the hunting ground of the
Mangani. There he would join them and remain for a while
before continuing on toward the coast and the little cabin
that his father had built beside the land-locked harbor at the
jungle's edge.

Tarzan was full of plans. He would rebuild and enlarge
the cabin of his birth, constructing storage houses where he
would make the apes lay away food when it was plenty against
the times that were lean -- a thing no ape ever had dreamed of
doing. And the tribe would remain always in the locality and he
would be king again as he had in the past. He would try to
teach them some of the better things that he had learned from
man, yet knowing the ape-mind as only Tarzan could, he
feared that his labors would be for naught.

The ape-man found the country he was crossing rough in
the extreme, the roughest he ever had encountered. The
plateau was cut by frequent canyons the passage of which
often entailed hours of wearing effort. The vegetation was
sparse and of a faded brown color that lent to the whole
landscape a most depressing aspect. Great rocks were strewn
in every direction as far as the eye could see, lying partially
embedded in an impalpable dust that rose in clouds about him
at every step. The sun beat down mercilessly out of a cloud-
less sky.

For a day Tarzan toiled across this now hateful land and
at the going down of the sun the distant mountains to the west
seemed no nearer than at morn. Never a sign of living thing
had the ape-man seen, other than Ska, that bird of ill omen,
that had followed him tirelessly since he had entered this
parched waste.

No littlest beetle that he might eat had given evidence that
life of any sort existed here, and it was a hungry and thirsty
Tarzan who lay down to rest in the evening. He decided now
to push on during the cool of the night, for he realized that
even mighty Tarzan had his limitations and that where there
was no food one could not eat and where there was no water
the greatest woodcraft in the world could find none. It was a
totally new experience to Tarzan to find so barren and terrible
a country in his beloved Africa. Even the Sahara had its
oases; but this frightful world gave no indication of containing
a square foot of hospitable ground.

However, he had no misgivings but that he would fare forth
into the wonder country of which little Manu had told him,
though it was certain that he would do it with a dry skin and
an empty belly. And so he fought on until daylight, when he
again felt the need of rest. He was at the edge of another of
those terrible canyons, the eighth he had crossed, whose pre-
cipitous sides would have taxed to the uttermost the strength
of an untired man well fortified by food and water, and for the
first time, as he looked down into the abyss and then at the
opposite side that he must scale, misgivings began to assail
his mind.

He did not fear death -- with the memory of his murdered
mate still fresh in his mind he almost courted it, yet strong
within him was that primal instinct of self-preservation -- the
battling force of life that would keep him an active contender
against the Great Reaper until, fighting to the very last, he
should be overcome by a superior power.

A shadow swung slowly across the ground beside him, and
looking up, the ape-man saw Ska, the vulture, wheeling a wide
circle above him. The grim and persistent harbinger of evil
aroused the man to renewed determination. He arose and
approached the edge of the canyon, and then, wheeling, with
his face turned upward toward the circling bird of prey, he
bellowed forth the challenge of the bull ape.

"I am Tarzan," he shouted, "Lord of the Jungle. Tarzan of
the Apes is not for Ska, eater of carrion. Go back to the lair
of Dango and feed off the leavings of the hyenas, for Tarzan
will leave no bones for Ska to pick in this empty wilderness of
death."

But before he reached the bottom of the canyon he again
was forced to the realization that his great strength was
waning, and when he dropped exhausted at the foot of the
cliff and saw before him the opposite wall that must be scaled,
he bared his fighting fangs and growled. For an hour he lay
resting in the cool shade at the foot of the cliff. All about
him reigned utter silence -- the silence of the tomb. No flutter-
ing birds, no humming insects, no scurrying reptiles relieved
the deathlike stillness. This indeed was the valley of death.
He felt the depressing influence of the horrible place setting
down upon him; but he staggered to his feet, shaking himself
like a great lion, for was he not still Tarzan, mighty Tarzan
of the Apes? Yes, and Tarzan the mighty he would be until
the last throb of that savage heart!

As he crossed the floor of the canyon he saw something
lying close to the base of the side wall he was approaching --
something that stood out in startling contrast to all the sur-
roundings and yet seemed so much a part and parcel of the
somber scene as to suggest an actor amid the settings of a
well-appointed stage, and, as though to carry out the allegory,
the pitiless rays of flaming Kudu topped the eastern cliff,
picking out the thing lying at the foot of the western wall like
a giant spotlight.

And as Tarzan came nearer he saw the bleached skull and
bones of a human being about which were remnants of
clothing and articles of equipment that, as he examined them,
filled the ape-man with curiosity to such an extent that for a
time he forgot his own predicament in contemplation of the
remarkable story suggested by these mute evidences of a
tragedy of a time long past.

The bones were in a fair state of preservation and indicated
by their intactness that the flesh had probably been picked
from them by vultures as none was broken; but the pieces of
equipment bore out the suggestion of their great age. In this
protected spot where there were no frosts and evidently but
little rainfall, the bones might have lain for ages without
disintegrating, for there were here no other forces to scatter
or disturb them.

Near the skeleton lay a helmet of hammered brass and a
corroded breastplate of steel while at one side was a long,
straight sword in its scabbard and an ancient harquebus. The
bones were those of a large man -- a man of wondrous strength
and vitality Tarzan knew he must have been to have pene-
trated thus far through the dangers of Africa with such a
ponderous yet at the same time futile armament.

The ape-man felt a sense of deep admiration for this name-
less adventurer of a bygone day. What a brute of a man he
must have been and what a glorious tale of battle and kaleido-
scopic vicissitudes of fortune must once have been locked
within that whitened skull! Tarzan stooped to examine the
shreds of clothing that still lay about the bones. Every particle
of leather had disappeared, doubtless eaten by Ska. No boots
remained, if the man had worn boots, but there were several
buckles scattered about suggesting that a great part of his
trappings had been of leather, while just beneath the bones of
one hand lay a metal cylinder about eight inches long and two
inches in diameter. As Tarzan picked it up he saw that it
had been heavily lacquered and had withstood the slight
ravages of time so well as to be in as perfect a state of
perserva-
tion today as it had been when its owner dropped into his last,
long sleep perhaps centuries ago.

As he examined it he discovered that one end was closed
with a friction cover which a little twisting force soon loosened
and removed, revealing within a roll of parchment which the
ape-man removed and opened, disclosing a number of age-
yellowed sheets closely written upon in a fine hand in a lan-
guage which he guessed to be Spanish but which he could not
decipher. Upon the last sheet was a roughly drawn map with
numerous reference points marked upon it, all unintelligible to
Tarzan, who, after a brief examination of the papers, returned
them to their metal case, replaced the top and was about to
toss the little cylinder to the ground beside the mute remains
of its former possessor when some whim of curiosity unsatisfied
prompted him to slip it into the quiver with his arrows, though
as he did so it was with the grim thought that possibly cen-
turies hence it might again come to the sight of man beside
his own bleached bones.

And then, with a parting glance at the ancient skeleton, he
turned to the task of ascending the western wall of the canyon.
Slowly and with many rests he dragged his weakening body
upwards. Again and again he slipped back from sheer ex-
haustion and would have fallen to the floor of the canyon but
for merest chance. How long it took him to scale that
frightful wall he could not have told, and when at last he
dragged himself over the top it was to lie weak and gasping,
too spent to rise or even to move a few inches farther from the
perilous edge of the chasm.

At last he arose, very slowly and with evident effort gaining
his knees first and then staggering to his feet, yet his indomi-
table will was evidenced by a sudden straightening of his
shoulders and a determined shake of his head as he lurched
forward on unsteady legs to take up his valiant fight for sur-
vival. Ahead he scanned the rough landscape for sign of an-
other canyon which he knew would spell inevitable doom.
The western hills rose closer now though weirdly unreal as
they seemed to dance in the sunlight as though mocking him
with their nearness at the moment that exhaustion was about
to render them forever unattainable.

Beyond them he knew must be the fertile hunting grounds
of which Manu had told. Even if no canyon intervened, his
chances of surmounting even low hills seemed remote should
he have the fortune to reach their base; but with another
canyon hope was dead. Above them Ska still circled, and it
seemed to the ape-man that the ill-omened bird hovered ever
lower and lower as though reading in that failing gait the near-
ing of the end, and through cracked lips Tarzan growled out
his defiance.

Mile after mile Tarzan of the Apes put slowly behind him,
borne up by sheer force of will where a lesser man would have
lain down to die and rest forever tired muscles whose every
move was an agony of effort; but at last his progress became
practically mechanical -- he staggered on with a dazed mind
that reacted numbly to a single urge -- on, on, on! The hills
were now but a dim, ill-defined blur ahead. Sometimes he
forgot that they were hills, and again he wondered vaguely
why he must go on forever through all this torture endeavoring
to overtake them -- the fleeing, elusive hills. Presently he
began to hate them and there formed within his half-delirious
brain the hallucination that the hills were German hills, that
they had slain someone dear to him, whom he could never
quite recall, and that he was pursuing to slay them.

This idea, growing, appeared to give him strength -- a new
and revivifying purpose -- so that for a time he no longer
staggered; but went forward steadily with head erect. Once
he stumbled and fell, and when he tried to rise he found that
he could not -- that his strength was so far gone that he could
only crawl forward on his hands and knees for a few yards and
then sink down again to rest.

It was during one of these frequent periods of utter exhaus-
tion that he heard the flap of dismal wings close above him.
With his remaining strength he turned himself over on his back
to see Ska wheel quickly upward. With the sight Tarzan's
mind cleared for a while.

"Is the end so near as that?" he thought. "Does Ska know
that I am so near gone that he dares come down and perch
upon my carcass?" And even then a grim smile touched those
swollen lips as into the savage mind came a sudden thought --
the cunning of the wild beast at bay. Closing his eyes he
threw a forearm across them to protect them from Ska's
powerful beak and then he lay very still and waited.

It was restful lying there, for the sun was now obscured by
clouds and Tarzan was very tired. He feared that he might
sleep and something told him that if he did he would never
awaken, and so he concentrated all his remaining powers upon
the one thought of remaining awake. Not a muscle moved --
to Ska, circling above, it became evident that the end had
come -- that at last he should be rewarded for his long vigil

Circling slowly he dropped closer and closer to the dying
man. Why did not Tarzan move? Had he indeed been over-
come by the sleep of exhaustion, or was Ska right -- had death
at last claimed that mighty body? Was that great, savage
heart stilled forever? It is unthinkable.

Ska, filled with suspicions, circled warily. Twice he almost
alighted upon the great, naked breast only to wheel suddenly
away; but the third time his talons touched the brown skin.
It was as though the contact closed an electric circuit that
instantaneously vitalized the quiet clod that had lain motion-
less so long. A brown hand swept downward from the brown
forehead and before Ska could raise a wing in flight he was in
the clutches of his intended victim.

Ska fought, but he was no match for even a dying Tarzan,
and a moment later the ape-man's teeth closed upon the
carrion-eater. The flesh was coarse and tough and gave off
an unpleasant odor and a worse taste; but it was food and the
blood was drink and Tarzan only an ape at heart and a dying
ape into the bargain -- dying of starvation and thirst.

Even mentally weakened as he was the ape-man was still
master of his appetite and so he ate but sparingly, saving the
rest, and then, feeling that he now could do so safely, he turned
upon his side and slept.

Rain, beating heavily upon his body, awakened him and
sitting up he cupped his hands and caught the precious drops
which he transferred to his parched throat. Only a little he
got at a time; but that was best. The few mouthfuls of Ska
that he had eaten, together with the blood and rain water and
the sleep had refreshed him greatly and put new strength into
his tired muscles.

Now he could see the hills again and they were close and,
though there was no sun, the world looked bright and cheerful,
for Tarzan knew that he was saved. The bird that would have
devoured him, and the providential rain, had saved him at the
very moment that death seemed inevitable.

Again partaking of a few mouthfuls of the unsavory flesh of
Ska, the vulture, the ape-man arose with something of his old
force and set out with steady gait toward the hills of promise
rising alluringly ahead. Darkness fell before he reached them;
but he kept on until he felt the steeply rising ground that
proclaimed his arrival at the base of the hills proper, and then
he lay down and waited until morning should reveal the easiest
passage to the land beyond. The rain had ceased, but the sky
still was overcast so that even his keen eyes could not pene-
trate the darkness farther than a few feet. And there he slept,
after eating again of what remained of Ska, until the morning
sun awakened him with a new sense of strength and well-
being.

And so at last he came through the hills out of the valley of
death into a land of parklike beauty, rich in game. Below him
lay a deep valley through the center of which dense jungle
vegetation marked the course of a river beyond which a
primeval forest extended for miles to terminate at last at the
foot of lofty, snow-capped mountains. It was a land that
Tarzan never had looked upon before, nor was it likely that
the foot of another white man ever had touched it unless,
possibly, in some long-gone day the adventurer whose skeleton
he had found bleaching in the canyon had traversed it.

Tarzan and the Great Apes

Three days the ape-man spent in resting and recuperating,
eating fruits and nuts and the smaller animals that were
most easily bagged, and upon the fourth he set out to
explore the valley and search for the great apes. Time was a
negligible factor in the equation of life -- it was all the same
to Tarzan if he reached the west coast in a month or a year
or three years. All time was his and all Africa. His was abso-
lute freedom -- the last tie that had bound him to civilization
and custom had been severed. He was alone but he was not
exactly lonely. The greater part of his life had been spent
thus, and though there was no other of his kind, he was at all
times surrounded by the jungle peoples for whom familiarity
had bred no contempt within his breast. The least of them in-
terested him, and, too, there were those with whom he always
made friends easily, and there were his hereditary enemies
whose presence gave a spice to life that might otherwise have
become humdrum and monotonous.

And so it was that on the fourth day he set out to explore
the valley and search for his fellow-apes. He had proceeded
southward for a short distance when his nostrils were assailed
by the scent of man, of Gomangani, the black man. There
were many of them, and mixed with their scent was another --
that of a she Tarmangani.

Swinging through the trees Tarzan approached the authors
of these disturbing scents. He came warily from the flank,
but paying no attention to the wind, for he knew that man
with his dull senses could apprehend him only through his eyes
or ears and then only when comparatively close. Had he been
stalking Numa or Sheeta he would have circled about until his
quarry was upwind from him, thus taking practically all the
advantage up to the very moment that he came within sight
or hearing; but in the stalking of the dull clod, man, he ap-
proached with almost contemptuous indifference, so that all
the jungle about him knew that he was passing -- all but the
men he stalked.

From the dense foliage of a great tree he watched them
pass -- a disreputable mob of blacks, some garbed in the uni-
form of German East African native troops, others wearing a
single garment of the same uniform, while many had reverted
to the simple dress of their forbears -- approximating nudity.
There were many black women with them, laughing and talk-
ing as they kept pace with the men, all of whom were armed
with German rifles and equipped with German belts and am-
munition.

There were no white officers there, but it was none the less
apparent to Tarzan that these men were from some German
native command, and he guessed that they had slain their
officers and taken to the jungle with their women, or had stolen
some from native villages through which they must have
passed. It was evident that they were putting as much ground
between themselves and the coast as possible and doubtless
were seeking some impenetrable fastness of the vast interior
where they might inaugurate a reign of terror among the
primitively armed inhabitants and by raiding, looting, and
rape grow rich in goods and women at the expense of the
district upon which they settled themselves.

Between two of the black women marched a slender white
girl. She was hatless and with torn and disheveled clothing
that had evidently once been a trim riding habit. Her coat
was gone and her waist half torn from her body. Occasionally
and without apparent provocation one or the other of the
Negresses struck or pushed her roughly. Tarzan watched
through half-closed eyes. His first impulse was to leap among
them and bear the girl from their cruel clutches. He had
recognized her immediately and it was because of this fact that
he hesitated.

What was it to Tarzan of the Apes what fate befell this en-
emy spy? He had been unable to kill her himself because of
an inherent weakness that would not permit him to lay hands
upon a woman, all of which of course had no bearing upon
what others might do to her. That her fate would now be
infinitely more horrible than the quick and painless death that
the ape-man would have meted to her only interested Tarzan
to the extent that the more frightful the end of a German the
more in keeping it would be with what they all deserved.

And so he let the blacks pass with Fraulein Bertha Kircher
in their midst, or at least until the last straggling warrior
sug-
gested to his mind the pleasures of blackbaiting -- an amuse-
ment and a sport in which he had grown ever more proficient
since that long-gone day when Kulonga, the son of Mbonga,
the chief, had cast his unfortunate spear at Kala, the ape-man's
foster mother.

The last man, who must have stopped for some purpose,
was fully a quarter of a mile in rear of the party. He was
hurrying to catch up when Tarzan saw him, and as he passed
beneath the tree in which the ape-man perched above the trail,
a silent noose dropped deftly about his neck. The main body
still was in plain sight, and as the frightened man voiced a
piercing shriek of terror, they looked back to see his body rise
as though by magic straight into the air and disappear amidst
the leafy foliage above.

For a moment the blacks stood paralyzed by astonishment
and fear; but presently the burly sergeant, Usanga, who led
them, started back along the trail at a run, calling to the
others
to follow him. Loading their guns as they came the blacks
ran to succor their fellow, and at Usanga's command they
spread into a thin line that presently entirely surrounded the
tree into which their comrade had vanished.

Usanga called but received no reply; then he advanced
slowly with rifle at the ready, peering up into the tree. He
could see no one -- nothing. The circle closed in until fifty
blacks were searching among the branches with their keen
eyes. What had become of their fellow? They had seen him
rise into the tree and since then many eyes had been fastened
upon the spot, yet there was no sign of him. One, more ven-
turesome than his fellows, volunteered to climb into the tree
and investigate. He was gone but a minute or two and when
he dropped to earth again he swore that there was no sign of
a creature there.

Perplexed, and by this time a bit awed, the blacks drew
slowly away from the spot and with many backward glances
and less laughing continued upon their journey until, when
about a mile beyond the spot at which their fellow had disap-
peared, those in the lead saw him peering from behind a tree
at one side of the trail just in front of them. With shouts to
their companions that he had been found they ran forwards;
but those who were first to reach the tree stopped suddenly
and shrank back, their eyes rolling fearfully first in one direc-
tion and then in another as though they expected some name-
less horror to leap out upon them.

Nor was their terror without foundation. Impaled upon the
end of a broken branch the head of their companion was
propped behind the tree so that it appeared to be looking out
at them from the opposite side of the bole.

It was then that many wished to turn back, arguing that they
had offended some demon of the wood upon whose preserve
they had trespassed; but Usanga refused to listen to them,
assuring them that inevitable torture and death awaited them
should they return and fall again into the hands of their cruel
German masters. At last his reasoning prevailed to the end
that a much-subdued and terrified band moved in a compact
mass, like a drove of sheep, forward through the valley and
there were no stragglers.

It is a happy characteristic of the Negro race, which they
hold in common with little children, that their spirits seldom
remain depressed for a considerable length of time after the
immediate cause of depression is removed, and so it was that
in half an hour Usanga's band was again beginning to take
on to some extent its former appearance of carefree light-
heartedness. Thus were the heavy clouds of fear slowly dis-
sipating when a turn in the trail brought them suddenly upon
the headless body of their erstwhile companion lying directly
in their path, and they were again plunged into the depth of
fear and gloomy forebodings.

So utterly inexplicable and uncanny had the entire occur-
rence been that there was not a one of them who could find
a ray of comfort penetrating the dead blackness of its ominous
portent. What had happened to one of their number each
conceived as being a wholly possible fate for himself -- in fact
quite his probable fate. If such a thing could happen in broad
daylight what frightful thing might not fall to their lot when
night had enshrouded them in her mantle of darkness. They
trembled in anticipation.

The white girl in their midst was no less mystified than they;
but far less moved, since sudden death was the most merciful
fate to  which she might now look forward. So far she had
been subjected to nothing worse than the petty cruelties of the
women, while, on the other hand, it had alone been the pres-
ence of the women that had saved her from worse treatment
at the hands of some of the men -- notably the brutal, black
sergeant, Usanga. His own woman was of the party -- a
veritable giantess, a virago of the first magnitude -- and she
was
evidently the only thing in the world of which Usanga stood
in awe. Even though she was particularly cruel to the young
woman, the latter believed that she was her sole protection
from the degraded black tyrant.

Late in the afternoon the band came upon a small palisaded
village of thatched huts set in a clearing in the jungle close
beside a placid river. At their approach the villagers came
pouring out, and Usanga advanced with two of his warriors to
palaver with the chief. The experiences of the day had so
shaken the nerves of the black sergeant that he was ready to
treat with these people rather than take their village by force
of arms, as would ordinarily have been his preference; but now
a vague conviction influenced him that there watched over this
part of the jungle a powerful demon who wielded miraculous
power for evil against those who offended him. First Usanga
would learn how these villagers stood with this savage god
and if they had his good will Usanga would be most careful
to treat them with kindness and respect.

At the palaver it developed that the village chief had food,
goats, and fowl which he would be glad to dispose of for
a proper consideration; but as the consideration would have
meant parting with precious rifles and ammunition, or the
very clothing from their backs, Usanga began to see that after
all it might be forced upon him to wage war to obtain food.

A happy solution was arrived at by a suggestion of one of
his men -- that the soldiers go forth the following day and hunt
for the villagers, bringing them in so much fresh meat in re-
turn for their hospitality. This the chief agreed to, stipulating
the kind and quantity of game to be paid in return for flour,
goats, and fowl, and a certain number of huts that were to be
turned over to the visitors. The details having been settled
after an hour or more of that bickering argument of which the
native African is so fond, the newcomers entered the village
where they were assigned to huts.

Bertha Kircher found herself alone in a small hut to the
palisade at the far end of the village street, and though she was
neither bound nor guarded, she was assured by Usanga
that she could not escape the village without running into almost
certain death in the jungle, which the villagers assured them
was infested by lions of great size and ferocity. "Be good to
Usanga," he concluded, "and no harm will befall you. I will
come again to see you after the others are asleep. Let us be
friends."

As the brute left her the girl's frame was racked by a con-
vulsive shudder as she sank to the floor of the hut and cov-
ered her face with her hands. She realized now why the
women had not been left to guard her. It was the work of
the cunning Usanga, but would not his woman suspect some-
thing of his intentions? She was no fool and, further, being
imbued with insane jealousy she was ever looking for some
overt act upon the part of her ebon lord. Bertha Kircher felt
that only she might save her and that she would save her if
word could be but gotten to her. But how?

Left alone and away from the eyes of her captors for the
first time since the previous night, the girl immediately took
advantage of the opportunity to assure herself that the papers
she had taken from the body of Hauptmann Fritz Schneider
were still safely sewn inside one of her undergarments.

Alas! Of what value could they now ever be to her be-
loved country? But habit and loyalty were so strong within
her that she still clung to the determined hope of eventually
delivering the little packet to her chief.

The natives seemed to have forgotten her existence -- no
one came near the hut, not even to bring her food. She could
hear them at the other end of the village laughing and yelling
and knew that they were celebrating with food and native
beer -- knowledge which only increased her apprehension. To
be prisoner in a native village in the very heart of an unex-
plored region of Central Africa -- the only white woman among
a band of drunken Negroes! The very thought appalled her.
Yet there was a slight promise in the fact that she had so far
been unmolested -- the promise that they might, indeed, have
forgotten her and that soon they might become so hopelessly
drunk as to be harmless.

Darkness had fallen and still no one came. The girl won-
dered if she dared venture forth in search of Naratu, Usanga's
woman, for Usanga might not forget that he had promised to
return. No one was near as she stepped out of the hut and
made her way toward the part of the village where the revelers
were making merry about a fire. As she approached she
saw the villagers and their guests squatting in a large circle
about the blaze before which a half-dozen naked warriors
leaped and bent and stamped in some grotesque dance. Pots
of food and gourds of drink were being passed about among
the audience. Dirty hands were plunged into the food pots
and the captured portions devoured so greedily that one might
have thought the entire community had been upon the point
of starvation. The gourds they held to their lips until the
beer ran down their chins and the vessels were wrested from
them by greedy neighbors. The drink had now begun to
take noticeable effect upon most of them, with the result
that they were beginning to give themselves up to utter and
licentious abandon.

As the girl came nearer, keeping in the shadow of the huts,
looking for Naratu she was suddenly discovered by one upon
the edge of the crowd -- a huge woman, who rose, shrieking,
and came toward her. From her aspect the white girl thought
that the woman meant literally to tear her to pieces. So ut-
terly wanton and uncalled-for was the attack that it found
the girl entirely unprepared, and what would have happened
had not a warrior interfered may only be guessed. And then
Usanga, noting the interruption, came lurching forward to
question her.

"What do you want," he cried, "food and drink? Come
with me!" and he threw an arm about her and dragged her
toward the circle.

"No!" she cried, "I want Naratu. Where is Naratu?"

This seemed to sober the black for a moment as though he
had temporarily forgotten his better half. He cast quick, fear-
ful glances about, and then, evidently assured that Naratu
had noticed nothing, he ordered the warrior who was still
holding the infuriated black woman from the white girl to
take the latter back to her hut and to remain there on guard
over her.

First appropriating a gourd of beer for himself the warrior
motioned the girl to precede him, and thus guarded she re-
turned to her hut, the fellow squatting down just outside the
doorway, where he confined his attentions for some time to
the gourd.

Bertha Kircher sat down at the far side of the hut awaiting
she knew not what impending fate. She could not sleep so
filled was her mind with wild schemes of escape though each
new one must always be discarded as impractical. Half an
hour after the warrior had returned her to her prison he rose
and entered the hut, where he tried to engage in conversation
with her. Groping across the interior he leaned his short spear
against the wall and sat down beside her, and as he talked he
edged closer and closer until at last he could reach out and
touch her. Shrinking, she drew away.

"Do not touch me!" she cried. "I will tell Usanga if you do
not leave me alone, and you know what he will do to you."

The man only laughed drunkenly, and, reaching out his
hand, grabbed her arm and dragged her toward him. She
fought and cried aloud for Usanga and at the same instant the
entrance to the hut was darkened by the form of a man.

"What is the matter?" shouted the newcomer in the deep
tones that the girl recognized as belonging to the black ser-
geant. He had come, but would she be any better off? She
knew that she would not unless she could play upon Usanga's
fear of his woman.

When Usanga found what had happened he kicked the war-
rior out of the hut and bade him begone, and when the fel-
low had disappeared, muttering and grumbling, the sergeant
approached the white girl. He was very drunk, so drunk that
several times she succeeded in eluding him and twice she
pushed him so violently away that he stumbled and fell.

Finally he became enraged and rushing upon her, seized her
in his long, apelike arms. Striking at his face with clenched
fists she tried to protect herself and drive him away. She
threatened him with the wrath of Naratu, and at that he
changed his tactics and began to plead, and as he argued with
her, promising her safety and eventual freedom, the warrior
he had kicked out of the hut made his staggering way to the
hut occupied by Naratu.

Usanga finding that pleas and promises were as unavailing
as threats, at last lost both his patience and his head, seizing
the girl roughly, and simultaneously there burst into the hut
a raging demon of jealousy. Naratu had come. Kicking,
scratching, striking, biting, she routed the terrified Usanga in
short order, and so obsessed was she by her desire to inflict
punishment upon her unfaithful lord and master that she quite
forgot the object of his infatuation.

Bertha Kircher heard her screaming down the village street
at Usanga's heels and trembled at the thought of what lay in
store for her at the hands of these two, for she knew that to-
morrow at the latest Naratu would take out upon her the full
measure of her jealous hatred after she had spent her first
wrath upon Usanga.

The two had departed but a few minutes when the warrior
guard returned. He looked into the hut and then entered.
"No one will stop me now, white woman," he growled as he
stepped quickly across the hut toward her.

Tarzan of the Apes, feasting well upon a juicy haunch from
Bara, the deer, was vaguely conscious of a troubled mind.
He should have been at peace with himself and all the world,
for was he not in his native element surrounded by game in
plenty and rapidly filling his belly with the flesh he loved
best?
But Tarzan of the Apes was haunted by the picture of a slight,
young girl being shoved and struck by brutal Negresses, and
in imagination could see her now camped in this savage coun-
try a prisoner among degraded blacks.

Why was it so difficult to remember that she was only a
hated German and a spy? Why would the fact that she was a
woman and white always obtrude itself upon his conscious-
ness? He hated her as he hated all her kind, and the fate that
was sure to be hers was no more terrible than she in common
with all her people deserved. The matter was settled and Tar-
zan composed himself to think of other things, yet the picture
would not die -- it rose in all its details and annoyed him. He
began to wonder what they were doing to her and where they
were taking her. He was very much ashamed of himself as he
had been after the episode in Wilhelmstal when his weakness
had permitted him to spare this spy's life. Was he to be thus
weak again? No!

Night came and he settled himself in an ample tree to rest
until morning; but sleep would not come. Instead came the
vision of a white girl being beaten by black women, and again
of the same girl at the mercy of the warriors somewhere in
that dark and forbidding jungle.

With a growl of anger and self-contempt Tarzan arose,
shook himself, and swung from his tree to that adjoining, and
thus, through the lower terraces, he followed the trail that
Usanga's party had taken earlier in the afternoon. He had
little difficulty as the band had followed a well-beaten path
and when toward midnight the stench of a native village as-
sailed his delicate nostrils he guessed that his goal was near
and that presently he should find her whom he sought.

Prowling stealthily as prowls Numa, the lion, stalking a
wary prey, Tarzan moved noiselessly about the palisade, lis-
tening and sniffing. At the rear of the village he discovered a
tree whose branches extended over the top of the palisade and
a moment later he had dropped quietly into the village.

From hut to hut he went searching with keen ears and
nostrils some confirming evidence of the presence of the girl,
and at last, faint and almost obliterated by the odor of the
Gomangani, he found it hanging like a delicate vapor about a
small hut. The village was quiet now, for the last of the beer
and the food had been disposed of and the blacks lay in their
huts overcome by stupor, yet Tarzan made no noise that even
a sober man keenly alert might have heard.

He passed around to the entrance of the hut and listened. 
From within came no sound, not even the low breathing of
one awake; yet he was sure that the girl had been here and
perhaps was even now, and so he entered, slipping in as
silently as a disembodied spirit. For a moment he stood mo-
tionless just within the entranceway, listening. No, there was
no one here, of that he was sure, but he would investigate.
As his eyes became accustomed to the greater darkness within
the hut an object began to take form that presently outlined
itself in a human form supine upon the floor.

Tarzan stepped closer and leaned over to examine it -- it
was the dead body of a naked warrior from whose chest pro-
truded a short spear. Then he searched carefully every square
foot of the remaining floor space and at last returned to the
body again where he stooped and smelled of the haft of the
weapon that had slain the black. A slow smile touched his
lips -- that and a slight movement of his head betokened that
he understood.

A rapid search of the balance of the village assured him that
the girl had escaped and a feeling of relief came over him
that no harm had befallen her. That her life was equally in
jeopardy in the savage jungle to which she must have flown
did not impress him as it would have you or me, since to
Tarzan the jungle was not a dangerous place -- he considered
one safer there than in Paris or London by night.

He had entered the trees again and was outside the palisade
when there came faintly to his ears from far beyond the vil-
lage an old, familiar sound. Balancing lightly upon a swaying
branch he stood, a graceful statue of a forest god, listening
intently. For a minute he stood thus and then there broke
from his lips the long, weird cry of ape calling to ape and he
was away through the jungle toward the sound of the boom-
ing drum of the anthropoids leaving behind him an awakened
and terrified village of cringing blacks, who would forever
after connect that eerie cry with the disappearance of their
white prisoner and the death of their fellow-warrior.

Bertha Kircher, hurrying through the jungle along a well-
beaten game trail, thought only of putting as much distance as
possible between herself and the village before daylight could
permit pursuit of her. Whither she was going she did not
know, nor was it a matter of great moment since death must
be her lot sooner or later.

Fortune favored her that night, for she passed unscathed
through as savage and lion-ridden an area as there is in all
Africa -- a natural hunting ground which the white man has
not yet discovered, where deer and antelope and zebra, giraffe
and elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, and the other herbivorous
animals of central Africa abound unmolested by none but their
natural enemies, the great cats which, lured here by easy prey
and immunity from the rifles of big-game hunters, swarm the
district.

She had fled for an hour or two, perhaps, when her attention
was arrested by the sound of animals moving about, muttering
and growling close ahead. Assured that she had covered a
sufficient distance to insure her a good start in the morning
before the blacks could take to her trail, and fearful of what
the creatures might be, she climbed into a large tree with the
intention of spending the balance of the night there.

She had no sooner reached a safe and comfortable branch
when she discovered that the tree stood upon the edge of a
small clearing that had been hidden from her by the heavy
undergrowth upon the ground below, and simultaneously she
discovered the identity of the beasts she had heard.

In the center of the clearing below her, clearly visible in
the bright moonlight, she saw fully twenty huge, manlike apes
-- great, shaggy fellows who went upon their hind feet with
only slight assistance from the knuckles of their hands. The
moonlight glanced from their glossy coats, the numerous gray-
tipped hairs imparting a sheen that made the hideous creatures
almost magnificent in their appearance.

The girl had watched them but a minute or two when the
little band was joined by others, coming singly and in groups
until there were fully fifty of the great brutes gathered there
in the moonlight. Among them were young apes and several
little ones clinging tightly to their mothers' shaggy shoulders.
Presently the group parted to form a circle about what ap-
peared to be a small, flat-topped mound of earth in the center
of the clearing. Squatting close about this mound were three
old females armed with short, heavy clubs with which they
presently began to pound upon the flat top of the earth mound
which gave forth a dull, booming sound, and almost imme-
diately the other apes commenced to move about restlessly,
weaving in and out aimlessly until they carried the impression
of a moving mass of great, black maggots.

The beating of the drum was in a slow, ponderous cadence,
at first without time but presently settling into a heavy rhythm
to which the apes kept time with measured tread and sway-
ing bodies. Slowly the mass separated into two rings, the
outer of which was composed of shes and the very young, the
inner of mature bulls. The former ceased to move and
squatted upon their haunches, while the bulls now moved
slowly about in a circle the center of which was the drum and
all now in the same direction.

It was then that there came faintly to the ears of the girl
from the direction of the village she had recently quitted a
weird and high-pitched cry. The effect upon the apes was
electrical -- they stopped their movements and stood in atti-
tudes of intent listening for a moment, and then one fellow,
huger than his companions, raised his face to the heavens and
in a voice that sent the cold shudders through the girl's slight
frame answered the far-off cry.

Once again the beaters took up their drumming and the slow
dance went on. There was a certain fascination in the savage
ceremony that held the girl spellbound, and as there seemed
little likelihood of her being discovered, she felt that she
might
as well remain the balance of the night in her tree and r‚sum‚
her flight by the comparatively greater safety of daylight.

Assuring herself that her packet of papers was safe she
sought as comfortable a position as possible among the
branches, and settled herself to watch the weird proceedings
in the clearing below her.

A half-hour passed, during which the cadence of the drum
increased gradually. Now the great bull that had replied to
the distant call leaped from the inner circle to dance alone
between the drummers and the other bulls. He leaped and
crouched and leaped again, now growling and barking, again
stopping to raise his hideous face to Goro, the moon, and,
beating upon his shaggy breast, uttered a piercing scream --
the challenge of the bull ape, had the girl but known it.

He stood thus in the full glare of the great moon, motionless
after screaming forth his weird challenge, in the setting of the
primeval jungle and the circling apes a picture of primitive
savagery and power -- a mightily muscled Hercules out of the
dawn of life -- when from close behind her the girl heard an
answering scream, and an instant later saw an almost naked
white man drop from a near-by tree into the clearing.

Instantly the apes became a roaring, snarling pack of angry
beasts. Bertha Kircher held her breath. What maniac was
this who dared approach these frightful creatures in their
own haunts, alone against fifty? She saw the brown-skinned
figure bathed in moonlight walk straight toward the snarling
pack. She saw the symmetry and the beauty of that perfect
body -- its grace, its strength, its wondrous proportioning, and
then she recognized him. It was the same creature whom she
had seen carry Major Schneider from General Kraut's head-
quarters, the same who had rescued her from Numa, the lion;
the same whom she had struck down with the butt of her
pistol and escaped when he would have returned her to her
enemies, the same who had slain Hauptmann Fritz Schneider
and spared her life that night in Wilhelmstal.

Fear-filled and fascinated she watched him as he neared
the apes. She heard sounds issue from his throat -- sounds
identical with those uttered by the apes -- and though she
could scarce believe the testimony of her own ears, she knew
that this godlike creature was conversing with the brutes in
their own tongue.

Tarzan halted just before he reached the shes of the outer
circle. "I am Tarzan of the Apes!" he cried. "You do not
know me because I am of another tribe, but Tarzan comes in
peace or he comes to fight -- which shall it be? Tarzan will
talk with your king," and so saying he pushed straight forward
through the shes and the young who now gave way before
him, making a narrow lane through which he passed toward
the inner circle.

Shes and balus growled and bristled as he passed closer,
but none hindered him and thus he came to the inner circle of
bulls. Here bared fangs menaced him and growling faces
hideously contorted. "I am Tarzan," he repeated. "Tarzan
comes to dance the Dum-Dum with his brothers. Where is
your king?" Again he pressed forward and the girl in the tree
clapped her palms to her cheeks as she watched, wide-eyed,
this madman going to a frightful death. In another instant
they would be upon him, rending and tearing until that perfect
form had been ripped to shreds; but again the ring parted,
and though the apes roared and menaced him they did not
attack, and at last he stood in the inner circle close to the
drum
and faced the great king ape.

Again he spoke. "I am Tarzan of the Apes," he cried.
"Tarzan comes to live with his brothers. He will come in
peace and live in peace or he will kill; but he has come and
he will stay. Which -- shall Tarzan dance the Dum-Dum in
peace with his brothers, or shall Tarzan kill first?"

"I am Go-lat, King of the Apes," screamed the great bull.
"I kill! I kill! I kill!" and with a sullen roar he charged the
Tarmangani.

The ape-man, as the girl watched him, seemed entirely
unprepared for the charge and she looked to see him borne
down and slain at the first rush. The great bull was almost
upon him with huge hands outstretched to seize him before
Tarzan made a move, but when he did move his quickness
would have put Ara, the lightning, to shame. As darts for-
ward the head of Histah, the snake, so darted forward the
left hand of the man-beast as he seized the left wrist of his
antagonist. A quick turn and the bull's right arm was locked
beneath the right arm of his foe in a jujutsu hold that Tarzan
had learned among civilized men -- a hold with which he
might easily break the great bones, a hold that left the ape
helpless.

"I am Tarzan of the Apes!" screamed the ape-man. "Shall
Tarzan dance in peace or shall Tarzan kill?''

"I kill! I kill! I kill!" shrieked Go-lat.

With the quickness of a cat Tarzan swung the king ape
over one hip and sent him sprawling to the ground. "I am
Tarzan, King of all the Apes!" he shouted. "Shall it be peace?"

Go-lat, infuriated, leaped to his feet and charged again,
shouting his war cry: "I kill! I kill! I kill!" and again Tarzan
met him with a sudden hold that the stupid bull, being ig-
norant of, could not possibly avert -- a hold and a throw that
brought a scream of delight from the interested audience and
suddenly filled the girl with doubts as to the man's madness
-- evidently he was quite safe among the apes, for she saw
him swing Go-lat to his back and then catapult him over his
shoulder. The king ape fell upon his head and lay very still.

"I am Tarzan of the Apes!" cried the ape-man. "I come to
dance the Dum-Dum with my brothers," and he made a mo-
tion to the drummers, who immediately took up the cadence
of the dance where they had dropped it to watch their king
slay the foolish Tarmangani.

It was then that Go-lat raised his head and slowly crawled
to his feet. Tarzan approached him. "I am Tarzan of the
Apes," he cried. "Shall Tarzan dance the Dum-Dum with his
brothers now, or shall he kill first?"

Go-lat raised his bloodshot eyes to the face of the Tar-
mangani. "Kagoda!" he cried "Tarzan of the Apes will dance
the Dum-Dum with his brothers and Go-lat will dance with him!"

And then the girl in the tree saw the savage man leaping,
bending, and stamping with the savage apes in the ancient
rite of the Dum-Dum. His roars and growls were more
beastly than the beasts. His handsome face was distorted
with savage ferocity. He beat upon his great breast and
screamed forth his challenge as his smooth, brown hide
brushed the shaggy coats of his fellows. It was weird; it was
wonderful; and in its primitive savagery it was not without
beauty -- the strange scene she looked upon, such a scene as
no other human being, probably, ever had witnessed -- and
yet, withal, it was horrible.

As she gazed, spell-bound, a stealthy movement in the tree
behind her caused her to turn her head, and there, back of
her, blazing in the reflected moonlight, shone two great, yellow-
green eyes. Sheeta, the panther, had found her out.

The beast was so close that it might have reached out and
touched her with a great, taloned paw. There was no time to
think, no time to weigh chances or to choose alternatives.
Terror-inspired impulse was her guide as, with a loud scream,
she leaped from the tree into the clearing.

Instantly the apes, now maddened by the effects of the
dancing and the moonlight, turned to note the cause of the
interruption. They saw this she Tarmangani, helpless and
alone and they started for her. Sheeta, the panther, knowing
that not even Numa, the lion, unless maddened by starvation,
dares meddle with the great apes at their Dum-Dum, had
silently vanished into the night, seeking his supper elsewhere.

Tarzan, turning with the other apes toward the cause of the
interruption, saw the girl, recognized her and also her peril.
Here again might she die at the hands of others; but why con-
sider it! He knew that he could not permit it, and though the
acknowledgment shamed him, it had to be admitted.

The leading shes were almost upon the girl when Tarzan
leaped among them, and with heavy blows scattered them to
right and left; and then as the bulls came to share in the kill
they thought this new ape-thing was about to make that he
might steal all the flesh for himself, they found him facing
them with an arm thrown about the creature as though to
protect her.

"This is Tarzan's she," he said. "Do not harm her." It was
the only way he could make them understand that they must
not slay her. He was glad that she could not interpret the
words. It was humiliating enough to make such a statement
to wild apes about this hated enemy.

So once again Tarzan of the Apes was forced to protect a
Hun. Growling, he muttered to himself in extenuation:

"She is a woman and I am not a German, so it could not be
otherwise!"

Dropped from the Sky

Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, Royal Air
Service, was on reconnaissance. A report, or it would be
better to say a rumor, had come to the British headquar-
ters in German East Africa that the enemy had landed in
force on the west coast and was marching across the dark
continent to reinforce their colonial troops. In fact the new
army was supposed to be no more than ten or twelve days'
march to the west. Of course the thing was ridiculous -- pre-
posterous -- but preposterous things often happen in war; and
anyway no good general permits the least rumor of enemy
activity to go uninvestigated.

Therefore Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick flew low
toward the west, searching with keen eyes for signs of a Hun
army. Vast forests unrolled beneath him in which a German
army corps might have lain concealed, so dense was the
overhanging foliage of the great trees. Mountain, meadow-
land, and desert passed in lovely panorama; but never a sight
of man had the young lieutenant.

Always hoping that he might discover some sign of their
passage -- a discarded lorry, a broken limber, or an old camp
site -- he continued farther and farther into the west until well
into the afternoon. Above a tree-dotted plain through the
center of which flowed a winding river he determined to turn
about and start for camp. It would take straight flying at top
speed to cover the distance before dark; but as he had ample
gasoline and a trustworthy machine there was no doubt in his
mind but that he could accomplish his aim. It was then that
his engine stalled.

He was too low to do anything but land, and that immedi-
ately, while he had the more open country accessible, for
directly east of him was a vast forest into which a stalled
engine could only have plunged him to certain injury and
probable death; and so he came down in the meadowland
near the winding river and there started to tinker with his
motor.

As he worked he hummed a tune, some music-hall air that
had been popular in London the year before, so that one might
have thought him working in the security of an English flying
field surrounded by innumerable comrades rather than alone
in the heart of an unexplored African wilderness. It was
typical of the man that he should be wholly indifferent to his
surroundings, although his looks entirely belied any assump-
tion that he was of particularly heroic strain.

Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick was fair-hatred,
blue-eyed, and slender, with a rosy, boyish face that might
have been molded more by an environment of luxury, indo-
lence, and ease than the more strenuous exigencies of life's
sterner requirements.

And not only was the young lieutenant outwardly careless
of the immediate future and of his surroundings, but actually
so. That the district might be infested by countless enemies
seemed not to have occurred to him in the remotest degree.
He bent assiduously to the work of correcting the adjustment
that had caused his motor to stall without so much as an up-
ward glance at the surrounding country. The forest to the
east of him, and the more distant jungle that bordered the
winding river, might have harbored an army of bloodthirsty
savages, but neither could elicit even a passing show of inter-
est on the part of Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick

And even had he looked, it is doubtful if he would have
seen the score of figures crouching in the concealment of the
undergrowth at the forest's edge. There are those who are
reputed to be endowed with that which is sometimes, for want
of a better appellation, known as the sixth sense -- a species of
intuition which apprises them of the presence of an unseen
danger. The concentrated gaze of a hidden observer provokes
a warning sensation of nervous unrest in such as these, but
though twenty pairs of savage eyes were gazing fixedly at
Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, the fact aroused no
responsive sensation of impending danger in his placid breast.
He hummed peacefully and, his adjustment completed, tried
out his motor for a minute or two, then shut it off and de-
scended to the ground with the intention of stretching his legs
and taking a smoke before continuing his return flight to
camp. Now for the first time he took note of his surroundings,
to be immediately impressed by both the wildness and the
beauty of the scene. In some respects the tree-dotted meadow-
land reminded him of a parklike English forest, and that
wild beasts and savage men could ever be a part of so quiet
a scene seemed the remotest of contingencies.

Some gorgeous blooms upon a flowering shrub at a little
distance from his machine caught the attention of his aesthetic
eye, and as he puffed upon his cigarette, he walked over to
examine the flowers more closely. As he bent above them he
was probably some hundred yards from his plane and it was
at this instant that Numabo, chief of the Wamabo, chose to
leap from his ambush and lead his warriors in a sudden rush
upon the white man.

The young Englishman's first intimation of danger was a
chorus of savage yells from the forest behind him. Turning,
he saw a score of naked, black warriors advancing rapidly
toward him. They moved in a compact mass and as they
approached more closely their rate of speed noticeably di-
minished. Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick realized in a quick glance
that the direction of their approach and their proximity had
cut off all chances of retreating to his plane, and he also
understood that their attitude was entirely warlike and menac-
ing. He saw that they were armed with spears and with bows
and arrows, and he felt quite confident that notwithstanding
the fact that he was armed with a pistol they could overcome
him with the first rush. What he did not know about their
tactics was that at any show of resistance they would fall
back, which is the nature of the native Negroes, but that after
numerous advances and retreats, during which they would
work themselves into a frenzy of rage by much shrieking,
leaping, and dancing, they would eventually come to the point
of a determined and final assault.

Numabo was in the forefront, a fact which taken in con-
nection with his considerably greater size and more warlike
appearance, indicated him as the natural target and it was at
Numabo that the Englishman aimed his first shot. Unfortu-
nately for him it missed its target, as the killing of the chief
might have permanently dispersed the others. The bullet
passed Numabo to lodge in the breast of a warrior behind him
and as the fellow lunged forward with a scream the others
turned and retreated, but to the lieutenant's chagrin they ran
in the direction of the plane instead of back toward the forest
so that he was still cut off from reaching his machine.

Presently they stopped and faced him again. They were
talking loudly and gesticulating, and after a moment one of
them leaped into the air, brandishing his spear and uttering
savage war cries, which soon had their effect upon his fellows
so that it was not long ere all of them were taking part in the
wild show of savagery, which would bolster their waning
courage and presently spur them on to another attack.

The second charge brought them closer to the Englishman,
and though he dropped another with his pistol, it was not
before two or three spears had been launched at him. He
now had five shots remaining and there were still eighteen
warriors to be accounted for, so that unless he could frighten
them off, it was evident that his fate was sealed.

That they must pay the price of one life for every attempt
to take his had its effect upon them and they were longer now
in initiating a new rush and when they did so it was more
skilfully ordered than those that had preceded it, for they
scattered into three bands which, partially surrounding him,
came simultaneously toward him from different directions,
and though he emptied his pistol with good effect, they
reached him at last. They seemed to know that his ammuni-
tion was exhausted, for they circled close about him now with
the evident intention of taking him alive, since they might
easily have riddled him with their sharp spears with perfect
safety to themselves.

For two or three minutes they circled about him until, at a
word from Numabo, they closed in simultaneously, and though
the slender young lieutenant struck out to right and left, he
was soon overwhelmed by superior numbers and beaten down
by the hafts of spears in brawny hands.

He was all but unconscious when they finally dragged him
to his feet, and after securing his hands behind his back,
pushed him roughly along ahead of them toward the jungle.

As the guard prodded him along the narrow trail, Lieuten-
ant Smith-Oldwick could not but wonder why they had
wished to take him alive. He knew that he was too far inland
for his uniform to have any significance to this native tribe to
whom no inkling of the World War probably ever had come,
and he could only assume that he had fallen into the hands
of the warriors of some savage potentate upon whose royal
caprice his fate would hinge.

They had marched for perhaps half an hour when the
Englishman saw ahead of them, in a little clearing upon the
bank of the river, the thatched roofs of native huts showing
above a crude but strong palisade; and presently he was
ushered into a village street where he was immediately sur-
rounded by a throng of women and children and warriors.
Here he was soon the center of an excited mob whose intent
seemed to be to dispatch him as quickly as possible. The
women were more venomous than the men, striking and
scratching him whenever they could reach him, until at last
Numabo, the chief, was obliged to interfere to save his pris-
oner for whatever purpose he was destined.

As the warriors pushed the crowd back, opening a space
through which the white man was led toward a hut, Lieu-
tenant Smith-Oldwick saw coming from the opposite end of
the village a number of Negroes wearing odds and ends of
German uniforms. He was not a little surprised at this, and
his first thought was that he had at last come in contact with
some portion of the army which was rumored to be crossing
from the west coast and for signs of which he had been search-
ing.

A rueful smile touched his lips as he contemplated the
unhappy circumstances which surrounded the accession of
this knowledge for though he was far from being without
hope, he realized that only by the merest chance could he
escape these people and regain his machine.

Among the partially uniformed blacks was a huge fellow
in the tunic of a sergeant and as this man's eyes fell upon the
British officer, a loud cry of exultation broke from his lips,
and immediately his followers took up the cry and pressed
forward to bait the prisoner.

"Where did you get the Englishman?" asked Usanga, the
black sergeant, of the chief Numabo. "Are there many more
with him?"

"He came down from the sky," replied the native chief
"in a strange thing which flies like a bird and which frightened
us very much at first; but we watched for a long time and
saw that it did not seem to be alive, and when this white man
left it we attacked him and though he killed some of my
warriors, we took him, for we Wamabos are brave men and
great warriors."

Usanga's eyes went wide. "He flew here through the sky?"
he asked.

"Yes," said Numabo. "In a great thing which resembled a
bird he flew down out of the sky. The thing is still there
where it came down close to the four trees near the second
bend in the river. We left it there because, not knowing what
it was, we were afraid to touch it and it is still there if it
has
not flown away again."

"It cannot fly," said Usanga, "without this man in it. It is a
terrible thing which filled the hearts of our soldiers with ter-
ror, for it flew over our camps at night and dropped bombs
upon us. It is well that you captured this white man, Numabo,
for with his great bird he would have flown over your village
tonight and killed all your people. These Englishman are
very wicked white men."

"He will fly no more," said Numabo "It is not intended
that a man should fly through the air; only wicked demons do
such things as that and Numabo, the chief, will see that this
white man does not do it again," and with the words he pushed
the young officer roughly toward a hut in the center of the
village, where he was left under guard of two stalwart warriors.

For an hour or more the prisoner was left to his own devices,
which consisted in vain and unremitting attempts to loosen
the strands which fettered his wrists, and then he was inter-
rupted by the appearance of the black sergeant Usanga, who
entered his hut and approached him.

"What are they going to do with me?" asked the English-
man. "My country is not at war with these people. You
speak their language. Tell them that I am not an enemy, that
my people are the friends of the black people and that they
must let me go in peace."

Usanga laughed. "They do not know an Englishman from
a German," he replied. "It is nothing to them what you are,
except that you are a white man and an enemy."

"Then why did they take me alive?" asked the lieutenant.

"Come," said Usanga and he led the Englishman to the
doorway of the hut. "Look," he said, and pointed a black
forefinger toward the end of the village street where a wider
space between the huts left a sort of plaza.

Here Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick saw a num-
ber of Negresses engaged in laying fagots around a stake and
in preparing fires beneath a number of large cooking vessels.
The sinister suggestion was only too obvious.

Usanga was eyeing the white man closely, but if he expected
to be rewarded by any signs of fear, he was doomed to dis-
appointment and the young lieutenant merely turned toward
him with a shrug: "Really now, do you beggars intend eating
me?"

"Not my people," replied Usanga. "We do not eat human
flesh, but the Wamabos do. It is they who will eat you, but
we will kill you for the feast, Englishman."

The Englishman remained standing in the doorway of the
hut, an interested spectator of the preparations for the coming
orgy that was so horribly to terminate his earthly existence. It
can hardly be assumed that he felt no fear; yet, if he did, he
hid it perfectly beneath an imperturbable mask of coolness.
Even the brutal Usanga must have been impressed by the
bravery of his victim since, though he had come to abuse and
possibly to torture the helpless prisoner, he now did neither,
contenting himself merely with berating whites as a race and
Englishmen especially, because of the terror the British avia-
tors had caused Germany's native troops in East Africa.

"No more," he concluded, "will your great bird fly over our
people dropping death among them from the skies -- Usanga
will see to that," and he walked abruptly away toward a group
of his own fighting men who were congregated near the stake
where they were laughing and joking with the women.

A few minutes later the Englishman saw them pass out of
the village gate, and once again his thoughts reverted to various
futile plans for escape.

Several miles north of the village on a little rise of ground
close to the river where the jungle, halting at the base of a
knoll, had left a few acres of grassy land sparsely wooded, a
man and a girl were busily engaged in constructing a small
boma, in the center of which a thatched hut already had been
erected.

They worked almost in silence with only an occasional word
of direction or interrogation between them.

Except for a loin cloth, the man was naked, his smooth skin
tanned to a deep brown by the action of sun and wind. He
moved with the graceful ease of a jungle cat and when he
lifted heavy weights, the action seemed as effortless as the
raising of empty hands.

When he was not looking at her, and it was seldom that he
did, the girl found her eyes wandering toward him, and at such
times there was always a puzzled expression upon her face as
though she found in him an enigma which she could not solve.
As a matter of fact, her feelings toward him were not un-
tinged with awe, since in the brief period of their association
she had discovered in this handsome, godlike giant the attri-
butes of the superman and the savage beast closely intermin-
gled. At first she had felt only that unreasoning feminine terror
which her unhappy position naturally induced.

To be alone in the heart of an unexplored wilderness of
Central Africa with a savage wild man was in itself sufficiently
appalling, but to feel also that this man was a blood enemy,
that he hated her and her kind and that in addition thereto he
owed her a personal grudge for an attack she had made upon
him in the past, left no loophole for any hope that he might
accord her even the minutest measure of consideration.

She had seen him first months since when he had entered
the headquarters of the German high command in East Africa
and carried off the luckless Major Schneider, of whose fate
no hint had ever reached the German officers; and she had
seen him again upon that occasion when he had rescued her
from the clutches of the lion and, after explaining to her that
he had recognized her in the British camp, had made her
prisoner. It was then that she had struck him down with the
butt of her pistol and escaped. That he might seek no personal
revenge for her act had been evidenced in Wilhelmstal the
night that he had killed Hauptmann Fritz Schneider and left
without molesting her.

No, she could not fathom him. He hated her and at the
same time he had protected her as had been evidenced again
when he had kept the great apes from tearing her to pieces
after she had escaped from the Wamabo village to which
Usanga, the black sergeant, had brought her a captive; but
why was he saving her? For what sinister purpose could this
savage enemy be protecting her from the other denizens of his
cruel jungle? She tried to put from her mind the probable
fate which awaited her, yet it persisted in obtruding itself
upon her thoughts, though always she was forced to admit
that there was nothing in the demeanor of the man to indicate
that her fears were well grounded. She judged him perhaps
by the standards other men had taught her and because she
looked upon him as a savage creature, she felt that she could
not expect more of chivalry from him than was to be found in
the breasts of the civilized men of her acquaintance.

Fraulein Bertha Kircher was by nature a companionable
and cheerful character. She was not given to morbid fore-
bodings, and above all things she craved the society of her
kind and that interchange of thought which is one of the
marked distinctions between man and the lower animals.
Tarzan, on the other hand, was sufficient unto himself. Long
years of semi-solitude among creatures whose powers of oral
expression are extremely limited had thrown him almost en-
tirely upon his own resources for entertainment.

His active mind was never idle, but because his jungle
mates could neither follow nor grasp the vivid train of imag-
inings that his man-mind wrought, he had long since learned
to keep them to himself; and so now he found no need for
confiding them in others. This fact, linked with that of his
dislike for the girl, was sufficient to seal his lips for other
than
necessary conversation, and so they worked on together in
comparative silence. Bertha Kircher, however, was nothing if
not feminine and she soon found that having someone to talk
to who would not talk was extremely irksome. Her fear of
the man was gradually departing, and she was full of a thou-
sand unsatisfied curiosities as to his plans for the future in so
far as they related to her, as well as more personal questions
regarding himself, since she could not but wonder as to his
antecedents and his strange and solitary life in the jungle, as
well as his friendly intercourse with the savage apes among
which she had found him.

With the waning of her fears she became sufficiently em-
boldened to question him, and so she asked him what he in-
tended doing after the hut and boma were completed.

"I am going to the west coast where I was born," replied
Tarzan. "I do not know when. I have all my life before me
and in the jungle there is no reason for haste. We are not
forever running as fast as we can from one place to another
as are you of the outer world. When I have been here long
enough I will go on toward the west, but first I must see that
you have a safe place in which to sleep, and that you have
learned how to provide yourself with necessaries. That will
take time."

"You are going to leave me here alone?" cried the girl; her
tones marked the fear which the prospect induced. "You are
going to leave me here alone in this terrible jungle, a prey
to wild beasts and savage men, hundreds of miles from a
white settlement and in a country which gives every evidence
of never having been touched by the foot of civilized men?"

"Why not?" asked Tarzan. "I did not bring you here. Would
one of your men accord any better treatment to an enemy
woman?"

"Yes," she exclaimed. "They certainly would. No man of my
race would leave a defenseless white woman alone in this hor-
rible place."

Tarzan shrugged his broad shoulders. The conversation
seemed profitless and it was further distasteful to him for the
reason that it was carried on in German, a tongue which he
detested as much as he did the people who spoke it. He wished
that the girl spoke English and then it occurred to him that as
he had seen her in disguise in the British camp carrying on her
nefarious work as a German spy, she probably did speak Eng-
lish and so he asked her.

"Of course I speak English," she exclaimed, "but I did not
know that you did."

Tarzan looked his wonderment but made no comment. He
only wondered why the girl should have any doubts as to the
ability of an Englishman to speak English, and then suddenly
it occurred to him that she probably looked upon him merely
as a beast of the jungle who by accident had learned to speak
German through frequenting the district which Germany had
colonized. It was there only that she had seen him and so
she might not know that he was an Englishman by birth,
and that he had had a home in British East Africa. It was as
well, he thought, that she knew little of him, as the less she
knew the more he might learn from her as to her activities
in behalf of the Germans and of the German spy system of
which she was a representative; and so it occurred to him to
let her continue to think that he was only what he appeared
to be -- a savage denizen of his savage jungle, a man of no
race and no country, hating all white men impartially; and
this in truth, was what she did think of him. It explained per-
fectly his attacks upon Major Schneider and the Major's
brother, Hauptmann Fritz.

Again they worked on in silence upon the boma which was
now nearly completed, the girl helping the man to the best
of her small ability. Tarzan could not but note with grudging
approval the spirit of helpfulness she manifested in the oft-
times painful labor of gathering and arranging the thorn
bushes which constituted the temporary protection against
roaming carnivores. Her hands and arms gave bloody token
of the sharpness of the numerous points that had lacerated her
soft flesh, and even though she were an enemy Tarzan could
not but feel compunction that he had permitted her to do
this work, and at last he bade her stop.

"Why?" she asked. "It is no more painful to me than it must
be to you, and, as it is solely for my protection that you are
building this boma, there is no reason why I should not do my
share."

"You are a woman," replied Tarzan. "This is not a wom-
an's work. If you wish to do something, take those gourds
I brought this morning and fill them with water at the river.
You may need it while I am away."

"While you are away --" she said. "You are going away?"

"When the boma is built I am going out after meat," he
replied. "Tomorrow I will go again and take you and show
you how you may make your own kills after I am gone."

Without a word she took the gourds and walked toward
the river. As she filled them, her mind was occupied with
painful forebodings of the future. She knew that Tarzan had
passed a death sentence upon her, and that the moment that
he left her, her doom was sealed, for it could be but a question
of time -- a very short time -- before the grim jungle would
claim her, for how could a lone woman hope successfully to
combat the savage forces of destruction which constituted so
large a part of existence in the jungle?

So occupied was she with the gloomy prophecies that she
had neither ears nor eyes for what went on about her. Me-
chanically she filled the gourds and, taking them up, turned
slowly to retrace her steps to the boma only to voice im-
mediately a half-stifled scream and shrank back from the
menacing figure looming before her and blocking her way to
the hut.

Go-lat, the king ape, hunting a little apart from his tribe,
had seen the woman go to the river for water, and it was he
who confronted her when she turned back with her filled
gourds. Go-lat was not a pretty creature when judged by
standards of civilized humanity, though the shes of his tribe
and even Go-lat himself, considered his glossy black coat shot
with silver, his huge arms dangling to his knees, his bullet
head sunk between his mighty shoulders, marks of great per-
sonal beauty. His wicked, bloodshot eyes and broad nose, his
ample mouth and great fighting fangs only enhanced the claim
of this Adonis of the forest upon the affections of his shes.

Doubtless in the little, savage brain there was a well-formed
conviction that this strange she belonging to the Tarmangani
must look with admiration upon so handsome a creature as
Go-lat, for there could be no doubt in the mind of any that
his beauty entirely eclipsed such as the hairless white ape
might lay claim to.

But Bertha Kircher saw only a hideous beast, a fierce and
terrible caricature of man. Could Go-lat have known what
passed through her mind, he must have been terribly cha-
grined, though the chances are that he would have attributed
it to a lack of discernment on her part. Tarzan heard the
girl's cry and looking up saw at a glance the cause of her
terror. Leaping lightly over the boma, he ran swiftly toward
her as Go-lat lumbered closer to the girl the while he voiced
his emotions in low gutturals which, while in reality the most
amicable of advances, sounded to the girl like the growling of
an enraged beast. As Tarzan drew nearer he called aloud to
the ape and the girl heard from the human lips the same
sounds that had fallen from those of the anthropoid.

"I will not harm your she," Go-lat called to Tarzan.

"I know it," replied the ape-man, "but she does not. She is
like Numa and Sheeta, who do not understand our talk. She
thinks you come to harm her."

By this time Tarzan was beside the girl. "He will not harm
you," he said to her. "You need not be afraid. This ape has
learned his lesson. He has learned that Tarzan is lord of
the jungle. He will not harm that which is Tarzan's."

The girl cast a quick glance at the man's face. It was evi-
dent to her that the words he had spoken meant nothing to
him and that the assumed proprietorship over her was, like
the boma, only another means for her protection.

"But I am afraid of him," she said.

"You must not show your fear. You will be often sur-
rounded by these apes. At such times you will be safest. Be-
fore I leave you I will give you the means of protecting your-
self against them should one of them chance to turn upon
you. If I were you I would seek their society. Few are the
animals of the jungle that dare attack the great apes when
there are several of them together. If you let them know that
you are afraid of them, they will take advantage of it and
your life will be constantly menaced. The shes especially would
attack you. I will let them know that you have the means of
protecting yourself and of killing them. If necessary, I will
show you how and then they will respect and fear you."

"I will try," said the girl, "but I am afraid that it will be
difficult. He is the most frightful creature I ever have seen."
Tarzan smiled. "Doubtless he thinks the same of you," he
said.

By this time other apes had entered the clearing and they
were now the center of a considerable group, among which
were several bulls, some young shes, and some older ones with
their little balus clinging to their backs or frolicking around
at their feet. Though they had seen the girl the night of the
Dum-Dum when Sheeta had forced her to leap from her con-
cealment into the arena where the apes were dancing, they
still evinced a great curiosity regarding her. Some of the shes
came very close and plucked at her garments, commenting
upon them to one another in their strange tongue. The girl,
by the exercise of all the will power she could command, suc-
ceeded in passing through the ordeal without evincing any of
the terror and revulsion that she felt. Tarzan watched her
closely, a half-smile upon his face. He was not so far removed
from recent contact with civilized people that he could not
realize the torture that she was undergoing, but he felt no
pity for this woman of a cruel enemy who doubtless deserved
the worst suffering that could be meted to her. Yet, not-
withstanding his sentiments toward her, he was forced to ad-
mire her fine display of courage. Suddenly he turned to the
apes.

"Tarzan goes to hunt for himself and his she," he said. "The
she will remain there," and he pointed toward the hut. "See
that no member of the tribe harms her. Do you understand?"

The apes nodded. "We will not harm her," said Go-lat.

"No," said Tarzan. "You will not. For if you do, Tarzan
will kill you," and then turning to the girl, "Come," he said,
"I am going to hunt now. You had better remain at the hut.
The apes have promised not to harm you. I will leave my
spear with you. It will be the best weapon you could have in
case you should need to protect yourself, but I doubt if you
will be in any danger for the short time that I am away."

He walked with her as far as the boma and when she had
entered he closed the gap with thorn bushes and turned away
toward the forest. She watched him moving across the clear-
ing, noting the easy, catlike tread and the grace of every move-
ment that harmonized so well with the symmetry and perfec-
tion of his figure. At the forest's edge she saw him swing
lightly
into a tree and disappear from view, and then, being a woman,
she entered the hut and, throwing herself upon the ground,
burst into tears.

In the Hands of Savages

Tarzan sought Bara, the deer, or Horta, the boar, for of all
the jungle animals he doubted if any would prove more
palatable to the white woman, but though his keen nos-
trils were ever on the alert, he traveled far without being re-
warded with even the faintest scent spoor of the game he
sought. Keeping close to the river where he hoped to find
Bara or Horta approaching or leaving a drinking place he came
at last upon the strong odor of the Wamabo village and being
ever ready to pay his hereditary enemies, the Gomangani, an
undesired visit, he swung into a detour and came up in the
rear of the village. From a tree which overhung the palisade
he looked down into the street where he saw the preparations
going on which his experience told him indicated the approach
of one of those frightful feasts the piece de resistance of which
is human flesh.

One of Tarzan's chief divertissements was the baiting of the
blacks. He realized more keen enjoyment through annoying
and terrifying them than from any other source of amusement
the grim jungle offered. To rob them of their feast in some
way that would strike terror to their hearts would give him
the keenest of pleasure, and so he searched the village with his
eyes for some indication of the whereabouts of the prisoner.
His view was circumscribed by the dense foliage of the tree
in which he sat, and, so that he might obtain a better view, he
climbed further aloft and moved cautiously out upon a slender
branch.

Tarzan of the Apes possessed a woodcraft scarcely short of
the marvelous but even Tarzan's wondrous senses were not
infallible. The branch upon which he made his way outward
from the bole was no smaller than many that had borne his
weight upon countless other occasions. Outwardly it appeared
strong and healthy and was in full foliage, nor could Tarzan
know that close to the stem a burrowing insect had eaten away
half the heart of the solid wood beneath the bark.

And so when he reached a point far out upon the limb, it
snapped close to the bole of the tree without warning. Below
him were no larger branches that he might clutch and as he
lunged downward his foot caught in a looped creeper so that
he turned completely over and alighted on the flat of his back
in the center of the village street.

At the sound of the breaking limb and the crashing body
falling through the branches the startled blacks scurried to
their huts for weapons, and when the braver of them emerged,
they saw the still form of an almost naked white man lying
where he had fallen. Emboldened by the fact that he did not
move they approached more closely, and when their eyes dis-
covered no signs of others of his kind in the tree, they rushed
forward until a dozen warriors stood about him with ready
spears. At first they thought that the falling had killed him,
but upon closer examination they discovered that the man was
only stunned. One of the warriors was for thrusting a spear
through his heart, but Numabo, the chief, would not permit it.

"Bind him," he said. "We will feed well tonight."

And so they bound his hands and feet with thongs of gut
and carried him into the hut where Lieutenant Harold Percy
Smith-Oldwick awaited his fate. The Englishman had also been
bound hand and foot by this time for fear that at the last mo-
ment he might escape and rob them of their feast. A great
crowd of natives were gathered about the hut attempting to
get a glimpse of the new prisoner, but Numabo doubled the
guard before the entrance for fear that some of his people, in
the exuberance of their savage joy, might rob the others of
the pleasures of the death dance which would precede the
killing of the victims.

The young Englishman had heard the sound of Tarzan's
body crashing through the tree to the ground and the commo-
tion in the village which immediately followed, and now, as
he stood with his back against the wall of the hut, he looked
upon the fellow-prisoner that the blacks carried in and laid
upon the floor with mixed feelings of surprise and compassion.
He realized that he never had seen a more perfect specimen
of manhood than that of the unconscious figure before him,
and he wondered to what sad circumstances the man owed his
capture. It was evident that the new prisoner was himself as
much a savage as his captors if apparel and weapons were any
criterion by which to judge; yet it was also equally evident that
he was a white man and from his well-shaped head and
clean-cut features that he was not one of those unhappy half-
wits who so often revert to savagery even in the heart of civ-
ilized communities.

As he watched the man, he presently noticed that his eyelids
were moving. Slowly they opened and a pair of gray eyes
looked blankly about. With returning consciousness the eyes
assumed their natural expression of keen intelligence, and a
moment later, with an effort, the prisoner rolled over upon his
side and drew himself to a sitting position. He was facing
the Englishman, and as his eyes took in the bound ankles and
the arms drawn tightly behind the other's back, a slow smile
lighted his features.

"They will fill their bellies tonight," he said.

The Englishman grinned. "From the fuss they made," he
said, "the beggars must be awfully hungry. They like to have
eaten me alive when they brought me in. How did they get
you?"

Tarzan shrugged his head ruefully. "It was my own fault,"
he replied. "I deserve to be eaten. I crawled out upon a branch
that would not bear my weight and when it broke, instead
of alighting on my feet, I caught my foot in a trailer and
came down on my head. Otherwise they would not have taken
me -- alive."

"Is there no escape?" asked the Englishman.

"I have escaped them before," replied Tarzan, "and I have
seen others escape them. I have seen a man taken away from
the stake after a dozen spear thrusts had pierced his body and
the fire had been lighted about his feet."

Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick shuddered. "God!" he exclaimed,
"I hope I don't have to face that. I believe I could stand any-
thing but the thought of the fire. I should hate like the devil
to go into a funk before the devils at the last moment."

"Don't worry," said Tarzan. "It doesn't last long and you
won't funk. It is really not half as bad as it sounds. There is
only a brief period of pain before you lose consciousness. I
have seen it many times before. It is as good a way to go as
another. We must die sometime. What difference whether it
be tonight, tomorrow night, or a year hence, just so that we
have lived -- and I have lived!"

"Your philosophy may be all right, old top," said the young
lieutenant, "but I can't say that it is exactly satisfying."

Tarzan laughed. "Roll over here," he said, "where I can get
at your bonds with my teeth." The Englishman did as he was
bid and presently Tarzan was working at the thongs with his
strong white teeth. He felt them giving slowly beneath his
efforts. In another moment they would part, and then it
would be a comparatively simple thing for the Englishman
to remove the remaining bonds from Tarzan and himself.

It was then that one of the guards entered the hut. In an
instant he saw what the new prisoner was doing and raising
his spear, struck the ape-man a vicious blow across the head
with its shaft. Then he called in the other guards and together
they fell upon the luckless men, kicking and beating them un-
mercifully, after which they bound the Englishman more se-
curely than before and tied both men fast on opposite sides of
the hut. When they had gone Tarzan looked across at his
companion in misery.

"While there is life," he said, "there is hope," but he grinned
as he voiced the ancient truism.

Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick returned the other's
smile. "I fancy," he said, "that we are getting short on both.
It must be close to supper time now."

Zu-tag hunted alone far from the balance of the tribe of
Go-lat, the great ape. Zu-tag (Big-neck) was a young bull
but recently arrived at maturity. He was large, powerful, and
ferocious and at the same time far above the average of his
kind in intelligence as was denoted by a fuller and less reced-
ing forehead. Already Go-lat saw in this young ape a possible
contender for the laurels of his kingship and consequently the
old bull looked upon Zu-tag with jealousy and disfavor. It was
for this reason, possibly, as much as another that Zu-tag
hunted so often alone; but it was his utter fearlessness that
permitted him to wander far afield away from the protection
which numbers gave the great apes. One of the results of this
habit was a greatly increased resourcefulness which found him
constantly growing in intelligence and powers of observation.

Today he had been hunting toward the south and was
returning along the river upon a path he often followed be-
cause it led by the village of the Gomangani whose strange
and almost apelike actions and peculiar manners of living had
aroused his interest and curiosity. As he had done upon other
occasions he took up his position in a tree from which he could
overlook the interior of the village and watch the blacks at
their vocations in the street below.

Zu-tag had scarcely more than established himself in his
tree when, with the blacks, he was startled by the crashing of
Tarzan's body from the branches of another jungle giant to
the ground within the palisade. He saw the Negroes gather
about the prostrate form and later carry it into the hut; and
once he rose to his full height upon the limb where he had
been squatting and raised his face to the heavens to scream
out a savage protest and a challenge, for he had recognized
in the brown-skinned Tarmangani the strange white ape who
had come among them a night or two before in the midst of
their Dum-Dum, and who by so easily mastering the greatest
among them, had won the savage respect and admiration of
this fierce young bull.

But Zu-tag's ferocity was tempered by a certain native cun-
ning and caution. Before he had voiced his protest there formed
in his mind the thought that he would like to save this wonder-
ful white ape from the common enemy, the Gomangani, and
so he screamed forth no challenge, wisely determined that more
could be accomplished by secrecy and stealth than by force
of muscle and fang.

At first he thought to enter the village alone and carry off
the Tarmangani; but when he saw how numerous were the
warriors and that several sat directly before the entrance to
the lair into which the prisoner had been carried, it occurred
to him that this was work for many rather than one, and so,
as silently as he had come, he slipped away though the foliage
toward the north.

The tribe was still loitering about the clearing where stood
the hut that Tarzan and Bertha Kircher had built. Some were
idly searching for food just within the forest's edge, while
others squatted beneath the shade of trees within the clearing.

The girl had emerged from the hut, her tears dried and was
gazing anxiously toward the south into the jungle where Tar-
zan had disappeared. Occasionally she cast suspicious glances
in the direction of the huge shaggy anthropoids about her.
How easy it would be for one of those great beasts to enter
the boma and slay her. How helpless she was, even with the
spear that the white man had left her, she realized as she
noted for the thousandth time the massive shoulders, the bull
necks, and the great muscles gliding so easily beneath the
glossy coats. Never, she thought, had she seen such personi-
fications of brute power as were represented by these mighty
bulls. Those huge hands would snap her futile spear as she
might snap a match in two, while their lightest blow could
crush her into insensibility and death.

It was while she was occupied with these depressing thoughts
that there dropped suddenly into the clearing from the trees
upon the south the figure of a mighty young bull. At that time
all of the apes looked much alike to Bertha Kircher, nor was
it until some time later that she realized that each differed
from the others in individual characteristics of face and figure
as do individuals of the human races. Yet even then she could
not help but note the wondrous strength and agility of this
great beast, and as he approached she even found herself ad-
miring the sheen of his heavy, black, silvershot coat.

It was evident that the newcomer was filled with suppressed
excitement. His demeanor and bearing proclaimed this even
from afar, nor was the girl the only one to note it. For as they
saw him coming many of the apes arose and advanced to meet
him, bristling and growling as is their way. Go-lat was among
these latter, and he advanced stiffly with the hairs upon his
neck and down his spine erect, uttering low growls and baring
his fighting fangs, for who might say whether Zu-tag came
in peace or otherwise? The old king had seen other young
apes come thus in his day filled with a sudden resolution to
wrest the kingship from their chief. He had seen bulls about
to run amuck burst thus suddenly from the jungle upon the
members of the tribe, and so Go-lat took no chances.

Had Zu-tag come indolently, feeding as he came, he might
have entered the tribe without arousing notice or suspicion,
but when one comes thus precipitately, evidently bursting with
some emotion out of the ordinary, let all apes beware. There
was a certain amount of preliminary circling, growling, and
sniffing, stiff-legged and stiff-haired, before each side discov-
ered that the other had no intention of initiating an attack and
then Zu-tag told Go-lat what he had seen among the lairs
of the Gomangani.

Go-lat grunted in disgust and turned away. "Let the white
ape take care of himself," he said.

"He is a great ape," said Zu-tag. "He came to live in peace
with the tribe of Go-lat. Let us save him from the Goman-
gani."

Go-lat grunted again and continued to move away.

"Zu-tag will go alone and get him," cried the young ape,
"if Go-lat is afraid of the Gomangani."

The king ape wheeled in anger, growling loudly and beating
upon his breast. "Go-lat is not afraid," he screamed, "but he
will not go, for the white ape is not of his tribe. Go yourself
and take the Tarmangani's she with you if you wish so much
to save the white ape."

"Zu-tag will go," replied the younger bull, "and he will take
the Tarmangani's she and all the bulls of Go-lat who are not
cowards," and so saying he cast his eyes inquiringly about at
the other apes. "Who will go with Zu-tag to fight the Goman-
gani and bring away our brother," he demanded.

Eight young bulls in the full prime of their vigor pressed
forward to Zu-tag's side, but the old bulls with the conserva-
tism and caution of many years upon their gray shoulders,
shook their heads and waddled away after Go-lat.

"Good," cried Zu-tag. "We want no old shes to go with us
to fight the Gomangani for that is work for the fighters of the
tribe."

The old bulls paid no attention to his boastful words, but the
eight who had volunteered to accompany him were filled with
self-pride so that they stood around vaingloriously beating
upon their breasts, baring their fangs and screaming their
hideous challenge until the jungle reverberated to the horrid
sound.

All this time Bertha Kircher was a wide-eyed and terrified
spectator to what, as she thought, could end only in a terrific
battle between these frightful beasts, and when Zu-tag and
his followers began screaming forth their fearsome challenge,
the girl found herself trembling in terror, for of all the sounds
of the jungle there is none more awe inspiring than that of the
great bull ape when he issues his challenge or shrieks forth his
victory cry.

If she had been terrified before she was almost paralyzed
with fear now as she saw Zu-tag and his apes turn toward the
boma and approach her. With the agility of a cat Zu-tag leaped
completely over the protecting wall and stood before her. Val-
iantly she held her spear before her, pointing it at his breast.
He commenced to jabber and gesticulate, and even with her
scant acquaintance with the ways of the anthropoids, she real-
ized that he was not menacing her, for there was little or no
baring of fighting fangs and his whole expression and attitude
was of one attempting to explain a knotty problem or plead
a worthy cause. At last he became evidently impatient, for
with a sweep of one great paw he struck the spear from her
hand and coming close, seized her by the arm, but not roughly.
She shrank away in terror and yet some sense within her
seemed to be trying to assure her that she was in no danger
from this great beast. Zu-tag jabbered loudly, ever and again
pointing into the jungle toward the south and moving toward
the boma, pulling the girl with him. He seemed almost frantic
in his efforts to explain something to her. He pointed toward
the boma, herself, and then to the forest, and then, at last, as
though by a sudden inspiration, he reached down and, seizing
the spear, repeatedly touched it with his forefinger and again
pointed toward the south. Suddenly it dawned upon the girl
that what the ape was trying to explain to her was related in
some way to the white man whose property they thought she
was. Possibly her grim protector was in trouble and with this
thought firmly established, she no longer held back, but started
forward as though to accompany the young bull. At the point
in the boma where Tarzan had blocked the entrance, she
started to pull away the thorn bushes, and, when Zu-tag saw
what she was doing, he fell to and assisted her so that presently
they had an opening through the boma through which she
passed with the great ape.

Immediately Zu-tag and his eight apes started off rapidly
toward the jungle, so rapidly that Bertha Kircher would have
had to run at top speed to keep up with them. This she real-
ized she could not do, and so she was forced to lag behind,
much to the chagrin of Zu-tag, who constantly kept running
back and urging her to greater speed. Once he took her by the
arm and tried to draw her along. Her protests were of no avail
since the beast could not know that they were protests, nor did
he desist until she caught her foot in some tangled grass and
fell to the ground. Then indeed was Zu-tag furious and
growled hideously. His apes were waiting at the edge of the
forest for him to lead them. He suddenly realized that this
poor weak she could not keep up with them and that if they
traveled at her slow rate they might be too late to render as-
sistance to the Tarmangani, and so without more ado, the giant
anthropoid picked Bertha Kircher bodily from the ground and
swung her to his back. Her arms were about his neck and in
this position he seized her wrists in one great paw so that she
could not fall off and started at a rapid rate to join his com-
panions.

Dressed as she was in riding breeches with no entangling
skirts to hinder or catch upon passing shrubbery, she soon
found that she could cling tightly to the back of the mighty
bull and when a moment later he took to the lower branches
of the trees, she closed her eyes and clung to him in terror
lest she be precipitated to the ground below.

That journey through the primeval forest with the nine
great apes will live in the memory of Bertha Kircher for the
balance of her life, as clearly delineated as at the moment of
its enactment.

The first overwhelming wave of fear having passed, she was
at last able to open her eyes and view her surroundings with
increased interest and presently the sensation of terror slowly
left her to be replaced by one of comparative security when
she saw the ease and surety with which these great beasts trav-
eled through the trees; and later her admiration for the young
bull increased as it became evident that even burdened with
her additional weight, he moved more rapidly and with no
greater signs of fatigue than his unburdened fellows.

Not once did Zu-tag pause until he came to a stop among
the branches of a tree no great distance from the native village.
They could hear the noises of the life within the palisade, the
laughing and shouting of the Negroes, and the barking of dogs,
and through the foliage the girl caught glimpses of the village
from which she had so recently escaped. She shuddered to
think of the possibility of having to return to it and of possi-
ble recapture, and she wondered why Zu-tag had brought her
here.

Now the apes advanced slowly once more and with great
caution, moving as noiselessly through the trees as the squirrels
themselves until they had reached a point where they could
easily overlook the palisade and the village street below.

Zu-tag squatted upon a great branch close to the bole of
the tree and by loosening the girl's arms from about his neck,
indicated that she was to find a footing for herself and when
she had done so, he turned toward her and pointed repeatedly
at the open doorway of a hut upon the opposite side of the
street below them. By various gestures he seemed to be try-
ing to explain something to her and at last she caught at the
germ of his idea -- that her white man was a prisoner there.

Beneath them was the roof of a hut onto which she saw that
she could easily drop, but what she could do after she had
entered the village was beyond her.

Darkness was already falling and the fires beneath the cook-
ing pots had been lighted. The girl saw the stake in the village
street and the piles of fagots about it and in terror she sud-
denly realized the portent of these grisly preparations. Oh, if
she but only had some sort of a weapon that might give her
even a faint hope, some slight advantage against the blacks.
Then she would not hesitate to venture into the village in an at-
tempt to save the man who had upon three different occasions
saved her. She knew that he hated her and yet strong within
her breast burned the sense of her obligation to him. She could
not fathom him. Never in her life had she seen a man at once
so paradoxical and dependable. In many of his ways he was
more savage than the beasts with which he associated and yet,
on the other hand, he was as chivalrous as a knight of old.
For several days she had been lost with him in the jungle
absolutely at his mercy, yet she had come to trust so implicitly
in his honor that any fear she had had of him was rapidly dis-
appearing.

On the other hand, that he might be hideously cruel was
evidenced to her by the fact that he was planning to leave
her alone in the midst of the frightful dangers which menaced
her by night and by day.

Zu-tag was evidently waiting for darkness to fall before
carrying out whatever plans had matured in his savage little
brain, for he and his fellows sat quietly in the tree about her,
watching the preparations of the blacks. Presently it became
apparent that some altercation had arisen among the Negroes,
for a score or more of them were gathered around one who ap-
peared to be their chief, and all were talking and gesticulating
heatedly. The argument lasted for some five or ten minutes
when suddenly the little knot broke and two warriors ran to the
opposite side of the village from whence they presently re-
turned with a large stake which they soon set up beside the
one already in place. The girl wondered what the purpose of
the second stake might be, nor did she have long to wait for
an explanation.

It was quite dark by this time, the village being lighted by
the fitful glare of many fires, and now she saw a number of
warriors approach and enter the hut Zu-tag had been watch-
ing. A moment later they reappeared, dragging between them
two captives, one of whom the girl immediately recognized as
her protector and the other as an Englishman in the uniform
of an aviator. This, then, was the reason for the two stakes.

Arising quickly she placed a hand upon Zu-tag's shoulder
and pointed down into the village. "Come," she said, as if she
had been talking to one of her own kind, and with the word
she swung lightly to the roof of the hut below. From there to
the ground was but a short drop and a moment later she was
circling the hut upon the side farthest from the fires, keeping
in the dense shadows where there was little likelihood of being
discovered. She turned once to see that Zu-tag was directly
behind her and could see his huge bulk looming up in the dark,
while beyond was another one of his eight. Doubtless they
had all followed her and this fact gave her a greater sense of
security and hope than she had before experienced.

Pausing beside the hut next to the street, she peered cau-
tiously about the corner. A few inches from her was the open
doorway of the structure, and beyond, farther down the village
street, the blacks were congregating about the prisoners, who
were already being bound to the stakes. All eyes were cen-
tered upon the victims, and there was only the remotest chance
that she and her companions would be discovered until they
were close upon the blacks. She wished, however, that she
might have some sort of a weapon with which to lead the at-
tack, for she could not know, of course, for a certainty whether
the great apes would follow her or not. Hoping that she might
find something within the hut, she slipped quickly around the
corner and into the doorway and after her, one by one, came
the nine bulls. Searching quickly about the interior, she pres-
ently discovered a spear, and, armed with this, she again ap-
proached the entrance.

Tarzan of the Apes and Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-
Oldwick were bound securely to their respective stakes.
Neither had spoken for some time. The Englishman turned
his head so that he could see his companion in misery. Tarzan
stood straight against his stake. His face was entirely expres-
sionless in so far as either fear or anger were concerned. His
countenance portrayed bored indifference though both men
knew that they were about to be tortured.

"Good-bye, old top," whispered the young lieutenant.

Tarzan turned his eyes in the direction of the other and
smiled. "Good-bye," he said. "If you want to get it over in a
hurry, inhale the smoke and flames as rapidly as you can."

"Thanks," replied the aviator and though he made a wry
face, he drew himself up very straight and squared his shoul-
ders.

The women and children had seated themselves in a wide
circle about the victims while the warriors, hideously painted,
were forming slowly to commence the dance of death. Again
Tarzan turned to his companion. "If you'd like to spoil their
fun," he said, "don't make any fuss no matter how much you
suffer. If you can carry on to the end without changing the
expression upon your face or uttering a single word, you will
deprive them of all the pleasures of this part of the entertain-
ment. Good-bye again and good luck."

The young Englishman made no reply but it was evident
from the set of his jaws that the Negroes would get little enjoy-
ment out of him.

The warriors were circling now. Presently Numabo would
draw first blood with his sharp spear which would be the
signal for the beginning of the torture after a little of which
the fagots would be lighted around the feet of the victims.

Closer and closer danced the hideous chief, his yellow,
sharp-filed teeth showing in the firelight between his thick, red
lips. Now bending double, now stamping furiously upon the
ground, now leaping into the air, he danced step by step in
the narrowing circle that would presently bring him within
spear reach of the intended feast.

At last the spear reached out and touched the ape-man on
the breast and when it came away, a little trickle of blood ran
down the smooth, brown hide and almost simultaneously there
broke from the outer periphery of the expectant audience a
woman's shriek which seemed a signal for a series of hideous
screamings, growlings and barkings, and a great commotion
upon that side of the circle. The victims could not see the
cause of the disturbance, but Tarzan did not have to see, for
he knew by the voices of the apes the identity of the disturbers.
He only wondered what had brought them and what the pur-
pose of the attack, for he could not believe that they had come
to rescue him.

Numabo and his warriors broke quickly from the circle of
their dance to see pushing toward them through the ranks of
their screaming and terrified people the very white girl who had
escaped them a few nights before, and at her back what ap-
peared to their surprised eyes a veritable horde of the huge
and hairy forest men upon whom they looked with consider-
able fear and awe.

Striking to right and left with his heavy fists, tearing with
his great fangs, came Zu-tag, the young bull, while at his heels,
emulating his example, surged his hideous apes. Quickly they
came through the old men and the women and children, for
straight toward Numabo and his warriors the girl led them.
It was then that they came within range of Tarzan's vision and
he saw with unmixed surprise who it was that led the apes to
his rescue.

To Zu-tag he shouted: "Go for the big bulls while the she
unbinds me," and to Bertha Kircher: "Quick! Cut these bonds.
The apes will take care of the blacks."

Turning from her advance the girl ran to his side. She had
no knife and the bonds were tied tightly but she worked quick-
ly and coolly and as Zu-tag and his apes closed with the war-
riors, she succeeded in loosening Tarzan's bonds sufficiently to
permit him to extricate his own hands so that in another min-
ute he had freed himself.

"Now unbind the Englishman," he cried, and, leaping for-
ward, ran to join Zu-tag and his fellows in their battle against
the blacks. Numabo and his warriors, realizing now the rela-
tively small numbers of the apes against them, had made a
determined stand and with spears and other weapons were en-
deavoring to overcome the invaders. Three of the apes were
already down, killed or mortally wounded, when Tarzan, real-
izing that the battle must eventually go against the apes unless
some means could be found to break the morale of the Ne-
groes, cast about him for some means of bringing about the
desired end. And suddenly his eye lighted upon a number of
weapons which he knew would accomplish the result. A grim
smile touched his lips as he snatched a vessel of boiling water
from one of the fires and hurled it full in the faces of the
warriors. Screaming with terror and pain they fell back though
Numabo urged them to rush forward.

Scarcely had the first cauldron of boiling water spilled its
contents upon them ere Tarzan deluged them with a second,
nor was there any third needed to send them shrieking in every
direction to the security of their huts.

By the time Tarzan had recovered his own weapons the girl
had released the young Englishman, and, with the six remain-
ing apes, the three Europeans moved slowly toward the vil-
lage gate, the aviator arming himself with a spear discarded
by one of the scalded warriors, as they eagerly advanced to-
ward the outer darkness.

Numabo was unable to rally the now thoroughly terrified
and painfully burned warriors so that rescued and rescuers
passed out of the village into the blackness of the jungle with-
out further interference.

Tarzan strode through the jungle in silence. Beside him
walked Zu-tag, the great ape, and behind them strung the sur-
viving anthropoids followed by Fraulein Bertha Kircher and
Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick, the latter a thor-
oughly astonished and mystified Englishman.

In all his life Tarzan of the Apes had been obliged to ac-
knowledge but few obligations. He won his way through his
savage world by the might of his own muscle, the superior
keenness of his five senses and his God-given power to reason.
Tonight the greatest of all obligations had been placed upon
him -- his life had been saved by another and Tarzan shook
his head and growled, for it had been saved by one whom he
hated above all others.

Finding the Airplane

Tarzan of the Apes, returning from a successful hunt, with
the body of Bara, the deer, across one sleek, brown shoul-
der, paused in the branches of a great tree at the edge of
a clearing and gazed ruefully at two figures walking from the
river to the boma-encircled hut a short distance away.

The ape-man shook his tousled head and sighed. His eyes
wandered toward the west and his thoughts to the far-away
cabin by the land-locked harbor of the great water that washed
the beach of his boyhood home -- to the cabin of his long-dead
father to which the memories and treasures of a happy child-
hood lured him. Since the loss of his mate, a great longing had
possessed him to return to the haunts of his youth -- to the
untracked jungle wilderness where he had lived the life he
loved best long before man had invaded the precincts of his
wild stamping grounds. There he hoped in a renewal of the
old life under the old conditions to win surcease from sorrow
and perhaps some measure of forgetfulness.

But the little cabin and the land-locked harbor were many
long, weary marches away, and he was handicapped by the
duty which he felt he owed to the two figures walking in the
clearing before him. One was a young man in a worn and
ragged uniform of the British Royal Air Forces, the other, a
young woman in the even more disreputable remnants of what
once had been trim riding togs.

A freak of fate had thrown these three radically different
types together. One was a savage, almost naked beast-man,
one an English army officer, and the woman, she whom the
ape-man knew and hated as a German spy.

How he was to get rid of them Tarzan could not imagine
unless he accompanied them upon the weary march back to
the east coast, a march that would necessitate his once more
retracing the long, weary way he already had covered towards
his goal, yet what else could be done? These two had neither
the strength, endurance, nor jungle-craft to accompany him
through the unknown country to the west, nor did he wish
them with him. The man he might have tolerated, but he could
not even consider the presence of the girl in the far-off cabin,
which had in a way become sacred to him through its mem-
ories, without a growl or anger rising to his lips. There re-
mained, then, but the one way, since he could not desert them.
He must move by slow and irksome marches back to the east
coast, or at least to the first white settlement in that
direction.

He had, it is true, contemplated leaving the girl to her fate
but that was before she had been instrumental in saving him
from torture and death at the hands of the black Wamabos.
He chafed under the obligation she had put upon him, but no
less did he acknowledge it and as he watched the two, the
rueful expression upon his face was lightened by a smile as
he thought of the helplessness of them. What a puny thing,
indeed, was man! How ill equipped to combat the savage forces
of nature and of nature's jungle. Why, even the tiny balu of
the tribe of Go-lat, the great ape, was better fitted to survive
than these, for a balu could at least escape the numerous crea-
tures that menaced its existence, while with the possible excep-
tion of Kota, the tortoise, none moved so slowly as did helpless
and feeble man.

Without him these two doubtless would starve in the midst
of plenty, should they by some miracle escape the other forces
of destruction which constantly threatened them. That morning
Tarzan had brought them fruit, nuts, and plantain, and now
he was bringing them the flesh of his kill, while the best that
they might do was to fetch water from the river. Even now, as
they walked across the clearing toward the boma, they were in
utter ignorance of the presence of Tarzan near them. They did
not know that his sharp eyes were watching them, nor that
other eyes less friendly were glaring at them from a clump of
bushes close beside the boma entrance. They did not know
these things, but Tarzan did. No more than they could he see
the creature crouching in the concealment of the foliage, yet
he knew that it was there and what it was and what its inten-
tions, precisely as well as though it had been lying in the open.

A slight movement of the leaves at the top of a single stem
had apprised him of the presence of a creature there, for the
movement was not that imparted by the wind. It came from
pressure at the bottom of the stem which communicates a dif-
ferent movement to the leaves than does the wind passing
among them, as anyone who has lived his lifetime in the jun-
gle well knows, and the same wind that passed through the
foliage of the bush brought to the ape-man's sensitive nos-
trils indisputable evidence of the fact that Sheeta, the panther,
waited there for the two returning from the river.

They had covered half the distance to the boma entrance
when Tarzan called to them to stop. They looked in surprise
in the direction from which his voice had come to see him
drop lightly to the ground and advance toward them.

"Come slowly toward me," he called to them. "Do not run
for if you run Sheeta will charge."

They did as he bid, their faces filled with questioning won-
derment.

"What do you mean?" asked the young Englishman. "Who
is Sheeta?" but for answer the ape-man suddenly hurled
the carcass of Bara, the deer, to the ground and leaped quickly
toward them, his eyes upon something in their rear; and then
it was that the two turned and learned the identity of Sheeta,
for behind them was a devil-faced cat charging rapidly toward
them.

Sheeta with rising anger and suspicion had seen the ape-man
leap from the tree and approach the quarry. His life's expe-
riences backed by instinct told him that the Tarmangani was
about to rob him of his prey and as Sheeta was hungry, he had
no intention of being thus easily deprived of the flesh he al-
ready considered his own.

The girl stifled an involuntary scream as she saw the prox-
imity of the fanged fury bearing down upon them. She shrank
close to the man and clung to him and all unarmed and de-
fenseless as he was, the Englishman pushed her behind him
and shielding her with his body, stood squarely in the face of
the panther's charge. Tarzan noted the act, and though accus-
tomed as he was to acts of courage, he experienced a thrill
from the hopeless and futile bravery of the man.

The charging panther moved rapidly, and the distance which
separated the bush in which he had concealed himself from the
objects of his desire was not great. In the time that one might
understandingly read a dozen words the strong-limbed cat
could have covered the entire distance and made his kill, yet
if Sheeta was quick, quick too was Tarzan. The English lieu-
tenant saw the ape-man flash by him like the wind. He saw
the great cat veer in his charge as though to elude the naked
savage rushing to meet him, as it was evidently Sheeta's inten-
tion to make good his kill before attempting to protect it from
Tarzan.

Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick saw these things and then with
increasing wonder he saw the ape-man swerve, too, and leap
for the spotted cat as a football player leaps for a runner. He
saw the strong, brown arms encircling the body of the car-
nivore, the left arm in front of the beast's left shoulder and
the right arm behind his right foreleg, and with the impact the
two together rolling over and over upon the turf. He heard
the snarls and growls of bestial combat, and it was with a feel-
ing of no little horror that he realized that the sounds com-
ing from the human throat of the battling man could scarce
be distinguished from those of the panther.

The first momentary shock of terror over, the girl released
her grasp upon the Englishman's arm. "Cannot we do some-
thing?" she asked. "Cannot we help him before the beast
kills him?"

The Englishman looked upon the ground for some missile
with which to attack the panther and then the girl uttered an
exclamation and started at a run toward the hut. "Wait there,"
she called over her shoulder. "I will fetch the spear that he
left
me."

Smith-Oldwick saw the raking talons of the panther search-
ing for the flesh of the man and the man on his part straining
every muscle and using every artifice to keep his body out of
range of them. The muscles of his arms knotted under the
brown hide. The veins stood out upon his neck and forehead
as with ever-increasing power he strove to crush the life from
the great cat. The ape-man's teeth were fastened in the back
of Sheeta's neck and now he succeeded in encircling the beast's
torso with his legs which he crossed and locked beneath the
cat's belly. Leaping and snarling, Sheeta sought to dislodge
the ape-man's hold upon him. He hurled himself upon the
ground and rolled over and over. He reared upon his hind
legs and threw himself backwards but always the savage
creature upon his back clung tenaciously to him, and always
the mighty brown arms crushed tighter and tighter about his
chest.

And then the girl, panting from her quick run, returned with
the short spear Tarzan had left her as her sole weapon of pro-
tection. She did not wait to hand it to the Englishman who
ran forward to receive it, but brushed past him and leaped
into close quarters beside the growling, tumbling mass of yel-
low fur and smooth brown hide. Several times she attempted
to press the point home into the cat's body, but on both occa-
sions the fear of endangering the ape-man caused her to de-
sist, but at last the two lay motionless for a moment as the
carnivore sought a moment's rest from the strenuous exertions
of battle, and then it was that Bertha Kircher pressed the point
of the spear to the tawny side and drove it deep into the savage
heart.

Tarzan rose from the dead body of Sheeta and shook him-
self after the manner of beasts that are entirely clothed with
hair. Like many other of his traits and mannerisms this was
the result of environment rather than heredity or reversion, and
even though he was outwardly a man, the Englishman and
the girl were both impressed with the naturalness of the act.
It was as though Numa, emerging from a fight, had shaken
himself to straighten his rumpled mane and coat, and yet, too,
there was something uncanny about it as there had been when
the savage growls and hideous snarls issued from those clean-
cut lips.

Tarzan looked at the girl, a quizzical expression upon his
face. Again had she placed him under obligations to her, and
Tarzan of the Apes did not wish to be obligated to a German
spy; yet in his honest heart he could not but admit a certain
admiration for her courage, a trait which always greatly im-
pressed the ape-man, he himself the personification of courage.

"Here is the kill," he said, picking the carcass of Bara from
the ground. "You will want to cook your portion, I presume,
but Tarzan does not spoil his meat with fire."

They followed him to the boma where he cut several pieces
of meat from the carcass for them, retaining a joint for him-
self. The young lieutenant prepared a fire, and the girl pre-
sided over the primitive culinary rights of their simple meal.
As she worked some little way apart from them, the lieuten-
ant and the ape-man watched her.

"She is wonderful. Is she not?" murmured Smith-Oldwick.

"She is a German and a spy," replied Tarzan.

The Englishman turned quickly upon him. "What do you
mean?" he cried.

"I mean what I say," replied the ape-man. "She is a German
and a spy."

"I do not believe it!" exclaimed the aviator.

"You do not have to," Tarzan assured him. "It is nothing to
me what you believe. I saw her in conference with the Boche
general and his staff at the camp near Taveta. They all knew
her and called her by name and she handed him a paper. The
next time I saw her she was inside the British lines in disguise,
and again I saw her bearing word to a German officer at
Wilhelmstal. She is a German and a spy, but she is a woman
and therefore I cannot destroy her."

"You really believe that what you say is true?" asked the
young lieutenant. "My God! I cannot believe it. She is so sweet
and brave and good."

The ape-man shrugged his shoulders. "She is brave," he
said, "but even Pamba, the rat, must have some good quality,
but she is what I have told you and therefore I hate her and
you should hate her."

Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick buried his face in
his hands. "God forgive me," he said at last. "I cannot hate
her."

The ape-man cast a contemptuous look at his companion
and arose. "Tarzan goes again to hunt," he said. "You have
enough food for two days. By that time he will return."

The two watched him until he had disappeared in the foliage
of the trees at the further side of the clearing.

When he had gone the girl felt a vague sense of apprehen-
sion that she never experienced when Tarzan was present. The
invisible menaces lurking in the grim jungle seemed more real
and much more imminent now that the ape-man was no longer
near. While he had been there talking with them, the little
thatched hut and its surrounding thorn boma had seemed as
safe a place as the world might afford. She wished that he had
remained -- two days seemed an eternity in contemplation --
two days of constant fear, two days, every moment of which
would be fraught with danger. She turned toward her com-
panion.

"I wish that he had remained," she said. "I always feel so
much safer when he is near. He is very grim and very terrible,
and yet I feel safer with him than with any man I ever have
known. He seems to dislike me and yet I know that he would
let no harm befall me. I cannot understand him."

"Neither do I understand him," replied the Englishman;
"but I know this much -- our presence here is interfering with
his plans. He would like to be rid of us, and I half imagine
that he rather hopes to find when he returns that we have
succumbed to one of the dangers which must always confront
us in this savage land.

"I think that we should try to return to the white settle-
ments. This man does not want us here, nor is it reasonable
to assume that we could long survive in such a savage wilder-
ness. I have traveled and hunted in several parts of Africa,
but never have I seen or heard of any single locality so over-
run with savage beasts and dangerous natives. If we set out
for the east coast at once we would be in but little more danger
than we are here, and if we could survive a day's march, I
believe that we will find the means of reaching the coast in a
few hours, for my plane must still be in the same place that
I landed just before the blacks captured me. Of course there
is no one here who could operate it nor is there any reason
why they should have destroyed it. As a matter of fact, the
natives would be so fearful and suspicious of so strange and
incomprehensible a thing that the chances are they would not
dare approach it. Yes, it must be where I left it and all ready
to carry us safely to the settlements."

"But we cannot leave," said the girl, "until he returns. We
could not go away like that without thanking him or bidding
him farewell. We are under too great obligations to him."

The man looked at her in silence for a moment. He won-
dered if she knew how Tarzan felt toward her and then he
himself began to speculate upon the truth of the ape-man's
charges. The longer he looked at the girl, the less easy was
it to entertain the thought that she was an enemy spy. He was
upon the point of asking her point-blank but he could not bring
himself to do so, finally determining to wait until time and
longer acquaintance should reveal the truth or falsity of the
accusation.

"I believe," he said as though there had been no pause in
their conversation, "that the man would be more than glad
to find us gone when he returns. It is not necessary to jeop-
ardize our lives for two more days in order that we may thank
him, however much we may appreciate his services to us. You
have more than balanced your obligations to him and from
what he told me I feel that you especially should not remain
here longer."

The girl looked up at him in astonishment. "What do you
mean?" she asked.

"I do not like to tell," said the Englishman, digging nerv-
ously at the turf with the point of a stick, "but you have my
word that he would rather you were not here."

"Tell me what he said," she insisted, "I have a right to
know."

Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick squared his shoulders and raised
his eyes to those of the girl. "He said that he hated you," he
blurted. "He has only aided you at all from a sense of duty
because you are a woman."

The girl paled and then flushed. "I will be ready to go,"
she said, "in just a moment. We had better take some of this
meat with us. There is no telling when we will be able to get
more."

And so the two set out down the river toward the south.
The man carried the short spear that Tarzan had left with
the girl, while she was entirely unarmed except for a stick
she had picked up from among those left after the building of
the hut. Before departing she had insisted that the man leave
a note for Tarzan thanking him for his care of them and
bidding him goodbye. This they left pinned to the inside wall of
the hut with a little sliver of wood.

It was necessary that they be constantly on the alert since
they never knew what might confront them at the next turn
of the winding jungle trail or what might lie concealed in the
tangled bushes at either side. There was also the ever-present
danger of meeting some of Numabo's black warriors and as
the village lay directly in their line of march, there was the
necessity for making a wide detour before they reached it in
order to pass around it without being discovered.

"I am not so much afraid of the native blacks," said the girl,
"as I am of Usanga and his people. He and his men were all
attached to a German native regiment. They brought me
along with them when they deserted, either with the inten-
tion of holding me ransom or selling me into the harem
of one of the black sultans of the north. Usanga is much
more to be feared than Numabo for he has had the advantage
of European military training and is armed with more or less
modern weapons and ammunition."

"It is lucky for me," remarked the Englishman, "that it was
the ignorant Numabo who discovered and captured me rather
than the worldly wise Usanga. He would have felt less fear
of the giant flying machine and would have known only too
well how to wreck it."

"Let us pray that the black sergeant has not discovered it,"
said the girl.

They made their way to a point which they guessed was
about a mile above the village, then they turned into the
trackless tangle of undergrowth to the east. So dense was the
verdure at many points that it was with the utmost difficulty
they wormed their way through, sometimes on hands and
knees and again by clambering over numerous fallen tree
trunks. Interwoven with dead limbs and living branches were
the tough and ropelike creepers which formed a tangled net-
work across their path.

South of them in an open meadowland a number of black
warriors were gathered about an object which elicited much
wondering comment. The blacks were clothed in fragments
of what had once been uniforms of a native German com-
mand. They were a most unlovely band and chief among
them in authority and repulsiveness was the black sergeant
Usanga. The object of their interest was a British aeroplane.

Immediately after the Englishman had been brought to
Numabo's village Usanga had gone out in search of the plane,
prompted partially by curiosity and partially by an intention
to destroy it, but when he had found it, some new thought had
deterred him from carrying out his design. The thing repre-
sented considerable value as he well knew and it had occurred
to him that in some way he might turn his prize to profit.
Every day he had returned to it, and while at first it had filled
him with considerable awe, he eventually came to look upon
it with the accustomed eye of a proprietor, so that he now
clambered into the fuselage and even advanced so far as to
wish that he might learn to operate it.

What a feat it would be indeed to fly like a bird far above
the highest tree top! How it would fill his less favored com-
panions with awe and admiration! If Usanga could but fly,
so great would be the respect of all the tribesmen throughout
the scattered villages of the great interior, they would look
upon him as little less than a god.

Usanga rubbed his palms together and smacked his thick
lips. Then indeed, would he be very rich, for all the villages
would pay tribute to him and he could even have as many as
a dozen wives. With that thought, however, came a mental
picture of Naratu, the black termagant, who ruled him with
an iron hand. Usanga made a wry face and tried to forget
the extra dozen wives, but the lure of the idea remained and
appealed so strongly to him that he presently found himself
reasoning most logically that a god would not be much of a
god with less than twenty-four wives.

He fingered the instruments and the control, half hoping
and half fearing that he would alight upon the combination
that would put the machine in flight. Often had he watched
the British air-men soaring above the German lines and it
looked so simple he was quite sure that he could do it him-
self if there was somebody who could but once show him
how. There was, of course, always the hope that the white
man who came in the machine and who had escaped from
Numabo's village might fall into Usanga's hands and then
indeed would he be able to learn how to fly. It was in this hope
that Usanga spent so much time in the vicinity of the plane,
reasoning as he did that eventually the white man would
return in search of it.

And at last he was rewarded, for upon this very day after
he had quit the machine and entered the jungle with his war-
riors, he heard voices to the north and when he and his men
had hidden in the dense foliage upon either side of the trail,
Usanga was presently filled with elation by the appearance of
the British officer and the white girl whom the black sergeant
had coveted and who had escaped him.

The Negro could scarce restrain a shout of elation, for he
had not hoped that fate would be so kind as to throw these
two whom he most desired into his power at the same time.

As the two came down the trail all unconscious of impending
danger, the man was explaining that they must be very close
to the point at which the plane had landed. Their entire
attention was centered on the trail directly ahead of them, as
they momentarily expected it to break into the meadowland
where they were sure they would see the plane that would
spell life and liberty for them.

The trail was broad, and they were walking side by side
so that at a sharp turn the parklike clearing was revealed to
them simultaneously with the outlines of the machine they
sought.

Exclamations of relief and delight broke from their lips, and
at the same instant Usanga and his black warriors rose from
the bushes all about them.

The Black Flier

The girl was almost crushed by terror and disappointment.
To have been thus close to safety and then to have all
hope snatched away by a cruel stroke of fate seemed
unendurable. The man was disappointed, too, but more was
he angry. He noted the remnants of the uniforms upon the
blacks and immediately he demanded to know where were
their officers.

"They cannot understand you," said the girl and so in the
bastard tongue that is the medium of communication between
the Germans and the blacks of their colony, she repeated the
white man's question.

Usanga grinned. "You know where they are, white woman,"
he replied. "They are dead, and if this white man does not
do as I tell him, he, too, will be dead."

"What do you want of him?" asked the girl.

"I want him to teach me how to fly like a bird," replied
Usanga.

Bertha Kircher looked her astonishment, but repeated the
demand to the lieutenant.

The Englishman meditated for a moment. "He wants to
learn to fly, does he?" he repeated. "Ask him if he will give us
our freedom if I teach him to fly."

The girl put the question to Usanga, who, degraded, cun-
ning, and entirely unprincipled, was always perfectly willing to
promise anything whether he had any intentions of fulfilling
his promises or not, and so immediately assented to the propo-
sition.

"Let the white man teach me to fly," he said, "and I will
take you back close to the settlements of your people, but in
return for this I shall keep the great bird," and he waved a
black hand in the direction of the aeroplane.

When Bertha Kircher had repeated Usanga's proposition
to the aviator, the latter shrugged his shoulders and with a
wry face finally agreed. "I fancy there is no other way out of
it," he said. "In any event the plane is lost to the British
government. If I refuse the black scoundrel's request, there is
no doubt but what he will make short work of me with the
result that the machine will lie here until it rots. If I accept
his offer it will at least be the means of assuring your safe
return to civilization and that" he added, "is worth more to
me than all the planes in the British Air Service."

The girl cast a quick glance at him. These were the first
words he had addressed to her that might indicate that his
sentiments toward her were more than those of a companion
in distress. She regretted that he had spoken as he had and
he, too, regretted it almost instantly as he saw the shadow
cross her face and realized that he had unwittingly added to
the difficulties of her already almost unbearable situation.

"Forgive me," he said quickly. "Please forget what that
remark implied. I promise you that I will not offend again,
if it does offend you, until after we are both safely out of this
mess."

She smiled and thanked him, but the thing had been said
and could never be unsaid, and Bertha Kircher knew even
more surely than as though he had fallen upon his knees and
protested undying devotion that the young English officer
loved her.

Usanga was for taking his first lesson in aviation immedi-
ately. The Englishman attempted to dissuade him, but im-
mediately the black became threatening and abusive, since,
like all those who are ignorant, he was suspicious that the
intentions of others were always ulterior unless they perfectly
coincided with his wishes.

"All right, old top," muttered the Englishman, "I will give
you the lesson of your life," and then turning to the girl:
"Persuade him to let you accompany us. I shall be afraid to
leave you here with these devilish scoundrels." But when she
put the suggestion to Usanga the black immediately suspected
some plan to thwart him -- possibly to carry him against his
will back to the German masters he had traitorously deserted,
and glowering at her savagely, he obstinately refused to enter-
tain the suggestion.

"The white woman will remain here with my people," he
said. "They will not harm her unless you fail to bring me
back safely."

"Tell him," said the Englishman, "that if you are not stand-
ing in plain sight in this meadow when I return, I will not
land, but will carry Usanga back to the British camp and
have him hanged."

Usanga promised that the girl would be in evidence upon
their return, and took immediate steps to impress upon his
warriors that under penalty of death they must not harm her.
Then, followed by the other members of his party, he crossed
the clearing toward the plane with the Englishman. Once
seated within what he already considered his new possession,
the black's courage began to wane and when the motor was
started and the great propeller commenced to whir, he
screamed to the Englishman to stop the thing and permit him
to alight, but the aviator could neither hear nor understand
the black above the noise of the propeller and exhaust. By
this time the plane was moving along the ground and even
then Usanga was upon the verge of leaping out, and would
have done so had he been able to unfasten the strap from
about his waist. Then the plane rose from the ground and in
a moment soared gracefully in a wide circle until it topped
the trees. The black sergeant was in a veritable collapse of
terror. He saw the earth dropping rapidly from beneath him.
He saw the trees and river and at a distance the little clearing
with the thatched huts of Numabo's village. He tried hard
not to think of the results of a sudden fall to the rapidly re-
ceding ground below. He attempted to concentrate his mind
upon the twenty-four wives which this great bird most as-
suredly would permit him to command. Higher and higher
rose the plane, swinging in a wide circle above the forest,
river, and meadowland and presently, much to his surprise,
Usanga discovered that his terror was rapidly waning, so that
it was not long before there was forced upon him a conscious-
ness of utter security, and then it was that he began to take
notice of the manner in which the white man guided and
manipulated the plane.

After half an hour of skillful maneuvering, the Englishman
rose rapidly to a considerable altitude, and then, suddenly,
without warning, he looped and flew with the plane inverted
for a few seconds.

"I said I'd give this beggar the lesson of his life," he mur-
mured as he heard, even above the whir of the propeller, the
shriek of the terrified Negro. A moment later Smith-Oldwick
had righted the machine and was dropping rapidly toward
the earth. He circled slowly a few times above the meadow
until he had assured himself that Bertha Kircher was there and
apparently unharmed, then he dropped gently to the ground
so that the machine came to a stop a short distance from where
the girl and the warriors awaited them.

It was a trembling and ashen-hued Usanga who tumbled
out of the fuselage, for his nerves were still on edge as a
result
of the harrowing experience of the loop, yet with terra firma
once more under foot, he quickly regained his composure.
Strutting about with great show and braggadocio, he strove
to impress his followers with the mere nothingness of so trivial
a feat as flying birdlike thousands of yards above the jungle,
though it was long until he had thoroughly convinced himself
by the force of autosuggestion that he had enjoyed every
instant of the flight and was already far advanced in the art of
aviation.

So jealous was the black of his new-found toy that he would
not return to the village of Numabo, but insisted on making
camp close beside the plane, lest in some inconceivable fashion
it should be stolen from him. For two days they camped
there, and constantly during daylight hours Usanga compelled
the Englishman to instruct him in the art of flying.

Smith-Oldwick, in recalling the long months of arduous
training he had undergone himself before he had been con-
sidered sufficiently adept to be considered a finished flier,
smiled at the conceit of the ignorant African who was already
demanding that he be permitted to make a flight alone.

"If it was not for losing the machine," the Englishman ex-
plained to the girl, "I'd let the bounder take it up and break
his fool neck as he would do inside of two minutes."

However, he finally persuaded Usanga to bide his time for
a few more days of instruction, but in the suspicious mind of
the Negro there was a growing conviction that the white man's
advice was prompted by some ulterior motive; that it was in
the hope of escaping with the machine himself by night that
he refused to admit that Usanga was entirely capable of
handling it alone and therefore in no further need of help or
instruction, and so in the mind of the black there formed a
determination to outwit the white man. The lure of the twenty-
four seductive wives proved in itself a sufficient incentive and
there, too, was added his desire for the white girl whom he
had long since determined to possess.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Usanga lay down
to sleep in the evening of the second day. Constantly, however,
the thought of Naratu and her temper arose to take the keen
edge from his pleasant imaginings. If he could but rid himself
of her! The thought having taken form persisted, but always
it was more than outweighed by the fact that the black sergeant
was actually afraid of his woman, so much afraid of her in
fact that he would not have dared to attempt to put her out of
the way unless he could do so secretly while she slept. How-
ever, as one plan after another was conjured by the strength of
his desires, he at last hit upon one which came to him almost
with the force of a blow and brought him sitting upright among
his sleeping companions.

When morning dawned Usanga could scarce wait for an
opportunity to put his scheme into execution, and the moment
that he had eaten, he called several of his warriors aside and
talked with them for some moments.

The Englishman, who usually kept an eye upon his black
captor, saw now that the latter was explaining something in
detail to his warriors, and from his gestures and his manner
it was apparent that he was persuading them to some new
plan as well as giving them instructions as to what they were
to do. Several times, too, he saw the eyes of the Negroes
turned upon him and once they flashed simultaneously toward
the white girl.

Everything about the occurrence, which in itself seemed
trivial enough, aroused in the mind of the Englishman a well-
defined apprehension that something was afoot that boded ill
for him and for the girl. He could not free himself of the idea
and so he kept a still closer watch over the black although, as
he was forced to admit to himself, he was quite powerless to
avert any fate that lay in store for them. Even the spear that
he had had when captured had been taken away from him, so
that now he was unarmed and absolutely at the mercy of the
black sergeant and his followers.

Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick did not have long
to wait before discovering something of Usanga's plan, for
almost immediately after the sergeant finished giving his in-
structions, a number of warriors approached the Englishman,
while three went directly to the girl.

Without a word of explanation the warriors seized the young
officer and threw him to the ground upon his face. For a
moment he struggled to free himself and succeeded in landing
a few heavy blows among his assailants, but he was too greatly
outnumbered to hope to more than delay them in the accom-
plishment of their object which he soon discovered was to bind
him securely hand and foot. When they had finally secured
him to their satisfaction, they rolled him over on his side and
then it was he saw Bertha Kircher had been similarly trussed.

Smith-Oldwick lay in such a position that he could see
nearly the entire expanse of meadow and the aeroplane a short
distance away. Usanga was talking to the girl who was shaking
her head in vehement negatives.

"What is he saying?" called the Englishman.

"He is going to take me away in the plane," the girl called
back. "He is going to take me farther inland to another coun-
try where he says that he will be king and I am to be one of his
wives," and then to the Englishman's surprise she turned a
smiling face toward him, "but there is no danger," she con-
tinued, "for we shall both be dead within a few minutes -- just
give him time enough to get the machine under way, and if he
can rise a hundred feet from the ground I shall never need
fear him more."

"God!" cried the man. "Is there no way that you can dis-
suade him? Promise him anything. Anything that you want.
I have money, more money than that poor fool could imagine
there was in the whole world. With it he can buy anything
that money will purchase, fine clothes and food and women, all
the women he wants. Tell him this and tell him that if he will
spare you I give him my word that I will fetch it all to him."

The girl shook her head. "It is useless," she said. "He would
not understand and if he did understand, he would not trust
you. The blacks are so unprincipled themselves that they can
imagine no such thing as principle or honor in others, and
especially do these blacks distrust an Englishman whom the
Germans have taught them to believe are the most treacherous
and degraded of people. No, it is better thus. I am sorry that
you cannot go with us, for if he goes high enough my death
will be much easier than that which probably awaits you."

Usanga had been continually interrupting their brief con-
versation in an attempt to compel the girl to translate it to
him,
for he feared that they were concocting some plan to thwart
him, and to quiet and appease him, she told him that the
Englishman was merely bidding her farewell and wishing her
good luck. Suddenly she turned to the black. "Will you do
something for me?" she asked. "If I go willingly with you?"

"What is it you want?" he inquired.

"Tell your men to free the white man after we are gone.
He can never catch us. That is all I ask of you. If you will
grant him his freedom and his life, I will go willingly with
you.

"You will go with me anyway," growled Usanga. "It is
nothing to me whether you go willingly or not. I am going
to be a great king and you will do whatever I tell you to do."

He had in mind that he would start properly with this
woman. There should be no repetition of his harrowing experi-
ence with Naratu. This wife and the twenty-four others should
be carefully selected and well trained. Hereafter Usanga would
be master in his own house.

Bertha Kircher saw that it was useless to appeal to the
brute and so she held her peace though she was filled with
sorrow in contemplating the fate that awaited the young
officer, scarce more than a boy, who had impulsively revealed
his love for her.

At Usanga's order one of the blacks lifted her from the
ground and carried her to the machine, and after Usanga had
clambered aboard, they lifted her up and he reached down
and drew her into the fuselage where he removed the thongs
from her wrists and strapped her into her seat and then took
his own directly ahead of her.

The girl turned her eyes toward the Englishman. She was
very pale but her lips smiled bravely.

"Good-bye!" she cried.

"Good-bye, and God bless you!" he called back -- his voice
the least bit husky -- and then: "The thing I wanted to say --
may I say it now, we are so very near the end?"

Her lips moved but whether they voiced consent or refusal
he did not know, for the words were drowned in the whir of
the propeller.

The black had learned his lesson sufficiently well so that the
motor was started without bungling and the machine was soon
under way across the meadowland. A groan escaped the lips of
the distracted Englishman as he watched the woman he loved
being carried to almost certain death. He saw the plane tilt
and the machine rise from the ground. It was a good take-off
-- as good as Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick could
make himself but he realized that it was only so by chance. At
any instant the machine might plunge to earth and even if, by
some miracle of chance, the black could succeed in rising
above the tree tops and make a successful flight, there was not
one chance in one hundred thousand that he could ever land
again without killing his fair captive and himself.

But what was that? His heart stood still. 

Usanga's Reward

For two days Tarzan of the Apes had been hunting leisurely
to the north, and swinging in a wide circle, he had re-
turned to within a short distance of the clearing where he
had left Bertha Kircher and the young lieutenant. He had spent
the night in a large tree that overhung the river only a short
distance from the clearing, and now in the early morning
hours he was crouching at the water's edge waiting for an
opportunity to capture Pisah, the fish, thinking that he would
take it back with him to the hut where the girl could cook it
for herself and her companion.

Motionless as a bronze statue was the wily ape-man, for
well he knew how wary is Pisah, the fish. The slightest move-
ment would frighten him away and only by infinite patience
might he be captured at all. Tarzan depended upon his own
quickness and the suddenness of his attack, for he had no
bait or hook. His knowledge of the ways of the denizens of
the water told him where to wait for Pisah. It might be a
minute or it might be an hour before the fish would swim into
the little pool above which he crouched, but sooner or later
one would come. That the ape-man knew, so with the pa-
tience of the beast of prey he waited for his quarry.

At last there was a glint of shiny scales. Pisah was coming.
In a moment he would be within reach and then with the
swiftness of light two strong, brown hands would plunge into
the pool and seize him, but, just at the moment that the fish
was about to come within reach, there was a great crashing in
the underbrush behind the ape-man. Instantly Pisah was
gone and Tarzan, growling, had wheeled about to face what-
ever creature might be menacing him. The moment that he
turned he saw that the author of the disturbance was Zu-tag.

"What does Zu-tag want?" asked the ape-man.

"Zu-tag comes to the water to drink," replied the ape.

"Where is the tribe?" asked Tarzan.

"They are hunting for pisangs and scimatines farther back
in the forest," replied Zu-tag.

"And the Tarmangani she and bull --" asked Tarzan, "are
they safe?"

"They have gone away," replied Zu-tag. "Kudu has come
out of his lair twice since they left."

"Did the tribe chase them away?" asked Tarzan.

"No," replied the ape. "We did not see them go. We do
not know why they left."

Tarzan swung quickly through the trees toward the clearing.
The hut and boma were as he had left them, but there was no
sign of either the man or the woman. Crossing the clearing, he
entered the boma and then the hut. Both were empty, and his
trained nostrils told him that they had been gone for at
least two days. As he was about to leave the hut he saw a
paper pinned upon the wall with a sliver of wood and taking
it down, he read:

After what you told me about Miss Kircher, and knowing
that you dislike her, I feel that it is not fair to her and to
you
that we should impose longer upon you. I know that our
presence is keeping you from continuing your journey to the
west coast, and so I have decided that it is better for us to
try and reach the white settlements immediately without im-
posing further upon you. We both thank you for your kind-
ness and protection. If there was any way that I might repay
the obligation I feel, I should be only too glad to do so.

It was signed by Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick.

Tarzan shrugged his shoulders, crumpled the note in his
hand and tossed it aside. He felt a certain sense of relief
from responsibility and was glad that they had taken the
matter out of his hands. They were gone and would for-
get, but somehow he could not forget. He walked out across
the boma and into the clearing. He felt uneasy and restless.
Once he started toward the north in response to a sudden
determination to continue his way to the west coast. He
would follow the winding river toward the north a few miles
where its course turned to the west and then on toward its
source across a wooded plateau and up into the foothills and
the mountains. Upon the other side of the range he would
search for a stream running downward toward the west coast,
and thus following the rivers he would be sure of game and
water in plenty.

But he did not go far. A dozen steps, perhaps, and he came
to a sudden stop. "He is an Englishman," he muttered, "and
the other is a woman. They can never reach the settlements
without my help. I could not kill her with my own hands
when I tried, and if I let them go on alone, I will have killed
her just as surely as though I had run my knife into her heart.
No," and again he  shook his head. "Tarzan of the Apes is a
fool and a weak, old woman," and he turned back toward the
south.

Manu, the monkey, had seen the two Tarmangani pass two
days before. Chattering and scolding, he told Tarzan all about
it. They had gone in the direction of the village of the
Gomangani, that much had Manu seen with his own eyes, so
the ape-man swung on through the jungle in a southerly direc-
tion and though with no concentrated effort to follow the spoor
of those he trailed, he passed numerous evidences that they
had gone this way -- faint suggestions of their scent spoor
clung lightly to leaf or branch or bole that one or the other
had touched, or in the earth of the trail their feet had trod,
and where the way wound through the gloomy depth of dank
forest, the impress of their shoes still showed occasionally in
the damp mass of decaying vegetation that floored the way.

An inexplicable urge spurred Tarzan to increasing, speed.
The same still, small voice that chided him for having neg-
lected them seemed constantly whispering that they were in
dire need of him now. Tarzan's conscience was troubling him,
which accounted for the fact that he compared himself to a
weak, old woman, for the ape-man, reared in savagery and
inured to hardships and cruelty, disliked to admit any of the
gentler traits that in reality were his birthright.

The trail made a detour to the east of the village of the
Wamabos, and then returned to the wide elephant path nearer
to the river, where it continued in a southerly direction for
several miles. At last there came to the ears of the ape-man
a peculiar whirring, throbbing sound. For an instant he
paused, listening intently, "An aeroplane!" he muttered, and
hastened forward at greatly increased speed.

When Tarzan of the Apes finally reached the edge of the
meadowland where Smith-Oldwick's plane had landed, he
took in the entire scene in one quick glance and grasped the
situation, although he could scarce give credence to the things
he saw. Bound and helpless, the English officer lay upon the
ground at one side of the meadow, while around him stood
a number of the black deserters from the German command.
Tarzan had seen these men before and knew who they were.
Coming toward him down the meadow was an aeroplane
piloted by the black Usanga and in the seat behind the pilot
was the white girl, Bertha Kircher. How it befell that the
ignorant savage could operate the plane, Tarzan could not
guess nor had he time in which to speculate upon the subject.
His knowledge of Usanga, together with the position of the
white man, told him that the black sergeant was attempting
to carry off the white girl. Why he should be doing this when
he had her in his power and had also captured and secured
the only creature in the jungle who might wish to defend her
in so far as the black could know, Tarzan could not guess, for
he knew nothing of Usanga's twenty-four dream wives nor of
the black's fear of the horrid temper of Naratu, his present
mate. He did not know, then, that Usanga had determined
to fly away with the white girl never to return, and to put so
great a distance between himself and Naratu that the latter
never could find him again; but it was this very thing that
was in the black's mind although not even his own warriors
guessed it. He had told them that he would take the captive
to a sultan of the north and there obtain a great price for her
and that when he returned they should have some of the spoils.

These things Tarzan did not know. All he knew was what
he saw -- a Negro attempting to fly away with a white girl.
Already the machine was slowly leaving the ground. In a
moment more it would rise swiftly out of reach. At first Tar-
zan thought of fitting an arrow to his bow and slaying Usanga,
but as quickly he abandoned the idea because he knew that
the moment the pilot was slain the machine, running wild,
would dash the girl to death among the trees.

There was but one way in which he might hope to succor
her -- a way which if it failed must send him to instant death
and yet he did not hesitate in an attempt to put it into execu-
tion.

Usanga did not see him, being too intent upon the unac-
customed duties of a pilot, but the blacks across the meadow
saw him and they ran forward with loud and savage cries
and menacing rifles to intercept him. They saw a giant white
man leap from the branches of a tree to the turf and race
rapidly toward the plane. They saw him take a long grass
rope from about his shoulders as he ran. They saw the noose
swinging in an undulating circle above his head. They saw
the white girl in the machine glance down and discover him.

Twenty feet above the running ape-man soared the huge
plane. The open noose shot up to meet it, and the girl, half
guessing the ape-man's intentions, reached out and caught
the noose and, bracing herself, clung tightly to it with both
hands. Simultaneously Tarzan was dragged from his feet
and the plane lurched sideways in response to the new strain.
Usanga clutched wildly at the control and the machine shot
upward at a steep angle. Dangling at the end of the rope the
ape-man swung pendulum-like in space. The Englishman,
lying bound upon the ground, had been a witness of all these
happenings. His heart stood still as he saw Tarzan's body
hurtling through the air toward the tree tops among which it
seemed he must inevitably crash; but the plane was rising
rapidly, so that the beast-man cleared the top-most branches.
Then slowly, hand over hand, he climbed toward the fuselage.
The girl, clinging desperately to the noose, strained every
muscle to hold the great weight dangling at the lower end of
the rope.

Usanga, all unconscious of what was going on behind him,
drove the plane higher and higher into the air.

Tarzan glanced downward. Below him the tree tops and
the river passed rapidly to the rear and only a slender grass
rope and the muscles of a frail girl stood between him and the
death yawning there thousands of feet below.

It seemed to Bertha Kircher that the fingers of her hands
were dead. The numbness was running up her arms to her
elbows. How much longer she could cling to the straining
strands she could not guess. It seemed to her that those
lifeless fingers must relax at any instant and then, when she
had about given up hope, she saw a strong brown hand reach
up and grasp the side of the fuselage. Instantly the weight
upon the rope was removed and a moment later Tarzan of
the Apes raised his body above the side and threw a leg over
the edge. He glanced forward at Usanga and then, placing
his mouth close to the girl's ear he cried: "Have you ever
piloted a plane?" The girl nodded a quick affirmative.

"Have you the courage to climb up there beside the black
and seize the control while I take care of him?"

The girl looked toward Usanga and shuddered. "Yes," she
replied, "but my feet are bound."

Tarzan drew his hunting knife from its sheath and reaching
down, severed the thongs that bound her ankles. Then the
girl unsnapped the strap that held her to her seat. With one
hand Tarzan grasped the girl's arm and steadied her as the
two crawled slowly across the few feet which intervened be-
tween the two seats. A single slight tip of the plane would
have cast them both into eternity. Tarzan realized that only
through a miracle of chance could they reach Usanga and
effect the change in pilots and yet he knew that that chance
must be taken, for in the brief moments since he had first seen
the plane, he had realized that the black was almost without
experience as a pilot and that death surely awaited them in
any event should the black sergeant remain at the control.

The first intimation Usanga had that all was not well with
him was when the girl slipped suddenly to his side and
grasped the control and at the same instant steel-like fingers
seized his throat. A brown hand shot down with a keen
blade and severed the strap about his waist and giant muscles
lifted him bodily from his seat. Usanga clawed the air and
shrieked but he was helpless as a babe. Far below the
watchers in the meadow could see the aeroplane careening
in the sky, for with the change of control it had taken a sudden
dive. They saw it right itself and, turning in a short circle,
return in their direction, but it was so far above them and
the light of the sun so strong that they could see nothing of
what was going on within the fuselage; but presently Lieuten-
ant Smith-Oldwick gave a gasp of dismay as he saw a human
body plunge downward from the plane. Turning and twisting
in mid-air it fell with ever-increasing velocity and the English-
man held his breath as the thing hurtled toward them.

With a muffled thud it flattened upon the turf near the
center of the meadow, and when at last the Englishman could
gain the courage to again turn his eyes upon it, he breathed
a fervent prayer of thanks, for the shapeless mass that lay
upon the blood-stained turf was covered with an ebon hide.
Usanga had reaped his reward.

Again and again the plane circled above the meadow. The
blacks, at first dismayed at the death of their leader, were
now worked to a frenzy of rage and a determination to be
avenged. The girl and the ape-man saw them gather in a
knot about the body of their fallen chief. They saw as they
circled above the meadow the black fists shaken at them, and
the rifles brandishing a menace toward them. Tarzan still
clung to the fuselage directly behind the pilot's seat. His
face was close beside Bertha Kircher's, and at the top of his
voice, above the noise of propeller, engine and exhaust, he
screamed a few words of instruction into her ear.

As the girl grasped the significance of his words she paled,
but her lips set in a hard line and her eyes shone with a sud-
den fire of  determination as she dropped the plane to within
a few feet of the ground and at the opposite end of the
meadow from the blacks and then at full speed bore down
upon the savages. So quickly the plane came that Usanga's
men had no time to escape it after they realized its menace.
It touched the ground just as it struck among them and mowed
through them, a veritable juggernaut of destruction. When
it came to rest at the edge of the forest the ape-man leaped
quickly to the ground and ran toward the young lieutenant,
and as he went he glanced at the spot where the warriors had
stood, ready to defend himself if necessary, but there was
none there to oppose him. Dead and dying they lay strewn
for fifty feet along the turf.

By the time Tarzan had freed the Englishman the girl
joined them. She tried to voice her thanks to the ape-man
but he silenced her with a gesture.

"You saved yourself," he insisted, "for had you been unable
to pilot the plane, I could not have helped you, and now," he
said, "you two have the means of returning to the settlements.
The day is still young. You can easily cover the distance in a
few hours if you have sufficient petrol." He looked inquir-
ingly toward the aviator.

Smith-Oldwick nodded his head affirmatively. "I have
plenty," he replied.

"Then go at once," said the ape-man. "Neither of you
belong in the jungle." A slight smile touched his lips as he
spoke.

The girl and the Englishman smiled too. "This jungle is
no place for us at least," said Smith-Oldwick, "and it is no
place for any other white man. Why don't you come back
to civilization with us?"

Tarzan shook his head. "I prefer the jungle," he said.

The aviator dug his toe into the ground and still looking
down, blurted something which he evidently hated to say.
"If it is a matter of living, old top," he said, "er -- money, er
--
you know --"

Tarzan laughed. "No" he said. "I know what you are
trying to say. It is not that. I was born in the jungle. I have
lived all my life in the jungle, and I shall die in the jungle.
I do not wish to live or die elsewhere."

The others shook their heads. They could not understand
him.

"Go," said the ape-man. "The quicker you go, the quicker
you will reach safety."

They walked to the plane together. Smith-Oldwick pressed
the ape-man's hand and clambered into the pilot's seat.
"Good-bye," said the girl as she extended her hand to Tarzan.
"Before I go won't you tell me you don't hate me any
more?" Tarzan's face clouded. Without a word he picked
her up and lifted her to her place behind the Englishman. An
expression of pain crossed Bertha Kircher's face. The motor
started and a moment later the two were being borne rapidly
toward the east.

In the center of the meadow stood the ape-man watching
them. "It is too bad that she is a German and a spy," he said,
"for she is very hard to hate."

The Black Lion

Numa, the lion, was hungry. He had come out of the
desert country to the east into a land of plenty but
though he was young and strong, the wary grass-eaters
had managed to elude his mighty talons each time he had
thought to make a kill.

Numa, the lion, was hungry and very savage. For two days
he had not eaten and now he hunted in the ugliest of humors.
No more did Numa roar forth a rumbling challenge to the
world but rather he moved silent and grim, stepping softly
that no cracking twig might betray his presence to the keen-
eared quarry he sought.

Fresh was the spoor of Bara, the deer, that Numa picked
up in the well-beaten game trail he was following. No hour
had passed since Bara had come this way; the time could be
measured in minutes and so the great lion redoubled the
cautiousness of his advance as he crept stealthily in pursuit of
his quarry.

A light wind was moving through the jungle aisles, and it
wafted down now to the nostrils of the eager carnivore the
strong scent spoor of the deer, exciting his already avid appe-
tite to a point where it became a gnawing pain. Yet Numa
did not permit himself to be carried away by his desires into
any premature charge such as had recently lost him the juicy
meat of Pacco, the zebra. Increasing his gait but slightly he
followed the tortuous windings of the trail until suddenly just
before him, where the trail wound about the bole of a huge
tree, he saw a young buck moving slowly ahead of him.

Numa judged the distance with his keen eyes, glowing now
like two terrible spots of yellow fire in his wrinkled, snarling
face. He could do it -- this time he was sure. One terrific
roar that would paralyze the poor creature ahead of him into
momentary inaction, and a simultaneous charge of lightning-
like rapidity and Numa, the lion, would feed. The sinuous
tail, undulating slowly at its tufted extremity, whipped sud-
denly erect. It was the signal for the charge and the vocal
organs were shaped for the thunderous roar when, as light-
ning out of a clear sky, Sheeta, the panther, leaped suddenly
into the trail between Numa and the deer.

A blundering charge made Sheeta, for with the first crash of
his spotted body through the foliage verging the trail, Bara
gave a single startled backward glance and was gone.

The roar that was intended to paralyze the deer broke
horribly from the deep throat of the great cat -- an angry roar
of rage against the meddling Sheeta who had robbed him of
his kill, and the charge that was intended for Bara was
launched against the panther; but here too Numa was doomed
to disappointment, for with the first notes of his fearsome
roar Sheeta, considering well the better part of valor, leaped
into a near-by tree.

A half-hour later it was a thoroughly furious Numa who
came unexpectedly upon the scent of man. Heretofore the
lord of the jungle had disdained the unpalatable flesh of the
despised man-thing. Such meat was only for the old, the
toothless, and the decrepit who no longer could make their
kills among the fleet-footed grass-eaters. Bara, the deer, Horta,
the boar, and, best and wariest, Pacco, the zebra, were for the
young, the strong, and the agile, but Numa was hungry --
hungrier than he ever had been in the five short years of
his life.

What if he was a young, powerful, cunning, and ferocious
beast? In the face of hunger, the great leveler, he was as the
old, the toothless, and the decrepit. His belly cried aloud in
anguish and his jowls slavered for flesh. Zebra or deer or
man, what mattered it so that it was warm flesh, red with the
hot juices of life? Even Dango, the hyena, eater of offal,
would, at the moment, have seemed a tidbit to Numa.

The great lion knew the habits and frailties of man, though
he never before had hunted man for food. He knew the
despised Gomangani as the slowest, the most stupid, and the
most defenseless of creatures. No woodcraft, no cunning, no
stealth was necessary in the hunting of man, nor had Numa
any stomach for either delay or silence.

His rage had become an almost equally consuming passion
with his hunger, so that now, as his delicate nostrils apprised
him of the recent passage of man, he lowered his head and
rumbled forth a thunderous roar, and at a swift walk, careless
of the noise he made, set forth upon the trail of his intended
quarry.

Majestic and terrible, regally careless of his surroundings,
the king of beasts strode down the beaten trail. The natural
caution that is inherent to all creatures of the wild had de-
serted him. What had he, lord of the jungle, to fear and, with
only man to hunt, what need of caution? And so he did not
see or scent what a more wary Numa might readily have
discovered until, with the cracking of twigs and a tumbling
of earth, he was precipitated into a cunningly devised pit that
the wily Wamabos had excavated for just this purpose in the
center of the game trail.

Tarzan of the Apes stood in the center of the clearing watch-
ing the plane shrinking to diminutive toylike proportions in
the eastern sky. He had breathed a sigh of relief as he saw it
rise safely with the British flier and Fraulein Bertha Kircher.
For weeks he had felt the hampering responsibility of their
welfare in this savage wilderness where their utter helplessness
would have rendered them easy prey for the savage carnivores
or the cruel Wamabos. Tarzan of the Apes loved unfettered
freedom, and now that these two were safely off his hands, he
felt that he could continue upon his journey toward the
west coast and the long-untenanted cabin of his dead father.

And yet, as he stood there watching the tiny speck in the
east, another sigh heaved his broad chest, nor was it a sigh
of relief, but rather a sensation which Tarzan had never
expected to feel again and which he now disliked to admit
even to himself. It could not be possible that he, the jungle
bred, who had renounced forever the society of man to return
to his beloved beasts of the wilds, could be feeling anything
akin to regret at the departure of these two, or any slightest
loneliness now that they were gone. Lieutenant Harold Percy
Smith-Oldwick Tarzan had liked, but the woman whom he
had known as a German spy he had hated, though he never
had found it in his heart to slay her as he had sworn to slay
all Huns. He had attributed this weakness to the fact that
she was a woman, although he had been rather troubled by
the apparent inconsistency of his hatred for her and his re-
peated protection of her when danger threatened.

With an irritable toss of his head he wheeled suddenly
toward the west as though by turning his back upon the fast
disappearing plane he might expunge thoughts of its passen-
gers from his memory. At the edge of the clearing he paused;
a giant tree loomed directly ahead of him and, as though
actuated by sudden and irresistible impulse, he leaped into
the branches and swung himself with apelike agility to the
topmost limbs that would sustain his weight. There, balanc-
ing lightly upon a swaying bough, he sought in the direction
of the eastern horizon for the tiny speck that would be the
British plane bearing away from him the last of his own race
and kind that he expected ever again to see.

At last his keen eyes picked up the ship flying at a con-
siderable altitude far in the east. For a few seconds he
watched it speeding evenly eastward, when, to his horror, he
saw the speck dive suddenly downward. The fall seemed
interminable to the watcher and he realized how great must
have been the altitude of the plane before the drop com-
menced. Just before it disappeared from sight its downward
momentum appeared to abate suddenly, but it was still moving
rapidly at a steep angle when it finally disappeared from view
behind the far hills.

For half a minute the ape-man stood noting distant land-
marks that he judged might be in the vicinity of the fallen
plane, for no sooner had he realized that these people were
again in trouble than his inherent sense of duty to his own
kind impelled him once more to forego his plans and seek to
aid them.

The ape-man feared from what he judged of the location
of the machine that it had fallen among the almost impassable
gorges of the arid country just beyond the fertile basin that
was bounded by the hills to the east of him. He had crossed
that parched and desolate country of the dead himself and
he knew from his own experience and the narrow escape he
had had from succumbing to its relentless cruelty no lesser
man could hope to win his way to safety from any considerable
distance within its borders. Vividly he recalled the bleached
bones of the long-dead warrior in the bottom of the pre-
cipitous gorge that had all but proved a trap for him as well.
He saw the helmet of hammered brass and the corroded
breastplate of steel and the long straight sword in its scabbard
and the ancient harquebus -- mute testimonials to the mighty
physique and the warlike spirit of him who had somehow
won, thus illy caparisoned and pitifully armed, to the center
of savage, ancient Africa; and he saw the slender English
youth and the slight figure of the girl cast into the same fate-
ful trap from which this giant of old had been unable to escape
-- cast there wounded and broken perhaps, if not killed.

His judgment told him that the latter possibility was prob-
ably the fact, and yet there was a chance that they might
have landed without fatal injuries, and so upon this slim
chance he started out upon what he knew would be an ardu-
ous journey, fraught with many hardships and unspeakable
peril, that he might attempt to save them if they still lived.

He had covered a mile perhaps when his quick ears caught
the sound of rapid movement along the game trail ahead of
him. The sound, increasing in volume, proclaimed the fact
that whatever caused it was moving in his direction and
moving rapidly. Nor was it long before his trained senses
convinced him that the footfalls were those of Bara, the deer,
in rapid flight. Inextricably confused in Tarzan's character
were the attributes of man and of beasts. Long experience
had taught him that he fights best or travels fastest who is
best nourished, and so, with few exceptions, Tarzan could
delay his most urgent business to take advantage of an op-
portunity to kill and feed. This perhaps was the predominant
beast trait in him. The transformation from an English gentle-
man, impelled by the most humanitarian motives, to that of
a wild beast crouching in the concealment of a dense bush
ready to spring upon its approaching prey, was instantaneous.

And so, when Bara came, escaping the clutches of Numa
and Sheeta, his terror and his haste precluded the possibility
of his sensing that other equally formidable foe lying in am-
bush for him. Abreast of the ape-man came the deer; a light-
brown body shot from the concealing verdure of the bush,
strong arms encircled the sleek neck of the young buck and
powerful teeth fastened themselves in the soft flesh. Together
the two rolled over in the trail and a moment later the ape-
man rose, and, with one foot upon the carcass of his kill,
raised his voice in the victory cry of the bull ape.

Like an answering challenge came suddenly to the ears of
the ape-man the thunderous roar of a lion, a hideous angry
roar in which Tarzan thought that he discerned a note of
surprise and terror. In the breast of the wild things of the
jungle, as in the breasts of their more enlightened brothers
and sisters of the human race, the characteristic of curiosity
is well developed. Nor was Tarzan far from innocent of it.
The peculiar note in the roar of his hereditary enemy aroused
a desire to investigate, and so, throwing the carcass of Bara,
the deer, across his shoulder, the ape-man took to the lower
terraces of the forest and moved quickly in the direction
from which the sound had come, which was in line with the
trail he had set out upon.

As the distance lessened, the sounds increased in volume,
which indicated that he was approaching a very angry lion
and presently, where a jungle giant overspread the broad game
trail that countless thousands of hoofed and padded feet had
worn and trampled into a deep furrow during perhaps count-
less ages, he saw beneath him the lion pit of the Wamabos and
in it, leaping futilely for freedom such a lion as even Tarzan
of the Apes never before had beheld. A mighty beast it was
that glared up at the ape-man -- large, powerful and young,
with a huge black mane and a coat so much darker than any
Tarzan ever had seen that in the depths of the pit it looked
almost black -- a black lion!

Tarzan who had been upon the point of taunting and re-
viling his captive foe was suddenly turned to open admira-
tion for the beauty of the splendid beast. What a creature!
How by comparison the ordinary forest lion was dwarfed into
insignificance! Here indeed was one worthy to be called king
of beasts. With his first sight of the great cat the ape-man
knew that he had heard no note of terror in that initial roar;
surprise doubtless, but the vocal chords of that mighty throat
never had reacted to fear.

With growing admiration came a feeling of quick pity for the
hapless situation of the great brute rendered futile and help-
less by the wiles of the Gomangani. Enemy though the beast
was, he was less an enemy to the ape-man than those blacks
who had trapped him, for though Tarzan of the Apes claimed
many fast and loyal friends among certain tribes of African
natives, there were others of degraded character and bestial
habits that he looked upon with utter loathing, and of such
were the human flesh-eaters of Numabo the chief. For a mo-
ment Numa, the lion, glared ferociously at the naked man-
thing upon the tree limb above him. Steadily those yellow-
green eyes bored into the clear eyes of the ape-man, and then
the sensitive nostrils caught the scent of the fresh blood of
Bara and the eyes moved to the carcass lying across the brown
shoulder, and there came from the cavernous depths of the
savage throat a low whine.

Tarzan of the Apes smiled. As unmistakably as though a
human voice had spoken, the lion had said to him "I am hun-
gry, even more than hungry. I am starving," and the ape-
man looked down upon the lion beneath him and smiled, a
slow quizzical smile, and then he shifted the carcass from his
shoulder to the branch before him and, drawing the long
blade that had been his father's, deftly cut off a hind quarter
and, wiping the bloody blade upon Bara's smooth coat, he
returned it to its scabbard. Numa, with watering jaws, looked
up at the tempting meat and whined again and the ape-man
smiled down upon him his slow smile and, raising the hind
quarter in his strong brown hands buried his teeth in the ten-
der, juicy flesh.

For the third time Numa, the lion, uttered that low pleading
whine and then, with a rueful and disgusted shake of his
head, Tarzan of the Apes raised the balance of the carcass of
Bara, the deer, and hurled it to the famished beast below.

"Old woman," muttered the ape-man. "Tarzan has become
a weak old woman. Presently he would shed tears because he
has killed Bara, the deer. He cannot see Numa, his enemy,
go hungry, because Tarzan's heart is turning to water by con-
tact with the soft, weak creatures of civilization." But yet he
smiled, nor was he sorry that he had given way to the dic-
tates of a kindly impulse.

As Tarzan tore the flesh from that portion of the kill he had
retained for himself his eyes were taking in each detail of the
scene below. He saw the avidity with which Numa devoured
the carcass; he noted with growing admiration the finer points
of the beast, and also the cunning construction of the trap.
The ordinary lion pit with which Tarzan was familiar had
stakes imbedded in the bottom, upon whose sharpened points
the hapless lion would be impaled, but this pit was not so
made. Here the short stakes were set at intervals of about a
foot around the walls near the top, their sharpened points in-
clining downward so that the lion had fallen unhurt into the
trap but could not leap out because each time he essayed it his
head came in contact with the sharp end of a stake above him.

Evidently, then, the purpose of the Wamabos was to capture
a lion alive. As this tribe had no contact whatsoever with
white men in so far as Tarzan knew, their motive was doubt-
less due to a desire to torture the beast to death that they
might enjoy to the utmost his dying agonies.

Having fed the lion, it presently occurred to Tarzan that his
act would be futile were he to leave the beast to the mercies
of the blacks, and then too it occurred to him that he could
derive more pleasure through causing the blacks discomfiture
than by leaving Numa to his fate. But how was he to release
him? By removing two stakes there would be left plenty of
room for the lion to leap from the pit, which was not of any
great depth. However, what assurance had Tarzan that Numa
would not leap out instantly the way to freedom was open,
and before the ape-man could gain the safety of the trees?
Regardless of the fact that Tarzan felt no such fear of the lion
as you and I might experience under like circumstances, he yet
was imbued with the sense of caution that is necessary to all
creatures of the wild if they are to survive. Should necessity
require, Tarzan could face Numa in battle, although he was
not so egotistical as to think that he could best a full-grown
lion in mortal combat other than through accident or the utili-
zation of the cunning of his superior man-mind. To lay him-
self liable to death futilely, he would have considered as repre-
hensible as to have shunned danger in time of necessity; but
when Tarzan elected to do a thing he usually found the means
to accomplish it.

He had now fully determined to liberate Numa, and having
so determined, he would accomplish it even though it entailed
considerable personal risk. He knew that the lion would be
occupied with his feeding for some time, but he also knew
that while feeding he would be doubly resentful of any fancied
interference. Therefore Tarzan must work with caution.

Coming to the ground at the side of the pit, he examined the
stakes and as he did so was rather surprised to note that Numa
gave no evidence of anger at his approach. Once he turned
a searching gaze upon the ape-man for a moment and then
returned to the flesh of Bara. Tarzan felt of the stakes and
tested them with his weight. He pulled upon them with the
muscles of his strong arms, presently discovering that by work-
ing them back and forth he could loosen them: and then a
new plan was suggested to him so that he fell to work excavat-
ing with his knife at a point above where one of the stakes
was imbedded. The loam was soft and easily removed, and
it was not long until Tarzan had exposed that part of one of
the stakes which was imbedded in the wall of the pit to almost
its entire length, leaving only enough imbedded to prevent the
stake from falling into the excavation. Then he turned his at-
tention to an adjoining stake and soon had it similarly ex-
posed, after which he threw the noose of his grass rope over
the two and swung quickly to the branch of the tree above.
Here he gathered in the slack of the rope and, bracing him-
self against the bole of the tree, pulled steadily upward. Slowly
the stakes rose from the trench in which they were imbedded
and with them rose Numa's suspicion and growling.

Was this some new encroachment upon his rights and his
liberties? He was puzzled and, like all lions, being short of
temper, he was irritated. He had not minded it when the Tar-
mangani squatted upon the verge of the pit and looked down
upon him, for had not this Tarmangani fed him? But now
something else was afoot and the suspicion of the wild beast
was aroused. As he watched, however, Numa saw the stakes
rise slowly to an erect position, tumble against each other and
then fall backwards out of his sight upon the surface of the
ground above. Instantly the lion grasped the possibilities of
the situation, and, too, perhaps he sensed the fact that the
man-thing had deliberately opened a way for his escape. Seiz-
ing the remains of Bara in his great jaws, Numa, the lion,
leaped agilely from the pit of the Wamabos and Tarzan of the
Apes melted into the jungles to the east.

On the surface of the ground or through the swaying
branches of the trees the spoor of man or beast was an open
book to the ape-man, but even his acute senses were baffled
by the spoorless trail of the airship. Of what good were eyes,
or ears, or the sense of smell in following a thing whose path
had lain through the shifting air thousands of feet above the
tree tops? Only upon his sense of direction could Tarzan de-
pend in his search for the fallen plane. He could not even
judge accurately as to the distance it might lie from him, and
he knew that from the moment that it disappeared beyond the
hills it might have traveled a considerable distance at right
angles to its original course before it crashed to earth. If its
occupants were killed or badly injured the ape-man might
search futilely in their immediate vicinity for some time be-
fore finding them.

There was but one thing to do and that was to travel to a
point as close as possible to where he judged the plane had
landed, and then to follow in ever-widening circles until he
picked up their scent spoor. And this he did.

Before he left the valley of plenty he made several kills and
carried the choicest cuts of meat with him, leaving all the dead
weight of bones behind. The dense vegetation of the jungle
terminated at the foot of the western slope, growing less and
less abundant as he neared the summit beyond which was a
sparse growth of sickly scrub and sunburned grasses, with here
and there a gnarled and hardy tree that had withstood the
vicissitudes of an almost waterless existence.

From the summit of the hills Tarzan's keen eyes searched
the arid landscape before him. In the distance he discerned
the ragged tortuous lines that marked the winding course of the
hideous gorges which scored the broad plain at intervals -- the
terrible gorges that had so nearly claimed his life in punish-
ment for his temerity in attempting to invade the sanctity of
their ancient solitude.

For two days Tarzan sought futilely for some clew to the
whereabouts of the machine or its occupants. He cached por-
tions of his kills at different points, building cairns of rock
to
mark their locations. He crossed the first deep gorge and cir-
cled far beyond it. Occasionally he stopped and called aloud,
listening for some response but only silence rewarded him --
a sinister silence that his cries only accentuated.

Late in the evening of the second day he came to the well-
remembered gorge in which lay the clean-picked bones of the
ancient adventurer, and here, for the first time, Ska, the vul-
ture, picked up his trail. "Not this time, Ska," cried the ape-
man in a taunting voice, "for now indeed is Tarzan Tarzan.
Before, you stalked the grim skeleton of a Tarmangani and
even then you lost. Waste not your time upon Tarzan of the
Apes in the full of his strength. But still Ska, the vulture,
circled
and soared above him, and the ape-man, notwithstanding his
boasts, felt a shudder of apprehension. Through his brain
ran a persistent and doleful chant to which he involuntarily
set two words, repeated over and over again in horrible mo-
notony: "Ska knows! Ska knows!" until, shaking himself in
anger, he picked up a rock and hurled it at the grim scav-
enger.

Lowering himself over the precipitous side of the gorge Tar-
zan half clambered and half slid to the sandy floor beneath.
He had come upon the rift at almost the exact spot at which
he had clambered from it weeks before, and there he saw, just
as he had left it, just, doubtless, as it had lain for centuries,
the mighty skeleton and its mighty armor.

As he stood looking down upon this grim reminder that an-
other man of might had succumbed to the cruel powers of the
desert, he was brought to startled attention by the report of a
firearm, the sound of which came from the depths of the gorge
to the south of him, and reverberated along the steep walls of
the narrow rift.

Mysterious Footprints

As the British plane piloted by Lieutenant Harold Percy
Smith-Oldwick rose above the jungle wilderness where
Bertha Kircher's life had so often been upon the point
of extinction, and sped toward the east, the girl felt a sudden
contraction of the muscles of her throat. She tried very hard
to swallow something that was not there. It seemed strange to
her that she should feel regret in leaving behind her such
hideous perils, and yet it was plain to her that such was the
fact, for she was also leaving behind something beside the
dangers that had menaced her -- a unique figure that had en-
tered her life, and for which she felt an unaccountable at-
traction.

Before her in the pilot's seat sat an English officer and gen-
tleman whom, she knew, loved her, and yet she dared to feel
regret in his company at leaving the stamping ground of a
wild beast!

Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick, on his part, was in the seventh
heaven of elation. He was in possession again of his beloved
ship, he was flying swiftly in the direction of his comrades and
his duty, and with him was the woman he loved. The fly in
the ointment, however, was the accusation Tarzan had made
against this woman. He had said that she was a German, and
a spy, and from the heights of bliss the English officer was
occasionally plunged to the depths of despair in contempla-
tion of the inevitable, were the ape-man's charges to prove
true. He found himself torn between sentiments of love and
honor. On the one hand he could not surrender the woman he
loved to the certain fate that must be meted out to her if she
were in truth an enemy spy, while on the other it would be
equally impossible for him as an Englishman and an officer
to give her aid or protection.

The young man contented himself therefore with repeated
mental denials of her guilt. He tried to convince himself that
Tarzan was mistaken, and when he conjured upon the screen
of recollection the face of the girl behind him, he was doubly
reassured that those lines of sweet femininity and character,
those clear and honest eyes, could not belong to one of the
hated alien race.

And so they sped toward the east, each wrapped in his own
thoughts. Below them they saw the dense vegetation of the
jungle give place to the scantier growth upon the hillside, and
then before them there spread the wide expanse of arid waste-
lands marked by the deep scarring of the narrow gorges that
long-gone rivers had cut there in some forgotten age.

Shortly after they passed the summit of the ridge which
formed the boundary between the desert and the fertile coun-
try, Ska, the vulture, winging his way at a high altitude toward
his aerie, caught sight of a strange new bird of gigantic pro-
portions encroaching upon the preserves of his aerial domain.
Whether with intent to give battle to the interloper or merely
impelled by curiosity, Ska rose suddenly upward to meet the
plane. Doubtless he misjudged the speed of the newcomer,
but be that as it may, the tip of the propeller blade touched
him and simultaneously many things happened. The lifeless
body of Ska, torn and bleeding, dropped plummet-like toward
the ground; a bit of splintered spruce drove backward to strike
the pilot on the forehead; the plane shuddered and trembled
and as Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick sank forward
in momentary unconsciousness the ship dived headlong toward
the earth.

Only for an instant was the pilot unconscious, but that in-
stant almost proved their undoing. When he awoke to a reali-
zation of their peril it was also to discover that his motor had
stalled. The plane had attained frightful momentum, and the
ground seemed too close for him to hope to flatten out in time
to make a safe landing. Directly beneath him was a deep rift in
the plateau, a narrow gorge, the bottom of which appeared
comparatively level and sand covered.

In the brief instant in which he must reach a decision, the
safest plan seemed to attempt a landing in the gorge, and this
he did, but not without considerable damage to the plane and
a severe shaking-up for himself and his passenger.

Fortunately neither of them was injured but their condition
seemed indeed a hopeless one. It was a grave question as to
whether the man could repair his plane and continue the jour-
ney, and it seemed equally questionable as to their ability
either to proceed on foot to the coast or retrace their way to
the country they had just left. The man was confident that
they could not hope to cross the desert country to the east in
the face of thirst and hunger, while behind them in the valley
of plenty lay almost equal danger in the form of carnivores
and the warlike natives.

After the plane came to its sudden and disastrous stop,
Smith-Oldwick turned quickly to see what the effect of the
accident had been on the girl. He found her pale but smiling,
and for several seconds the two sat looking at each other in
silence.

"This is the end?" the girl asked.

The Englishman shook his head. "It is the end of the first
leg, anyway," he replied.

"But you can't hope to make repairs here," she said du-
biously.

"No," he said, "not if they amount to anything, but I may
be able to patch it up. I will have to look her over a bit first.
Let us hope there is nothing serious. It's a long, long way to
the Tanga railway."

"We would not get far," said the girl, a slight note of hope-
lessness in her tone. "Entirely unarmed as we are, it would
be little less than a miracle if we covered even a small fraction
of the distance."

"But we are not unarmed," replied the man. "I have an
extra pistol here, that the beggars didn't discover," and, re-
moving the cover of a compartment, he drew forth an auto-
matic.

Bertha Kircher leaned back in her seat and laughed aloud,
a mirthless, half-hysterical laugh. "That popgun!" she ex-
claimed. "What earthly good would it do other than to in-
furiate any beast of prey you might happen to hit with it?"

Smith-Oldwick looked rather crestfallen. "But it is a weap-
on," he said. "You will have to admit that, and certainly I
could kill a man with it."

"You could if you happened to hit him," said the girl, "or
the thing didn't jam. Really, I haven't much faith in an auto-
matic. I have used them myself."

"Oh, of course," he said ironically, "an express rifle would
be better, for who knows but we might meet an elephant here
in the desert."

The girl saw that he was hurt, and she was sorry, for she
realized that there was nothing he would not do in her service
or protection, and that it was through no fault of his that he
was so illy armed. Doubtless, too, he realized as well as she
the futility of his weapon, and that he had only called attention
to it in the hope of reassuring her and lessening her anxiety.

"Forgive me," she said. "I did not mean to be nasty, but
this accident is the proverbial last straw. It seems to me that
I have borne all that I can. Though I was willing to give my
life in the service of my country, I did not imagine that my
death agonies would be so long drawn out, for I realize now
that I have been dying for many weeks."

"What do you mean!" he exclaimed; "what do you mean by
that! You are not dying. There is nothing the matter with you."

"Oh, not that," she said, "I did not mean that. What I mean
is that at the moment the black sergeant, Usanga, and his rene-
gade German native troops captured me and brought me in-
land, my death warrant was signed. Sometimes I have imagined
that a reprieve has been granted. Sometimes I have hoped
that I might be upon the verge of winning a full pardon, but
really in the depths of my heart I have known that I should
never live to regain civilization. I have done my bit for my
country, and though it was not much I can at least go with the
realization that it was the best I was able to offer. All that I
can hope for now, all that I ask for, is a speedy fulfillment of
the death sentence. I do not wish to linger any more to face
constant terror and apprehension. Even physical torture would
be preferable to what I have passed through. I have no doubt
that you consider me a brave woman, but really my terror has
been boundless. The cries of the carnivores at night fill me
with a dread so tangible that I am in actual pain. I feel the
rending talons in my flesh and the cruel fangs munching upon
my bones -- it is as real to me as though I were actually
enduring the horrors of such a death. I doubt if you can under-
stand it -- men are so different."

"Yes," he said, "I think I can understand it, and because I
understand I can appreciate more than you imagine the hero-
ism you have shown in your endurance of all that you have
passed through. There can be no bravery where there is no
fear. A child might walk into a lion's den, but it would take
a very brave man to go to its rescue."

"Thank you," she said, "but I am not brave at all, and now
I am very much ashamed of my thoughtlessness for your own
feelings. I will try and take a new grip upon myself and we
will both hope for the best. I will help you all I can if you
will tell me what I may do."

"The first thing," he replied, "is to find out just how serious
our damage is, and then to see what we can do in the way of
repairs."

For two days Smith-Oldwick worked upon the damaged
plane -- worked in the face of the fact that from the first he
realized the case was hopeless. And at last he told her.

'I knew it," she said, "but I believe that I felt much as you
must have; that however futile our efforts here might be, it
would be infinitely as fatal to attempt to retrace our way to
the jungle we just left or to go on toward the coast. You know
and I know that we could not reach the Tanga railway on foot.
We should die of thirst and starvation before we had covered
half the distance, and if we return to the jungle, even were we
able to reach it, it would be but to court an equally certain,
though different, fate."

"So we might as well sit here and wait for death as to use-
lessly waste our energies in what we know would be a futile
attempt at escape?" he asked.

"No," she replied, "I shall never give up like that. What I
meant was that it was useless to attempt to reach either of the
places where we know that there is food and water in abun-
dance, so we must strike out in a new direction. Somewhere
there may be water in this wilderness and if there is, the best
chance of our finding it would be to follow this gorge down-
ward. We have enough food and water left, if we are careful
of it, for a couple of days and in that time we might stumble
upon a spring or possibly even reach the fertile country which
I know lies to the south. When Usanga brought me to the
Wamabo country from the coast he took a southerly route
along which there was usually water and game in plenty. It
was not until we neared our destination that the country be-
came overrun with carnivores. So there is hope if we can reach
the fertile country south of us that we can manage to pull
through to the coast."

The man shook his head dubiously. "We can try it," he said.
"Personally, I do not fancy sitting here waiting for death."

Smith-Oldwick was leaning against the ship, his dejected
gaze directed upon the ground at his feet. The girl was looking
south down the gorge in the direction of their one slender
chance of life. Suddenly she touched him on the arm.

"Look," she whispered.

The man raised his eyes quickly in the direction of her gaze
to see the massive head of a great lion who was regarding them
from beyond a rocky projection at the first turning of the
gorge.

"Phew!" he exclaimed, "the beggars are everywhere."

"They do not go far from water do they," asked the girl
hopefully.

"I should imagine not," he replied; "a lion is not particularly
strong on endurance."

"Then he is a harbinger of hope," she exclaimed.

The man laughed. "Cute little harbinger of hope!" he said.
"Reminds me of Cock Robin heralding spring."

The girl cast a quick glance at him. "Don't be silly, and I
don't care if you do laugh. He fills me with hope."

"It is probably mutual," replied Smith-Oldwick, "as we
doubtless fill him with hope."

The lion evidently having satisfied himself as to the nature
of the creatures before him advanced slowly now in their di-
rection.

"Come," said the man, 'let's climb aboard," and he helped
the girl over the side of the ship.

"Can't he get in here?" she asked.

"I think he can," said the man.

"You are reassuring," she returned.

"I don't feel so." He drew his pistol.

"For heaven's sake," she cried, "don't shoot at him with that
thing. You might hit him."

"I don't intend to shoot at him but I might succeed in fright-
ening him away if he attempts to reach us here. Haven't you
ever seen a trainer work with lions? He carries a silly little
pop-gun loaded with blank cartridges. With that and a kitchen
chair he subdues the most ferocious of beasts."

"But you haven't a kitchen chair," she reminded him.

"No," he said, "Government is always muddling things. I
have always maintained that airplanes should be equipped
with kitchen chairs."

Bertha Kircher laughed as evenly and with as little hysteria
as though she were moved by the small talk of an afternoon
tea.

Numa, the lion, came steadily toward them; his attitude
seemed more that of curiosity than of belligerency. Close to
the side of the ship he stopped and stood gazing up at them.

"Magnificent, isn't he?" exclaimed the man.

"I never saw a more beautiful creature," she replied, "nor
one with such a dark coat. Why, he is almost black."

The sound of their voices seemed not to please the lord of
the jungle, for he suddenly wrinkled his great face into deep
furrows as he bared his fangs beneath snarling lips and gave
vent to an angry growl. Almost simultaneously he crouched
for a spring and immediately Smith-Oldwick discharged his
pistol into the ground in front of the lion. The effect of the
noise upon Numa seemed but to enrage him further, and with
a horrid roar he sprang for the author of the new and dis-
quieting sound that had outraged his ears.

Simultaneously Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick
vaulted nimbly out of the cockpit on the opposite side of his
plane, calling to the girl to follow his example. The girl, real-
izing the futility of leaping to the ground, chose the remaining
alternative and clambered to the top of the upper plane.

Numa, unaccustomed to the idiosyncrasies of construction
of an airship and having gained the forward cockpit, watched
the girl clamber out of his reach without at first endeavoring
to prevent her. Having taken possession of the plane his anger
seemed suddenly to leave him and he made no immediate
move toward following Smith-Oldwick. The girl, realizing the
comparative safety of her position, had crawled to the outer
edge of the wing and was calling to the man to try and reach
the opposite end of the upper plane.

It was this scene upon which Tarzan of the Apes looked as
he rounded the bend of the gorge above the plane after the
pistol shot had attracted his attention. The girl was so intent
upon watching the efforts of the Englishman to reach a place
of safety, and the latter was so busily occupied in attempting
to do so that neither at once noticed the silent approach of the
ape-man.

It was Numa who first noticed the intruder. The lion imme-
diately evinced his displeasure by directing toward him a
snarling countenance and a series of warning growls. His
action called the attention of the two upon the upper plane to
the newcomer, eliciting a stifled "Thank God!" from the girl,
even though she could scarce credit the evidence of her own
eyes that it was indeed the savage man, whose presence always
assured her safety, who had come so providentially in the nick
of time.

Almost immediately both were horrified to see Numa leap
from the cockpit and advance upon Tarzan. The ape-man,
carrying his stout spear in readiness, moved deliberately on-
ward to meet the carnivore, which he had recognized as the
lion of the Wamabos' pit. He knew from the manner of
Numa's approach what neither Bertha Kircher nor Smith-
Oldwick knew -- that there was more of curiosity than bellig-
erency in it, and he wondered if in that great head there might
not be a semblance of gratitude for the kindness that Tarzan
had done him.

There was no question in Tarzan's mind but that Numa
recognized him, for he knew his fellows of the jungle well
enough to know that while they ofttimes forgot certain sensa-
tions more quickly than man there are others which remain in
their memories for years. A well-defined scent spoor might
never be forgotten by a beast if it had first been sensed under
unusual circumstances, and so Tarzan was confident that
Numa's nose had already reminded him of all the circum-
stances of their brief connection.

Love of the sporting chance is inherent in the Anglo-Saxon
race and it was not now Tarzan of the Apes but rather John
Clayton, Lord Greystoke, who smilingly welcomed the sport-
ing chance which he must take to discover how far-reaching
was Numa's gratitude.

Smith-Oldwick and the girl saw the two nearing each other.
The former swore softly beneath his breath while he nervously
fingered the pitiful weapon at his hip. The girl pressed her
open palms to her cheeks as she leaned forward in stony-eyed,
horror-stricken silence. While she had every confidence in the
prowess of the godlike creature who thus dared brazenly to
face the king of beasts, she had no false conception of what
must certainly happen when they met. She had seen Tarzan
battle with Sheeta, the panther, and she had realized then that
powerful as the man was, it was only agility, cunning, and
chance that placed him upon anywhere near an equal footing
with his savage adversary, and that of the three factors upon
his side chance was the greatest.

She saw the man and the lion stop simultaneously, not more
than a yard apart. She saw the beast's tail whipping from side
to side and she could hear his deep-throated growls rumbling
from his cavernous breast, but she could read correctly neither
the movement of the lashing tail nor the notes of the growl.

To her they seemed to indicate nothing but bestial rage
while to Tarzan of the Apes they were conciliatory and reas-
suring in the extreme. And then she saw Numa move forward
again until his nose touched the man's naked leg and she closed
her eyes and covered them with her palms. For what seemed
an eternity she waited for the horrid sound of the conflict
which she knew must come, but all she heard was an explosive
sigh of relief from Smith-Oldwick and a half-hysterical "By
Jove! Just fancy it!"

She looked up to see the great lion rubbing his shaggy head
against the man's hip, and Tarzan's free hand entangled in
the black mane as he scratched Numa, the lion, behind a back-
laid ear.

Strange friendships are often formed between the lower
animals of different species, but less often between man and
the savage felidae, because of the former's inherent fear of
the great cats. And so after all, therefore, the friendship so
suddenly developed between the savage lion and the savage
man was not inexplicable.

As Tarzan approached the plane Numa walked at his side,
and when Tarzan stopped and looked up at the girl and the
man Numa stopped also.

"I had about given up hope of finding you," said the ape-
man, "and it is evident that I found you just in time."

"But how did you know we were in trouble?" asked the
English officer.

"I saw your plane fall," replied Tarzan. "I was watching
you from a tree beside the clearing where you took off. I
didn't have much to locate you by other than the general
direction, but it seems that you volplaned a considerable dis-
tance toward the south after you disappeared from my view
behind the hills. I have been looking for you further toward
the north. I was just about to turn back when I heard your
pistol shot. Is your ship beyond repair?"

"Yes," replied Smith-Oldwick, "it is hopeless."

"What are your plans, then? What do you wish to do?"
Tarzan directed his question to the girl.

"We want to reach the coast," she said, "but it seems impos-
sible now."

"I should have thought so a little while ago," replied the ape-
man, "but if Numa is here there must be water within a rea-
sonable distance. I ran across this lion two days ago in the
Wamabo country. I liberated him from one of their pits. To
have reached this spot he must have come by some trail un-
known to me -- at least I crossed no game trail and no spoor of
any animal after I came over the hills out of the fertile
country.
From which direction did he come upon you?"

"It was from the south," replied the girl. "We thought, too,
that there must be water in that direction."

"Let's find out then," said Tarzan.

"But how about the lion?" asked Smith-Oldwick.

"That we will have to discover," replied the ape-man, "and
we can only do so if you will come down from your perch."

The officer shrugged his shoulders. The girl turned her gaze
upon him to note the effect of Tarzan's proposal. The English-
man grew suddenly very white, but there was a smile upon his
lips as without a word he slipped over the edge of the plane
and clambered to the ground behind Tarzan.

Bertha Kircher realized that the man was afraid nor did she
blame him, and she also realized the remarkable courage that
he had shown in thus facing a danger that was very real to him.

Numa standing close to Tarzan's side raised his head and
glared at the young Englishman, growled once, and looked up
at the ape-man. Tarzan retained a hold upon the beast's mane
and spoke to him in the language of the great apes. To the girl
and Smith-Oldwick the growling gutturals falling from human
lips sounded uncanny in the extreme, but whether Numa
understood them or not they appeared to have the desired
effect upon him, as he ceased growling, and as Tarzan walked
to Smith-Oldwick's side Numa accompanied him, nor did he
offer to molest the officer.

"What did you say to him?" asked the girl.

Tarzan smiled. "I told him," he replied, "that I am Tarzan
of the Apes, mighty hunter, killer of beasts, lord of the jungle,
and that you are my friends. I have never been sure that all of
the other beasts understand the language of the Mangani. I
know that Manu, the monkey, speaks nearly the same tongue
and I am sure that Tantor, the elephant, understands all that
I say to him. We of the jungle are great boasters. In our
speech, in our carriage, in every detail of our demeanor we
must impress others with our physical power and our ferocity.
That is why we growl at our enemies. We are telling them to
beware or we shall fall upon them and tear them to pieces.
Perhaps Numa does not understand the words that I use but
I believe that my tones and my manner carry the impression
that I wish them to convey. Now you may come down and be
introduced."

It required all the courage that Bertha Kircher possessed to
lower herself to the ground within reach of the talons and
fangs of this untamed forest beast, but she did it. Nor did
Numa do more than bare his teeth and growl a little as she
came close to the ape-man.

"I think you are safe from him as long as I am present," said
the ape-man. "The best thing to do is simply to ignore him.
Make no advances, but be sure to give no indication of fear
and, if possible always keep me between you and him. He will
go away presently I am sure and the chances are that we shall
not see him again."

At Tarzan's suggestion Smith-Oldwick removed the remain-
ing water and provisions from the plane and, distributing the
burden among them, they set off toward the south. Numa did
not follow them, but stood by the plane watching until they
finally disappeared from view around a bend in the gorge.

Tarzan had picked up Numa's trail with the intention of
following it southward in the belief that it would lead to water.
In the sand that floored the bottom of the gorge tracks were
plain and easily followed. At first only the fresh tracks of
Numa were visible, but later in the day the ape-man discovered
the older tracks of other lions and just before dark he stopped
suddenly in evident surprise. His two companions looked at
him questioningly, and in answer to their implied interroga-
tions he pointed at the ground directly in front of him.

"Look at those," he exclaimed.

At first neither Smith-Oldwick nor the girl saw anything
but a confusion of intermingled prints of padded feet in the
sand, but presently the girl discovered what Tarzan had seen,
and an exclamation of surprise broke from her lips.

"The imprint of human feet!" she cried.

Tarzan nodded.

"But there are no toes," the girl pointed out.

"The feet were shod with a soft sandal," explained Tarzan.

"Then there must be a native village somewhere in the
vicinity," said Smith-Oldwick.

"Yes," replied the ape-man, "but not the sort of natives
which we would expect to find here in this part of Africa
where others all go unshod with the exception of a few of
Usanga's renegade German native troops who wear German
army shoes. I don't know that you can notice it, but it is
evident to me that the foot inside the sandal that made these
imprints were not the foot of a Negro. If you will examine
them carefully you will notice that the impression of the heel
and ball of the foot are well marked even through the sole of
the sandal. The weight comes more nearly in the center of a
Negro's footprint.

"Then you think these were made by a white person?"

"It looks that way," replied Tarzan, and suddenly, to the
surprise of both the girl and Smith-Oldwick, he dropped to his
hands and knees and sniffed at the tracks -- again a beast
utilizing the senses and woodcraft of a beast. Over an area of
several square yards his keen nostrils sought the identity of the
makers of the tracks. At length he rose to his feet.

"It is not the spoor of the Gomangani," he said, "nor is it
exactly like that of white men. There were three who came
this way. They were men, but of what race I do not know."

There was no apparent change in the nature of the gorge
except that it had steadily grown deeper as they followed it
downward until now the rocky and precipitous sides rose far
above them. At different points natural caves, which appeared
to have been eroded by the action of water in some forgotten
age, pitted the side walls at various heights. Near them was
such a cavity at the ground's level -- an arched cavern floored
with white sand. Tarzan indicated it with a gesture of his hand.

"We will lair here tonight," he said, and then with one of
his rare, slow smiles: "We will CAMP here tonight."

Having eaten their meager supper Tarzan bade the girl enter
the cavern.

"You will sleep inside," he said. "The lieutenant and I will
lie outside at the entrance."

The Night Attack

As the girl turned to bid them good night, she thought that
she saw a shadowy form moving in the darkness beyond
them, and almost simultaneously she was sure that she
heard the sounds of stealthy movement in the same direction.

"What is that?" she whispered. "There is something out
there in the darkness."

"Yes," replied Tarzan, "it is a lion. It has been there for
some time. Hadn't you noticed it before?"

"Oh!" cried the girl, breathing a sigh of relief, "is it our
lion?"

"No," said Tarzan, "it is not our lion; it is another lion and
he is hunting."

"He is stalking us?" asked the girl.

"He is," replied the ape-man. Smith-Oldwick fingered the
grip of his pistol.

Tarzan saw the involuntary movement and shook his head.

"Leave that thing where it is, Lieutenant," he said.

The officer laughed nervously. "I couldn't help it, you know,
old man," he said; "instinct of self-preservation and all that."

"It would prove an instinct of self-destruction," said Tarzan.
"There are at least three hunting lions out there watching us.
If we had a fire or the moon were up you would see their eyes
plainly. Presently they may come after us but the chances are
that they will not. If you are very anxious that they should,
fire your pistol and hit one of them."

"What if they do charge?" asked the girl; "there is no means
of escape."

"Why, we should have to fight them," replied Tarzan.

"What chance would we three have against them?" asked
the girl.

The ape-man shrugged his shoulders. "One must die some-
time," he said. "To you doubtless it may seem terrible -- such
a death; but Tarzan of the Apes has always expected to go out
in some such way. Few of us die of old age in the jungle, nor
should I care to die thus. Some day Numa will get me, or
Sheeta, or a black warrior. These or some of the others. What
difference does it make which it is, or whether it comes tonight
or next year or in ten years? After it is over it will be all the
same."

The girl shuddered. "Yes," she said in a dull, hopeless voice,
"after it is over it will be all the same."

Then she went into the cavern and lay down upon the sand.
Smith-Oldwick sat in the entrance and leaned against the cliff.
Tarzan squatted on the opposite side.

"May I smoke?" questioned the officer of Tarzan. "I have
been hoarding a few cigarettes and if it won't attract those
bouncers out there I would like to have one last smoke before
I cash in. Will you join me?" and he proffered the ape-man a
cigarette.

"No, thanks," said Tarzan, "but it will be all right if you
smoke. No wild animal is particularly fond of the fumes of
tobacco so it certainly won't entice them any closer."

Smith-Oldwick lighted his cigarette and sat puffing slowly
upon it. He had proffered one to the girl but she had refused,
and thus they sat in silence for some time, the silence of the
night ruffled occasionally by the faint crunching of padded
feet upon the soft sands of the gorge's floor.

It was Smith-Oldwick who broke the silence. "Aren't they
unusually quiet for lions?" he asked.

"No," replied the ape-man; "the lion that goes roaring
around the jungle does not do it to attract prey. They are very
quiet when they are stalking their quarry."

"I wish they would roar," said the officer. "I wish they
would do anything, even charge. Just knowing that they are
there and occasionally seeing something like a shadow in the
darkness and the faint sounds that come to us from them are
getting on my nerves. But I hope," he said, "that all three
don't charge at once."

"Three?" said Tarzan. "There are seven of them out there
now."

"Good Lord! exclaimed Smith-Oldwick.

"Couldn't we build a fire," asked the girl, "and frighten them
away?"

"I don't know that it would do any good," said Tarzan, "as
I have an idea that these lions are a little different from any
that we are familiar with and possibly for the same reason
which at first puzzled me a little -- I refer to the apparent
docility in the presence of a man of the lion who was with us
today. A man is out there now with those lions."

"It is impossible!" exclaimed Smith-Oldwick. "They would
tear him to pieces."

"What makes you think there is a man there?" asked the
girl.

Tarzan smiled and shook his head. "I am afraid you would
not understand," he replied. "It is difficult for us to under-
stand anything that is beyond our own powers."

"What do you mean by that?" asked the officer.

"Well," said Tarzan, "if you had been born without eyes you
could not understand sense impressions that the eyes of others
transmit to their brains, and as you have both been born with-
out any sense of smell I am afraid you cannot understand how
I can know that there is a man there."

"You mean that you scent a man?" asked the girl.

Tarzan nodded affirmatively.

"And in the same way you know the number of lions?"
asked the man.

"Yes," said Tarzan. "No two lions look alike, no two have
the same scent."

The young Englishman shook his head. "No," he said, "I
cannot understand."

"I doubt if the lions or the man are here necessarily for the
purpose of harming us," said Tarzan, "because there has been
nothing to prevent their doing so long before had they wished
to. I have a theory, but it is utterly preposterous."

"What is it?" asked the girl.

"I think they are here," replied Tarzan, "to prevent us from
going some place that they do not wish us to go; in other
words we are under surveillance, and possibly as long as we
don't go where we are not wanted we shall not be bothered."

"But how are we to know where they don't want us to go?"
asked Smith-Oldwick.

"We can't know," replied Tarzan, "and the chances are that
the very place we are seeking is the place they don't wish us
to trespass on."

"You mean the water?" asked the girl.

"Yes," replied Tarzan.

For some time they sat in silence which was broken only by
an occasional sound of movement from the outer darkness. It
must have been an hour later that the ape-man rose quietly
and drew his long blade from its sheath. Smith-Oldwick was
dozing against the rocky wall of the cavern entrance, while the
girl, exhausted by the excitement and fatigue of the day, had
fallen into deep slumber. An instant after Tarzan arose,
Smith-Oldwick and the girl were aroused by a volley of
thunderous roars and the noise of many padded feet rushing
toward them.

Tarzan of the Apes stood directly before the entrance to the
cavern, his knife in his hand, awaiting the charge. The ape-
man had not expected any such concerted action as he now
realized had been taken by those watching them. He had
known for some time that other men had joined those who
were with the lions earlier in the evening, and when he arose
to his feet it was because he knew that the lions and the men
were moving cautiously closer to him and his party. He might
easily have eluded them, for he had seen that the face of the
cliff rising above the mouth of the cavern might be scaled by
as good a climber as himself. It might have been wiser had
he tried to escape, for he knew that in the face of such odds
even he was helpless, but he stood his ground though I doubt
if he could have told why.

He owed nothing either of duty or friendship to the girl
sleeping in the cavern, nor could he longer be of any protec-
tion to her or her companion. Yet something held him there in
futile self-sacrifice.

The great Tarmangani had not even the satisfaction of
striking a blow in self-defense. A veritable avalanche of savage
beasts rolled over him and threw him heavily to the ground.
In falling his head struck the rocky surface of the cliff, stun-
ning him.

It was daylight when he regained consciousness. The first
dim impression borne to his awakening mind was a confusion
of savage sounds which gradually resolved themselves into
the growling of lions, and then, little by little, there came
back
to him the recollections of what had preceded the blow that
had felled him.

Strong in his nostrils was the scent of Numa, the lion, and
against one naked leg he could feel the coat of some animal.
Slowly Tarzan opened his eyes. He was lying on his side and
as he looked down his body, he saw that a great lion stood
straddling him -- a great lion who growled hideously at some-
thing which Tarzan could not see.

With the full return of his senses Tarzan's nose told him
that the beast above him was Numa of the Wamabo pit.

Thus reassured, the ape-man spoke to the lion and at the
same time made a motion as though he would arise. Immedi-
ately Numa stepped from above him. As Tarzan raised his
head, he saw that he still lay where he had fallen before the
opening of the cliff where the girl had been sleeping and that
Numa, backed against the cliffside, was apparently defending
him from two other lions who paced to and fro a short
distance from their intended victim.

And then Tarzan turned his eyes into the cave and saw that
the girl and Smith-Oldwick were gone.

His efforts had been for naught. With an angry toss of his
head, the ape-man turned upon the two lions who had con-
tinued to pace back and forth a few yards from him. Numa
of the lion pit turned a friendly glance in Tarzan's direction,
rubbed his head against the ape-man's side, and then directed
his snarling countenance toward the two hunters.

"I think," said Tarzan to Numa, "that you and I together
can make these beasts very unhappy." He spoke in English,
which, of course, Numa did not understand at all, but there
must have been something reassuring in the tone, for Numa
whined pleadingly and moved impatiently to and fro parallel
with their antagonists.

"Come," said Tarzan suddenly and grasping the lion's mane
with his left hand he moved toward the other lions, his com-
panion pacing at his side. As the two advanced the others drew
slowly back and, finally separating, moved off to either side.
Tarzan and Numa passed between them but neither the great
black-maned lion nor the man failed to keep an eye upon the
beast nearer him so that they were not caught unawares when,
as though at some preconcerted signal, the two cats charged
simultaneously from opposite directions.

The ape-man met the charge of his antagonist after the same
fashion of fighting that he had been accustomed to employing
in previous encounters with Numa and Sheeta. To have at-
tempted to meet the full shock of a lion's charge would have
been suicidal even for the giant Tarmangani. Instead he re-
sorted to methods of agility and cunning, for quick as are the
great cats, even quicker is Tarzan of the Apes.

With outspread, raking talons and bared fangs Numa sprang
for the naked chest of the ape-man. Throwing up his left arm
as a boxer might ward off a blow, Tarzan struck upward
beneath the left forearm of the lion, at the same time rushing
in with his shoulder beneath the animal's body and simul-
taneously drove his blade into the tawny hide behind the
shoulder. With a roar of pain Numa wheeled again, the per-
sonification of bestial rage. Now indeed would he exterminate
this presumptuous man-thing who dared even to think that he
could thwart the king of beasts in his desires. But as he
wheeled, his intended quarry wheeled with him, brown fingers
locked in the heavy mane on the powerful neck and again the
blade struck deep into the lion's side.

Then it was that Numa went mad with hate and pain and
at the same instant the ape-man leaped full upon his back.
Easily before had Tarzan locked his legs beneath the belly of
a lion while he clung to its long mane and stabbed it until his
point reached its heart. So easy it had seemed before that he
experienced a sharp feeling of resentment that he was unable
to do so now, for the quick movements of the lion prevented
him, and presently, to his dismay, as the lion leaped and threw
him about, the ape-man realized that he was swinging in-
evitably beneath those frightful talons.

With a final effort he threw himself from Numa's back and
sought, by his quickness, to elude the frenzied beast for the
fraction of an instant that would permit him to regain his
feet and meet the animal again upon a more even footing. But
this time Numa was too quick for him and he was but partially
up when a great paw struck him on the side of the head and
bowled him over.

As he fell he saw a black streak shoot above him and an-
other lion close upon his antagonist. Rolling from beneath the
two battling lions Tarzan regained his feet, though he was half
dazed and staggering from the impact of the terrible blow he
had received. Behind him he saw a lifeless lion lying torn and
bleeding upon the sand, and before him Numa of the pit was
savagely mauling the second lion.

He of the black coat tremendously outclassed his adversary
in point of size and strength as well as in ferocity. The
battling
beasts made a few feints and passes at each other before the
larger succeeded in fastening his fangs in the other's throat,
and then, as a cat shakes a mouse, the larger lion shook the
lesser, and when his dying foe sought to roll beneath and rake
his conqueror with his hind claws, the other met him halfway
at his own game, and as the great talons buried themselves in
the lower part of the other's chest and then were raked down-
ward with all the terrific strength of the mighty hind legs, the
battle was ended.

As Numa rose from his second victim and shook himself,
Tarzan could not but again note the wondrous proportions and
symmetry of the beast. The lions they had bested were splendid
specimens themselves and in their coats Tarzan noted a sugges-
tion of the black which was such a strongly marked character-
istic of Numa of the pit. Their manes were just a trifle darker
than an ordinary black-maned lion but the tawny shade on the
balance of their coats predominated. However, the ape-man
realized that they were a distinct species from any he had seen
as though they had sprung originally from a cross between the
forest lion of his acquaintance and a breed of which Numa of
the pit might be typical.

The immediate obstruction in his way having been removed,
Tarzan was for setting out in search of the spoor of the girl
and Smith-Oldwick, that he might discover their fate. He
suddenly found himself tremendously hungry and as he circled
about over the sandy bottom searching among the tangled net-
work of innumerable tracks for those of his proteges, there
broke from his lips involuntarily the whine of a hungry beast.
Immediately Numa of the pit pricked up his ears and, regard-
ing the ape-man steadily for a moment, he answered the call
of hunger and started briskly off toward the south, stopping
occasionally to see if Tarzan was following.

The ape-man realized that the beast was leading him to
food, and so he followed and as he followed his keen eyes and
sensitive nostrils sought for some indication of the direction
taken by the man and the girl. Presently out of the mass of
lion tracks, Tarzan picked up those of many sandaled feet and
the scent spoor of the members of the strange race such as
had been with the lions the night before, and then faintly he
caught the scent spoor of the girl and a little later that of
Smith-Oldwick. Presently the tracks thinned and here those of
the girl and the Englishman became well marked.

They had been walking side by side and there had been
men and lions to the right and left of them, and men and lions
in front and behind. The ape-man was puzzled by the possi-
bilities suggested by the tracks, but in the light of any
previous
experience he could not explain satisfactorily to himself what
his perceptions indicated.

There was little change in the formation of the gorge; it still
wound its erratic course between precipitous cliffs. In places
it widened out and again it became very narrow and always
deeper the further south they traveled. Presently the bottom
of the gorge began to slope more rapidly. Here and there were
indications of ancient rapids and waterfalls. The trail became
more difficult but was well marked and showed indications of
great antiquity, and, in places, the handiwork of man. They
had proceeded for a half or three-quarters of a mile when, at
a turning of the gorge, Tarzan saw before him a narrow valley
cut deep into the living rock of the earth's crust, with lofty
mountain ranges bounding it upon the south. How far it ex-
tended east and west he could not see, but apparently it was
no more than three or four miles across from north to south.

That it was a well-watered valley was indicated by the
wealth of vegetation that carpeted its floor from the rocky
cliffs upon the north to the mountains on the south.

Over the edge of the cliffs from which the ape-man viewed
the valley a trail had been hewn that led downward to the
base. Preceded by the lion Tarzan descended into the valley,
which, at this point, was forested with large trees. Before him
the trail wound onward toward the center of the valley.
Raucous-voiced birds of brilliant plumage screamed among
the branches while innumerable monkeys chattered and
scolded above him.

The forest teemed with life, and yet there was borne in upon
the ape-man a sense of unutterable loneliness, a sensation that
he never before had felt in his beloved jungles. There was
unreality in everything about him -- in the valley itself, lying
hidden and forgotten in what was supposed to be an arid
waste. The birds and the monkeys, while similar in type to
many with which he was familiar, were identical with none,
nor was the vegetation without its idiosyncrasies. It was as
though he had been suddenly transported to another world
and he felt a strange restlessness that might easily have been
a premonition of danger.

Fruits were growing among the trees and some of these he
saw that Manu, the monkey, ate. Being hungry he swung to
the lower branches and, amidst a great chattering of the
monkeys, proceeded to eat such of the fruit as he saw the
monkeys ate in safety. When he had partially satisfied his
hunger, for meat alone could fully do so, he looked about him
for Numa of the pit to discover that the lion had gone.

The Walled City

Dropping to the ground once more he picked up the trail
of the girl and her captors, which he followed easily
along what appeared to be a well-beaten trail. It was
not long before he came to a small stream, where he quenched
his thirst, and thereafter he saw that the trail followed in the
general direction of the stream, which ran southwesterly. Here
and there were cross trails and others which joined the main
avenue, and always upon each of them were the tracks and
scent of the great cats, of Numa, the lion, and Sheeta, the
panther.

With the exception of a few small rodents there appeared to
be no other wild life on the surface of the valley. There was no
indication of Bara, the deer, or Horta, the boar, or of Gorgo,
the buffalo, Buto, Tantor, or Duro. Histah, the snake, was
there. He saw him in the trees in greater numbers than he ever
had seen Histah before; and once beside a reedy pool he
caught a scent that could have belonged to none other than
Gimla the crocodile, but upon none of these did the Tar-
mangani care to feed.

And so, as he craved meat, he turned his attention to the
birds above him. His assailants of the night before had not
disarmed him. Either in the darkness and the rush of the
charging lions the human foe had overlooked him or else they
had considered him dead; but whatever the reason he still
retained his weapons -- his spear and his long knife, his bow
and arrows, and his grass rope.

Fitting a shaft to his bow Tarzan awaited an opportunity to
bring down one of the larger birds, and when the opportunity
finally presented itself he drove the arrow straight to its mark.
As the gaily plumaged creature fluttered to earth its compan-
ions and the little monkeys set up a most terrific chorus of
wails and screaming protests. The whole forest became
suddenly a babel of hoarse screams and shrill shrieks.

Tarzan would not have been surprised had one or two birds
in the immediate vicinity given voice to terror as they fled, but
that the whole life of the jungle should set up so weird a pro-
test filled him with disgust. It was an angry face that he turned
up toward the monkeys and the birds as there suddenly stirred
within him a savage inclination to voice his displeasure and
his answer to what he considered their challenge. And so it
was that there broke upon this jungle for the first time Tarzan's
hideous scream of victory and challenge.

The effect upon the creatures above him was instantaneous.
Where before the air had trembled to the din of their voices,
now utter silence reigned and a moment later the ape-man was
alone with his puny kill.

The silence following so closely the previous tumult carried
a sinister impression to the ape-man, which still further
aroused his anger. Picking the bird from where it had fallen
he withdrew his arrow from the body and returned it to his
quiver. Then with his knife he quickly and deftly removed the
skin and feathers together. He ate angrily, growling as though
actually menaced by a near-by foe, and perhaps, too, his
growls were partially induced by the fact that he did not care
for the flesh of birds. Better this, however, than nothing and
from what his senses had told him there was no flesh in the
vicinity such as he was accustomed to and cared most for.
How he would have enjoyed a juicy haunch from Pacco, the
zebra, or a steak from the loin of Gorgo, the buffalo! The very
thought made his mouth water and increased his resentment
against this unnatural forest that harbored no such delicious
quarry.

He had but partially consumed his kill when he suddenly
became aware of a movement in the brush at no great distance
from him and downwind, and a moment later his nostrils
picked up the scent of Numa from the opposite direction, and
then upon either side he caught the fall of padded feet and the
brushing of bodies against leafy branches. The ape-man
smiled. What stupid creature did they think him, to be sur-
prised by such clumsy stalkers? Gradually the sounds and
scents indicated that lions were moving upon him from all
directions, that he was in the center of a steadily converging
circle of beasts. Evidently they were so sure of their prey that
they were making no effort toward stealth, for he heard twigs
crack beneath their feet, and the brushing of their bodies
against the vegetation through which they forced their way.

He wondered what could have brought them. It seemed
unreasonable to believe that the cries of the birds and the
monkeys should have summoned them, and yet, if not, it was
indeed a remarkable coincidence. His judgment told him that
the death of a single bird in this forest which teemed with
birds could scarce be of sufficient moment to warrant that
which followed. Yet even in the face of reason and past experi-
ence he found that the whole affair perplexed him.

He stood in the center of the trail awaiting the coming of
the lions and wondering what would be the method of their
attack or if they would indeed attack. Presently a maned lion
came into view along the trail below him. At sight of him the
lion halted. The beast was similar to those that had attacked
him earlier in the day, a trifle larger and a trifle darker than
the
lions of his native jungles, but neither so large nor so black as
Numa of the pit.

Presently he distinguished the outlines of other lions in the
surrounding brush and among the trees. Each of them halted
as it came within sight of the ape-man and there they stood
regarding him in silence. Tarzan wondered how long it would
be before they charged and while he waited he resumed his
feeding, though with every sense constantly alert.

One by one the lions lay down, but always their faces were
toward him and their eyes upon him. There had been no
growling and no roaring -- just the quiet drawing of the silent
circle about him. It was all so entirely foreign to anything that
Tarzan ever before had seen lions do that it irritated him so
that presently, having finished his repast, he fell to making
insulting remarks to first one and then another of the lions,
after the habit he had learned from the apes of his childhood.

"Dango, eater of carrion," he called them, and he compared
them most unfavorably with Histah, the snake, the most
loathed and repulsive creature of the jungle. Finally he threw
handfuls of earth at them and bits of broken twigs, and then
the lions growled and bared their fangs, but none of them
advanced.

"Cowards," Tarzan taunted them. "Numa with a heart of
Bara, the deer." He told them who he was, and after the
manner of the jungle folk he boasted as to the horrible things
he would do to them, but the lions only lay and watched him.

It must have been a half hour after their coming that Tar-
zan caught in the distance along the trail the sound of foot-
steps approaching. They were the footsteps of a creature who
walked upon two legs, and though Tarzan could catch no
scent spoor from that direction he knew that a man was
approaching. Nor had he long to wait before his judgment
was confirmed by the appearance of a man who halted in the
trail directly behind the first lion that Tarzan had seen.

At sight of the newcomer the ape-man realized that here
was one similar to those who had given off the unfamiliar
scent spoor that he had detected the previous night, and he
saw that not only in the matter of scent did the man differ
from other human beings with whom Tarzan was familiar.

The fellow was strongly built with skin of a leathery ap-
pearance, like parchment yellowed with age. His hair, which
was coal black and three or four inches in length, grew out
stiffly at right angles to his scalp. His eyes were close set and
the irises densely black and very small, so that the white of
the eyeball showed around them. The man's face was smooth
except for a few straggly hairs on his chin and upper lip.
The nose was aquiline and fine, but the hair grew so far down
on the forehead as to suggest a very low and brutal type.
The upper lip was short and fine while the lower lip was
rather heavy and inclined to be pendulous, the chin being
equally weak. Altogether the face carried the suggestion of
a once strong and handsome countenance entirely altered by
physical violence or by degraded habits and thoughts. The
man's arms were long, though not abnormally so, while his
legs were short, though straight.

He was clothed in tight-fitting nether garments and a loose,
sleeveless tunic that fell just below his hips, while his feet
were shod in soft-soled sandals, the wrappings of which ex-
tended halfway to his knees, closely resembling a modern
spiral military legging. He carried a short, heavy spear, and
at his side swung a weapon that at first so astonished the ape-
man that he could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses
-- a heavy saber in a leather-covered scabbard. The man's
tunic appeared to have been fabricated upon a loom -- it was
certainly not made of skins, while the garments that covered
his legs were quite as evidently made from the hides of
rodents.

Tarzan noted the utter unconcern with which the man
approached the lions, and the equal indifference of Numa to
him. The fellow paused for a moment as though appraising
the ape-man and then pushed on past the lions, brushing
against the tawny hide as he passed him in the trail.

About twenty feet from Tarzan the man stopped, addressing
the former in a strange jargon, no syllable of which was
intelligible to the Tarmangani. His gestures indicated numer-
ous references to the lions surrounding them, and once he
touched his spear with the forefinger of his left hand and
twice he struck the saber at his hip.

While he spoke Tarzan studied the fellow closely, with the
result that there fastened itself upon his mind a strange con-
viction -- that the man who addressed him was what might
only be described as a rational maniac. As the thought came
to the ape-man he could not but smile, so paradoxical the
description seemed. Yet a closer study of the man's features,
carriage, and the contour of his head carried almost incon-
trovertibly the assurance that he was insane, while the tones
of his voice and his gestures resembled those of a sane and
intelligent mortal.

Presently the man had concluded his speech and appeared
to be waiting questioningly Tarzan's reply. The ape-man
spoke to the other first in the language of the great apes, but
he soon saw that the words carried no conviction to his
listener. Then with equal futility he tried several native
dialects but to none of these did the man respond.

By this time Tarzan began to lose patience. He had wasted
sufficient time by the road, and as he had never depended
much upon speech in the accomplishment of his ends, he now
raised his spear and advanced toward the other. This, evi-
dently, was a language common to both, for instantly the
fellow raised his own weapon and at the same time a low
call broke from his lips, a call which instantly brought to
action every lion in the hitherto silent circle. A volley of
roars shattered the silence of the forest and simultaneously
lions sprang into view upon all sides as they closed in rapidly
upon their quarry. The man who had called them stepped
back, his teeth bared in a mirthless grin.

It was then that Tarzan first noticed that the fellow's upper
canines were unusually long and exceedingly sharp. It was
just a flashing glimpse he got of them as he leaped agilely
from the ground and, to the consternation of both the lions
and their master, disappeared in the foliage of the lower
terrace, flinging back over his shoulder as he swung rapidly
away: "I am Tarzan of the Apes; mighty hunter; mighty
fighter! None in the jungle more powerful, none more cun-
ning than Tarzan!"

A short distance beyond the point at which they had sur-
rounded him, Tarzan came to the trail again and sought for
the spoor of Bertha Kircher and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick.
He found them quickly and continued upon his search for the
two. The spoor lay directly along the trail for another half-
mile when the way suddenly debouched from the forest into
open land and there broke upon the astonished view of the
ape-man the domes and minarets of a walled city.

Directly before him in the wall nearest him Tarzan saw a
low-arched gateway to which a well-beaten trail led from
that which he had been following. In the open space between
the forest and the city walls, quantities of garden stuff was
growing, while before him at his feet, in an open man-made
ditch, ran a stream of water! The plants in the garden were
laid out in well-spaced, symmetrical rows and appeared to
have been given excellent attention and cultivation. Tiny
streams were trickling between the rows from the main ditch
before him and at some distance to his right he could see
people at work among the plants.

The city wall appeared to be about thirty feet in height,
its plastered expanse unbroken except by occasional em-
brasures. Beyond the wall rose the domes of several struc-
tures and numerous minarets dotted the sky line of the city.
The largest and central dome appeared to be gilded, while
others were red, or blue, or yellow. The architecture of the
wall itself was of uncompromising simplicity. It was of a
cream shade and appeared to be plastered and painted. At
its base was a line of well-tended shrubs and at some distance
towards its eastern extremity it was vine covered to the top.

As he stood in the shadow of the trail, his keen eyes taking
in every detail of the picture before him, he became aware of
the approach of a party in his rear and there was borne to
him the scent of the man and the lions whom he had so
readily escaped. Taking to the trees Tarzan moved a short
distance to the west and, finding a comfortable crotch at the
edge of the forest where he could watch the trail leading
through the gardens to the city gate, he awaited the return of
his would-be captors. And soon they came -- the strange man
followed by the pack of great lions. Like dogs they moved
along behind him down the trail among the gardens to the
gate.

Here the man struck upon the panels of the door with the
butt of his spear, and when it opened in response to his signal
he passed in with his lions. Beyond the open door Tarzan,
from his distant perch, caught but a fleeting glimpse of life
within the city, just enough to indicate that there were other
human creatures who abode there, and then the door closed.

Through that door he knew that the girl and the man whom
he sought to succor had been taken into the city. What fate
lay in store for them or whether already it had been meted
out to them he could not even guess, nor where, within that
forbidding wall, they were incarcerated he could not know.
But of one thing he was assured: that if he were to aid them
he could not do it from outside the wall. He must gain
entrance to the city first, nor did he doubt, that once within,
his keen senses would eventually reveal the whereabouts of
those whom he sought.

The low sun was casting long shadows across the gardens
when Tarzan saw the workers returning from the eastern field.
A man came first, and as he came he lowered little gates along
the large ditch of running water, shutting off the streams that
had run between the rows of growing plants; and behind him
came other men carrying burdens of fresh vegetables in great
woven baskets upon their shoulders. Tarzan had not realized
that there had been so many men working in the field, but
now as he sat there at the close of the day he saw a procession
filing in from the east, bearing the tools and the produce back
into the city.

And then, to gain a better view, the ape-man ascended to
the topmost branches of a tall tree where he overlooked the
nearer wall. From this point of vantage he saw that the city
was long and narrow, and that while the outer walls formed
a perfect rectangle, the streets within were winding. Toward
the center of the city there appeared to be a low, white
building around which the larger edifices of the city had been
built, and here, in the fast-waning light, Tarzan thought that
between two buildings he caught the glint of water, but of
that he was not sure. His experience of the centers of civiliza-
tion naturally inclined him to believe that this central area
was a plaza about which the larger buildings were grouped
and that there would be the most logical place to search first
for Bertha Kircher and her companion.

And then the sun went down and darkness quickly en-
veloped the city -- a darkness that was accentuated for the
ape-man rather than relieved by the artificial lights which
immediately appeared in many of the windows visible to him.

Tarzan had noticed that the roofs of most of the buildings
were flat, the few exceptions being those of what he imagined
to be the more pretentious public structures. How this city
had come to exist in this forgotten part of unexplored Africa
the ape-man could not conceive. Better than another, he
realized something of the unsolved secrets of the Great Dark
Continent, enormous areas of which have as yet been un-
touched by the foot of civilized man. Yet he could scarce
believe that a city of this size and apparently thus well con-
structed could have existed for the generations that it must
have been there, without intercourse with the outer world.
Even though it was surrounded by a trackless desert waste, as
he knew it to be, he could not conceive that generation after
generation of men could be born and die there without at-
tempting to solve the mysteries of the world beyond the
confines of their little valley.

And yet, here was the city surrounded by tilled land and
filled with people!

With the coming of night there arose throughout the jungle
the cries of the great cats, the voice of Numa blended with
that of Sheeta, and the thunderous roars of the great males
reverberated through the forest until the earth trembled, and
from within the city came the answering roars of other lions.

A simple plan for gaining entrance to the city had occurred
to Tarzan, and now that darkness had fallen he set about to
put it into effect. Its success hinged entirely upon the strength
of the vines he had seen surmounting the wall toward the
east. In this direction he made his way, while from out of
the forest about him the cries of the flesh-eaters increased in
volume and ferocity. A quarter of a mile intervened between
the forest and the city wall -- a quarter of a mile of cultivated
land unrelieved by a single tree. Tarzan of the Apes realized
his limitations and so he knew that it would undoubtedly
spell death for him to be caught in the open space by one of
the great black lions of the forest if, as he had already sur-
mised, Numa of the pit was a specimen of the forest lion of the
valley.

He must, therefore, depend entirely upon his cunning and
his speed, and upon the chance that the vine would sustain
his weight.

He moved through the middle terrace, where the way is
always easiest, until he reached a point opposite the vine-clad
portion of the wall, and there he waited, listening and scenting,
until he might assure himself that there was no Numa within
his immediate vicinity, or, at least, none that sought him. And
when he was quite sure that there was no lion close by in the
forest, and none in the clearing between himself and the wall,
he dropped lightly to the ground and moved stealthily out into
the open.

The rising moon, just topping the eastern cliffs, cast its
bright rays upon the long stretch of open garden beneath the
wall. And, too, it picked out in clear relief for any curious
eyes that chanced to be cast in that direction, the figure of the
giant ape-man moving across the clearing. It was only chance,
of course, that a great lion hunting at the edge of the forest
saw the figure of the man halfway between the forest and the
wall. Suddenly there broke upon Tarzan's ears a menacing
sound. It was not the roar of a hungry lion, but the roar of
a lion in rage, and, as he glanced back in the direction from
which the sound came, he saw a huge beast moving out from
the shadow of the forest toward him.

Even in the moonlight and at a distance Tarzan saw that
the lion was huge; that it was indeed another of the black-
maned monsters similar to Numa of the pit. For an instant
he was impelled to turn and fight, but at the same time the
thought of the helpless girl imprisoned in the city flashed
through his brain and, without an instant's hesitation, Tarzan
of the Apes wheeled and ran for the wall. Then it was that
Numa charged.

Numa, the lion, can run swiftly for a short distance, but he
lacks endurance. For the period of an ordinary charge he
can cover the ground with greater rapidity possibly than any
other creature in the world. Tarzan, on the other hand, could
run at great speed for long distances, though never as rapidly
as Numa when the latter charged.

The question of his fate, then, rested upon whether, with
his start he could elude Numa for a few seconds; and, if so,
if the lion would then have sufficient stamina remaining to
pursue him at a reduced gait for the balance of the distance
to the wall.

Never before, perhaps, was staged a more thrilling race,
and yet it was run with only the moon and stars to see. Alone
and in silence the two beasts sped across the moonlit clearing.
Numa gained with appalling rapidity upon the fleeing man,
yet at every bound Tarzan was nearer to the vine-clad wall.
Once the ape-man glanced back. Numa was so close upon
him that it seemed inevitable that at the next bound he should
drag him down; so close was he that the ape-man drew his
knife as he ran, that he might at least give a good account of
himself in the last moments of his life.

But Numa had reached the limit of his speed and endurance.
Gradually he dropped behind but he did not give up the
pursuit, and now Tarzan realized how much hinged upon the
strength of the untested vines.

If, at the inception of the race, only Goro and the stars had
looked down upon the contestants, such was not the case at
its finish, since from an embrasure near the summit of the
wall two close-set black eyes peered down upon the two.
Tarzan was a dozen yards ahead of Numa when he reached
the wall. There was no time to stop and institute a search
for sturdy stems and safe handholds. His fate was in the
hands of chance and with the realization he gave a final spurt
and running catlike up the side of the wall among the vines,
sought with his hands for something that would sustain his
weight. Below him Numa leaped also.

Among the Maniacs

As the lions swarmed over her protectors, Bertha Kircher
shrank back in the cave in a momentary paralysis of
fright superinduced, perhaps, by the long days of ter-
rific nerve strain which she had undergone.

Mingled with the roars of the lions had been the voices of
men, and presently out of the confusion and turmoil she felt
the near presence of a human being, and then hands reached
forth and seized her. It was dark and she could see but little,
nor any sign of the English officer or the ape-man. The
man who seized her kept the lions from her with what ap-
peared to be a stout spear, the haft of which he used to beat
off the beasts. The fellow dragged her from the cavern the
while he shouted what appeared to be commands and warn-
ings to the lions.

Once out upon the light sands of the bottom of the gorge
objects became more distinguishable, and then she saw that
there were other men in the party and that two half led and
half carried the stumbling figure of a third, whom she guessed
must be Smith-Oldwick.

For a time the lions made frenzied efforts to reach the two
captives but always the men with them succeeded in beating
them off. The fellows seemed utterly unafraid of the great
beasts leaping and snarling about them, handling them much
the same as one might handle a pack of obstreperous dogs.
Along the bed of the old watercourse that once ran through
the gorge they made their way, and as the first faint lightening
of the eastern horizon presaged the coming dawn, they paused
for a moment upon the edge of a declivity, which appeared to
the girl in the strange light of the waning night as a vast,
bottomless pit; but, as their captors resumed their way and
the light of the new day became stronger, she saw that they
were moving downward toward a dense forest.

Once beneath the over-arching trees all was again Cim-
merian darkness, nor was the gloom relieved until the sun
finally arose beyond the eastern cliffs, when she saw that they
were following what appeared to be a broad and well-beaten
game trail through a forest of great trees. The ground was
unusually dry for an African forest and the underbrush, while
heavily foliaged, was not nearly so rank and impenetrable as
that which she had been accustomed to find in similar woods.
It was as though the trees and the bushes grew in a waterless
country, nor was there the musty odor of decaying vegetation
or the myriads of tiny insects such as are bred in damp places.

As they proceeded and the sun rose higher, the voices of
the arboreal jungle life rose in discordant notes and loud
chattering about them. Innumerable monkeys scolded and
screamed in the branches overhead, while harsh-voiced birds
of brilliant plumage darted hither and thither. She noticed
presently that their captors often cast apprehensive glances
in the direction of the birds and on numerous occasions
seemed to be addressing the winged denizens of the forest.

One incident made a marked impression on her. The man
who immediately preceded her was a fellow of powerful
build, yet, when a brilliantly colored parrot swooped down-
ward toward him, he dropped upon his knees and covering
his face with his arms bent forward until his head touched
the ground. Some of the others looked at him and laughed
nervously. Presently the man glanced upward and seeing that
the bird had gone, rose to his feet and continued along the
trail.

It was at this brief halt that Smith-Oldwick was brought to
her side by the men who had been supporting him. He had
been rather badly mauled by one of the lions; but was now
able to walk alone, though he was extremely weak from shock
and loss of blood.

"Pretty mess, what?" he remarked with a wry smile, indi-
cating his bloody and disheveled state.

"It is terrible," said the girl. "I hope you are not suffering."

"Not as much as I should have expected," he replied, "but
I feel as weak as a fool. What sort of creatures are these
beggars, anyway?"

"I don't know," she replied, "there is something terribly
uncanny about their appearance."

The man regarded one of their captors closely for a mo-
ment and then, turning to the girl asked, "Did you ever visit
a madhouse?"

She looked up at him in quick understanding and with a
horrified expression in her eyes. "That's it!" she cried.

"They have all the earmarks," he said. "Whites of the eyes
showing all around the irises, hair growing stiffly erect from
the scalp and low down upon the forehead -- even their man-
nerisms and their carriage are those of maniacs."

The girl shuddered.

"Another thing about them," continued the Englishman,
"that doesn't appear normal is that they are afraid of parrots
and utterly fearless of lions."

"Yes," said the girl; "and did you notice that the birds seem
utterly fearless of them -- really seem to hold them in con-
tempt? Have you any idea what language they speak?"

'No," said the man, "I have been trying to figure that out.
It's not like any of the few native dialects of which I have any
knowledge."

"It doesn't sound at all like the native language," said the
girl, "but there is something familiar about it. You know,
every now and then I feel that I am just on the verge of
understanding what they are saying, or at least that some-
where I have heard their tongue before, but final recognition
always eludes me."

"I doubt if you ever heard their language spoken," said the
man. "These people must have lived in this out-of-the-way
valley for ages and even if they had retained the original
language of their ancestors without change, which is doubt-
ful, it must be some tongue that is no longer spoken in the
outer world."

At one point where a stream of water crossed the trail the
party halted while the lions and the men drank. They mo-
tioned to their captors to drink too, and as Bertha Kircher
and Smith-Oldwick, lying prone upon the ground drank from
the clear, cool water of the rivulet, they were suddenly startled
by the thunderous roar of a lion a short distance ahead of
them. Instantly the lions with them set up a hideous response,
moving restlessly to and fro with their eyes always either
turned in the direction from which the roar had come or
toward their masters, against whom the tawny beasts slunk.
The men loosened the sabers in their scabbards, the weapons
that had aroused Smith-Oldwick's curiosity as they had Tar-
zan's, and grasped their spears more firmly.

Evidently there were lions and lions, and while they evinced
no fear of the beasts which accompanied them, it was quite
evident that the voice of the newcomer had an entirely differ-
ent effect upon them, although the men seemed less terrified
than the lions. Neither, however, showed any indication of
an inclination to flee; on the contrary the entire party advanced
along the trail in the direction of the menacing roars, and
presently there appeared in the center of the path a black
lion of gigantic proportions. To Smith-Oldwick and the girl
he appeared to be the same lion that they had encountered
at the plane and from which Tarzan had rescued them. But
it was not Numa of the pit, although he resembled him closely.

The black beast stood directly in the center of the trail
lashing his tail and growling menacingly at the advancing
party. The men urged on their own beasts, who growled and
whined but hesitated to charge. Evidently becoming impa-
tient, and in full consciousness of his might the intruder raised
his tail stiffly erect and shot forward. Several of the de-
fending lions made a half-hearted attempt to obstruct his
passage, but they might as well have placed themselves in the
path of an express train, as hurling them aside the great beast
leaped straight for one of the men. A dozen spears were
launched at him and a dozen sabers leaped from their scab-
bards; gleaming, razor-edged weapons they were, but for the
instant rendered futile by the terrific speed of the charging
beast.

Two of the spears entering his body but served to further
enrage him as, with demoniacal roars, he sprang upon the
hapless man he had singled out for his prey. Scarcely pausing
in his charge he seized the fellow by the shoulder and, turning
quickly at right angles, leaped into the concealing foliage
that flanked the trail, and was gone, bearing his victim with
him.

So quickly had the whole occurrence transpired that the
formation of the little party was scarcely altered. There had
been no opportunity for flight, even if it had been contem-
plated; and now that the lion was gone with his prey the men
made no move to pursue him. They paused only long enough
to recall the two or three of their lions that had scattered and
then resumed the march along the trail.

"Might be an everyday occurrence from all the effect it has
on them," remarked Smith-Oldwick to the girl.

"Yes," she said. "They seem to be neither surprised nor
disconcerted, and evidently they are quite sure that the lion,
having got what he came for, will not molest them further."

"I had thought," said the Englishman, "that the lions of the
Wamabo country were about the most ferocious in existence,
but they are regular tabby cats by comparison with these big
black fellows. Did you ever see anything more utterly fear-
less or more terribly irresistible than that charge?"

For a while, as they walked side by side, their thoughts and
conversation centered upon this latest experience, until the
trail emerging from the forest opened to their view a walled
city and an area of cultivated land. Neither could suppress
an exclamation of surprise.

"Why, that wall is a regular engineering job," exclaimed
Smith-Oldwick 

"And look at the domes and minarets of the city beyond,"
cried the girl. "There must be a civilized people beyond that
wall. Possibly we are fortunate to have fallen into their hands."

Smith-Oldwick shrugged his shoulders. "I hope so," he
said, "though I am not at all sure about people who travel
about with lions and are afraid of parrots. There must be
something wrong with them."

The party followed the trail across the field to an arched
gateway which opened at the summons of one of their captors,
who beat upon the heavy wooden panels with his spear.
Beyond, the gate opened into a narrow street which seemed
but a continuation of the jungle trail leading from the forest.
Buildings on either hand adjoined the wall and fronted the
narrow, winding street, which was only visible for a short
distance ahead. The houses were practically all two-storied
structures, the upper stories flush with the street while the
walls of the first story were set back some ten feet, a series of
simple columns and arches supporting the front of the second
story and forming an arcade on either side of the narrow
thoroughfare.

The pathway in the center of the street was unpaved, but
the floors of the arcades were cut stone of various shapes and
sizes but all carefully fitted and laid without mortar. These
floors gave evidence of great antiquity, there being a distinct
depression down the center as though the stone had been
worn away by the passage of countless sandaled feet during
the ages that it had lain there.

There were few people astir at this early hour, and these
were of the same type as their captors. At first those whom
they saw were only men, but as they went deeper into the
city they came upon a few naked children playing in the soft
dust of the roadway. Many they passed showed the greatest
surprise and curiosity in the prisoners, and often made in-
quiries of the guards, which the two assumed must have been
in relation to themselves, while others appeared not to notice
them at all.

"I wish we could understand their bally language," ex-
claimed Smith-Oldwick.

"Yes," said the girl, "I would like to ask them what they
are going to do with us."

"That would be interesting," said the man. "I have been
doing considerable wondering along that line myself."

"I don't like the way their canine teeth are filed," said the
girl. "It's too suggestive of some of the cannibals I have seen."

"You don't really believe they are cannibals, do you?" asked
the man. "You don't think white people are ever cannibals,
do you?"

"Are these people white?" asked the girl.

"They're not Negroes, that's certain," rejoined the man.
"Their skin is yellow, but yet it doesn't resemble the Chinese
exactly, nor are any of their features Chinese."

It was at this juncture that they caught their first glimpse of
a native woman. She was similar in most respects to the men
though her stature was smaller and her figure more symmetri-
cal. Her face was more repulsive than that of the men, pos-
sibly because of the fact that she was a woman, which rather
accentuated the idiosyncrasies of eyes, pendulous lip, pointed
tusks and stiff, low-growing hair. The latter was longer than
that of the men and much heavier. It hung about her shoul-
ders and was confined by a colored bit of some lacy fabric.
Her single garment appeared to be nothing more than a filmy
scarf which was wound tightly around her body from below
her naked breasts, being caught up some way at the bottom
near her ankles. Bits of shiny metal resembling gold, orna-
mented both the headdress and the skirt. Otherwise the woman
was entirely without jewelry. Her bare arms were slender
and shapely and her hands and feet well proportioned and
symmetrical.

She came close to the party as they passed her, jabbering
to the guards who paid no attention to her. The prisoners
had an opportunity to observe her closely as she followed at
their side for a short distance.

"The figure of a houri," remarked Smith-Oldwick, "with the
face of an imbecile."

The street they followed was intersected at irregular in-
tervals by crossroads which, as they glanced down them,
proved to be equally as tortuous as that through which they
were being conducted. The houses varied but little in design.
Occasionally there were bits of color, or some attempt at other
architectural ornamentation. Through open windows and doors
they could see that the walls of the houses were very thick
and that all apertures were quite small, as though the people
had built against extreme heat, which they realized must
have been necessary in this valley buried deep in an African
desert.

Ahead they occasionally caught glimpses of larger struc-
tures, and as they approached them, came upon what was
evidently a part of the business section of the city. There
were numerous small shops and bazaars interspersed among
the residences, and over the doors of these were signs painted
in characters strongly suggesting Greek origin and yet it was
not Greek as both the Englishman and the girl knew.

Smith-Oldwick was by this time beginning to feel more
acutely the pain of his wounds and the consequent weakness
that was greatly aggravated by loss of blood. He staggered now
occasionally and the girl, seeing his plight, offered him her
arm.

"No," he expostulated, "you have passed through too much
yourself to have any extra burden imposed upon you." But
though he made a valiant effort to keep up with their captors
he occasionally lagged, and upon one such occasion the guards
for the first time showed any disposition toward brutality.

It was a big fellow who walked at Smith-Oldwick's left.
Several times he took hold of the Englishman's arm and
pushed him forward not ungently, but when the captive
lagged again and again the fellow suddenly, and certainly
with no just provocation, flew into a perfect frenzy of rage.
He leaped upon the wounded man, striking him viciously
with his fists and, bearing him to the ground, grasped his
throat in his left hand while with his right he drew his long
sharp saber. Screaming terribly he waved the blade above his
head.

The others stopped and turned to look upon the encounter
with no particular show of interest. It was as though one of
the party had paused to readjust a sandal and the others merely
waited until he was ready to march on again.

But if their captors were indifferent, Bertha Kircher was not.
The close-set blazing eyes, the snarling fanged face, and the
frightful screams filled her with horror, while the brutal and
wanton attack upon the wounded man aroused within her the
spirit of protection for the weak that is inherent in all women.
Forgetful of everything other than that a weak and defense-
less man was being brutally murdered before her eyes, the girl
cast aside discretion and, rushing to Smith-Oldwick's assist-
ance, seized the uplifted sword arm of the shrieking creature
upon the prostrate Englishman.

Clinging desperately to the fellow she surged backward with
all her weight and strength with the result that she overbal-
anced him and sent him sprawling to the pavement upon his
back. In his efforts to save himself he relaxed his grasp upon
the grip of his saber which had no sooner fallen to the ground
than it was seized upon by the girl. Standing erect beside the
prostrate form of the English officer Bertha Kircher, the razor-
edged weapon grasped firmly in her hand, faced their captors.

She was a brave figure; even her soiled and torn riding togs
and disheveled hair detracted nothing from her appearance.
The creature she had felled scrambled quickly to his feet and
in the instant his whole demeanor changed. From demoniacal
rage he became suddenly convulsed with hysterical laughter
although it was a question in the girl's mind as to which was
the more terrifying. His companions stood looking on with
vacuous grins upon their countenances, while he from whom
the girl had wrested the weapon leaped up and down shriek-
ing with laughter. If Bertha Kircher had needed further evi-
dence to assure her that they were in the hands of a mentally
deranged people the man's present actions would have been
sufficient to convince her. The sudden uncontrolled rage and
now the equally uncontrolled and mirthless laughter but em-
phasized the facial attributes of idiocy.

Suddenly realizing how helpless she was in the event any
one of the men should seek to overpower her, and moved by
a sudden revulsion of feeling that brought on almost a nausea
of disgust, the girl hurled the weapon upon the ground at the
feet of the laughing maniac and, turning, kneeled beside the
Englishman.

"It was wonderful of you," he said, "but you shouldn't have
done it. Don't antagonize them: I believe that they are all
mad and you know they say that one should always humor a
madman."

She shook her head. "I couldn't see him kill you," she said.

A sudden light sprang to the man's eyes as he reached out
a hand and grasped the girl's fingers. "Do you care a little
now?" he asked. "Can't you tell me that you do -- just a bit?"

She did not withdraw her hand from his but she shook her
head sadly. "Please don't," she said. "I am sorry that I can
only like you very much."

The light died from his eyes and his fingers relaxed their
grasp on hers. "Please forgive me," he murmured. "I intended
waiting until we got out of this mess and you were safe among
your own people. It must have been the shock or something
like that, and seeing you defending me as you did. Anyway, I
couldn't help it and really it doesn't make much difference what
I say now, does it?"

"What do you mean?" she asked quickly.

He shrugged and smiled ruefully. "I will never leave this
city alive," he said. "I wouldn't mention it except that I real-
ize that you must know it as well as I. I was pretty badly torn
up by the lion and this fellow here has about finished me.
There might be some hope if we were among civilized people,
but here with these frightful creatures what care could we
get even if they were friendly?"

Bertha Kircher knew that he spoke the truth, and yet she
could not bring herself to an admission that Smith-Oldwick
would die. She was very fond of him, in fact her great regret
was that she did not love him, but she knew that she did not.

It seemed to her that it could be such an easy thing for any
girl to love Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick -- an Eng-
lish officer and a gentleman, the scion of an old family and
himself a man of ample means, young, good-looking and af-
fable. What more could a girl ask for than to have such a
man love her and that she possessed Smith-Oldwick's love
there was no doubt in Bertha Kircher's mind.

She sighed, and then, laying her hand impulsively on his
forehead, she whispered, "Do not give up hope, though. Try
to live for my sake and for your sake I will try to love you."

It was as though new life had suddenly been injected into
the man's veins. His face lightened instantly and with strength
that he himself did not know he possessed he rose slowly to
his feet, albeit somewhat unsteadily. The girl helped him and
supported him after he had arisen.

For the moment they had been entirely unconscious of their
surroundings and now as she looked at their captors she saw
that they had fallen again into their almost habitual manner
of stolid indifference, and at a gesture from one of them the
march was resumed as though no untoward incident had
occurred.

Bertha Kircher experienced a sudden reaction from the mo-
mentary exaltation of her recent promise to the Englishman.
She knew that she had spoken more for him than for herself
but now that it was over she realized, as she had realized the
moment before she had spoken, that it was unlikely she would
ever care for him the way he wished. But what had she prom-
ised? Only that she would try to love him. "And now?" she
asked herself.

She realized that there might be little hope of their ever
returning to civilization. Even if these people should prove
friendly and willing to let them depart in peace, how were
they to find their way back to the coast? With Tarzan dead,
as she fully believed him after having seen his body lying life-
less at the mouth of the cave when she had been dragged forth
by her captor, there seemed no power at their command which
could guide them safely.

The two had scarcely mentioned the ape-man since their
capture, for each realized fully what his loss meant to them.
They had compared notes relative to those few exciting mo-
ments of the final attack and capture and had found that they
agreed perfectly upon all that had occurred. Smith-Oldwick
had even seen the lion leap upon Tarzan at the instant that the
former was awakened by the roars of the charging beasts, and
though the night had been dark, he had been able to see that
the body of the savage ape-man had never moved from the
instant that it had come down beneath the beast.

And so, if at other times within the past few weeks Bertha
Kircher had felt that her situation was particularly hopeless,
she was now ready to admit that hope was absolutely extinct.

The streets were beginning to fill with the strange men and
women of this strange city. Sometimes individuals would notice
them and seem to take a great interest in them, and again
others would pass with vacant stares, seemingly unconscious
of their immediate surroundings and paying no attention
whatsoever to the prisoners. Once they heard hideous screams
up a side street, and looking they saw a man in the throes
of a demoniacal outburst of rage, similar to that which they
had witnessed in the recent attack upon Smith-Oldwick. This
creature was venting his insane rage upon a child which he
repeatedly struck and bit, pausing only long enough to shriek
at frequent intervals. Finally, just before they passed out of
sight the creature raised the limp body of the child high above
his head and cast it down with all his strength upon the pave-
ment, and then, wheeling and screaming madly at the top of
his lungs, he dashed headlong up the winding street.

Two women and several men had stood looking on at the
cruel attack. They were at too great a distance for the Euro-
peans to know whether their facial expressions portrayed pity
or rage, but be that as it may, none offered to interfere.

A few yards farther on a hideous hag leaned from a second
story window where she laughed and jibbered and made hor-
rid grimaces at all who passed her. Others went their ways
apparently attending to whatever duties called them, as soberly
as the inhabitants of any civilized community.

"God," muttered Smith-Oldwick, "what an awful place!"

The girl turned suddenly toward him. "You still have your
pistol?" she asked him.

"Yes," he replied. "I tucked it inside my shirt. They did
not search me and it was too dark for them to see whether I
carried any weapons or not. So I hid it in the hope that I might
get through with it."

She moved closer to him and took hold of his hand. "Save
one cartridge for me, please?" she begged.

Smith-Oldwick looked down at her and blinked his eyes
very rapidly. An unfamiliar and disconcerting moisture had
come into them. He had realized, of course, how bad a plight
was theirs but somehow it had seemed to affect him only:
it did not seem possible that anyone could harm this sweet
and beautiful girl.

And that she should have to be destroyed -- destroyed by
him! It was too hideous: it was unbelievable, unthinkable! If
he had been filled with apprehension before, he was doubly
perturbed now.

"I don't believe I could do it, Bertha," he said.

"Not even to save me from something worse?" she asked.

He shook his head dismally. "I could never do it," he re-
plied.

The street that they were following suddenly opened upon
a wide avenue, and before them spread a broad and beautiful
lagoon, the quiet surface of which mirrored the clear cerulean
of the sky. Here the aspect of all their surroundings changed.
The buildings were higher and much more pretentious in de-
sign and ornamentation. The street itself was paved in mosaics
of barbaric but stunningly beautiful design. In the ornamen-
tation of the buildings there was considerable color and a
great deal of what appeared to be gold leaf. In all the decora-
tions there was utilized in various ways the conventional figure
of the parrot, and, to a lesser extent, that of the lion and the
monkey.

Their captors led them along the pavement beside the la-
goon for a short distance and then through an arched doorway
into one of the buildings facing the avenue. Here, directly
within the entrance was a large room furnished with massive
benches and tables, many of which were elaborately hand
carved with the figures of the inevitable parrot, the lion, or
the monkey, the parrot always predominating.

Behind one of the tables sat a man who differed in no way
that the captives could discover from those who accompanied
them. Before this person the party halted, and one of the men
who had brought them made what seemed to be an oral report.
Whether they were before a judge, a military officer, or a civil
dignitary they could not know, but evidently he was a man
of authority, for, after listening to whatever recital was being
made to him the while he closely scrutinized the two captives,
he made a single futile attempt to converse with them and
then issued some curt orders to him who had made the report.

Almost immediately two of the men approached Bertha
Kircher and signaled her to accompany them. Smith-Oldwick
started to follow her but was intercepted by one of their
guards. The girl stopped then and turned back, at the same
time looking at the man at the table and making signs with
her hands, indicating, as best she could, that she wished Smith-
Oldwick to remain with her, but the fellow only shook his
head negatively and motioned to the guards to remove her.
The Englishman again attempted to follow but was restrained.
He was too weak and helpless even to make an attempt to
enforce his wishes. He thought of the pistol inside his shirt
and then of the futility of attempting to overcome an entire
city with the few rounds of ammunition left to him.

So far, with the single exception of the attack made upon
him, they had no reason to believe that they might not receive
fair treatment from their captors, and so he reasoned that it
might be wiser to avoid antagonizing them until such a time
as he became thoroughly convinced that their intentions were
entirely hostile. He saw the girl led from the building and
just before she disappeared from his view she turned and
waved her hand to him:

"Good luck!" she cried, and was gone.

The lions that had entered the building with the party had,
during their examination by the man at the table, been driven
from the apartment through a doorway behind him. Toward
this same doorway two of the men now led Smith-Oldwick.
He found himself in a long corridor from the sides of which
other doorways opened, presumably into other apartments
of the building. At the far end of the corridor he saw a heavy
grating beyond which appeared an open courtyard. Into this
courtyard the prisoner was conducted, and as he entered it with
the two guards he found himself in an opening which was
bounded by the inner walls of the building. It was in the nature
of a garden in which a number of trees and flowering shrubs
grew. Beneath several of the trees were benches and there
was a bench along the south wall, but what aroused his most
immediate attention was the fact that the lions who had
assisted in their capture and who had accompanied them
upon the return to the city, lay sprawled about upon the
ground or wandered restlessly to and fro.

Just inside the gate his guard halted. The two men ex-
changed a few words and then turned and reentered the
corridor. The Englishman was horror-stricken as the full
realization of his terrible plight forced itself upon his tired
brain. He turned and seized the grating in an attempt to open
it and gain the safety of the corridor, but he found it securely
locked against his every effort, and then he called aloud to the
retreating figure of the men within. The only reply he received
was a high-pitched, mirthless laugh, and then the two passed
through the doorway at the far end of the corridor and he was
alone with the lions.

The Queen's Story

In the meantime Bertha Kircher was conducted the length
of the plaza toward the largest and most pretentious of the
buildings surrounding it. This edifice covered the entire
width of one end of the plaza. It was several stories in height,
the main entrance being approached by a wide flight of stone
steps, the bottom of which was guarded by enormous stone
lions, while at the top there were two pedestals flanking the
entrance and of the same height, upon each of which was the
stone image of a large parrot. As the girl neared these latter
images she saw that the capital of each column was hewn
into the semblance of a human skull upon which the parrots
perched. Above the arched doorway and upon the walls of
the building were the figures of other parrots, of lions, and of
monkeys. Some of these were carved in bas-relief; others were
delineated in mosaics, while still others appeared to have
been painted upon the surface of the wall.

The colorings of the last were apparently much subdued by
age with the result that the general effect was soft and beauti-
ful. The sculpturing and mosaic work were both finely exe-
cuted, giving evidence of a high degree of artistic skill. Unlike
the first building into which she had been conducted, the
entrance to which had been doorless, massive doors closed
the entrance which she now approached. In the niches formed
by the columns which supported the door's arch, and about the
base of the pedestals of the stone parrots, as well as in various
other places on the broad stairway, lolled some score of armed
men. The tunics of these were all of a vivid yellow and upon
the breast and back of each was embroidered the figure of a
parrot.

As she was conducted up the stairway one of these yellow-
coated warriors approached and halted her guides at the top
of the steps. Here they exchanged a few words and while they
were talking the girl noticed that he who had halted them, as
well as those whom she could see of his companions, appeared
to be, if possible, of a lower mentality than her original
captors.

Their coarse, bristling hair grew so low upon their foreheads
as, in some instances, to almost join their eyebrows, while the
irises were smaller, exposing more of the white of the eyeball.

After a short parley the man in charge of the doorway, for
such he seemed to be, turned and struck upon one of the panels
with the butt of his spear, at the same time calling to several
of his companions, who rose and came forward at his com-
mand. Soon the great doors commenced slowly to swing
creakingly open, and presently, as they separated, the girl
saw behind them the motive force which operated the massive
doors -- to each door a half-dozen naked Negroes.

At the doorway her two guards were turned back and their
places taken by a half dozen of the yellow-coated soldiery.
These conducted her through the doorway which the blacks,
pulling upon heavy chains, closed behind them. And as the
girl watched them she noted with horror that the poor crea-
tures were chained by the neck to the doors.

Before her led a broad hallway in the center of which was
a little pool of clear water. Here again in floor and walls was
repeated in new and ever-changing combinations and designs,
the parrots, the monkeys, and the lions, but now many of the
figures were of what the girl was convinced must be gold.
The walls of the corridor consisted of a series of open arch-
ways through which, upon either side, other spacious apart-
ments were visible. The hallway was entirely unfurnished,
but the rooms on either side contained benches and tables.
Glimpses of some of the walls revealed the fact that they were
covered with hangings of some colored fabric, while upon the
floors were thick rugs of barbaric design and the skins of black
lions and beautifully marked leopards.

The room directly to the right of the entrance was filled
with men wearing the yellow tunics of her new guard while
the walls were hung with numerous spears and sabers. At the
far end of the corridor a low flight of steps led to another
closed doorway. Here the guard was again halted. One of the
guards at this doorway, after receiving the report of one of
those who accompanied her, passed through the door, leaving
them standing outside. It was fully fifteen minutes before he
returned, when the guard was again changed and the girl
conducted into the chamber beyond.

Through three other chambers and past three more massive
doors, at each of which her guard was changed, the girl was
conducted before she was ushered into a comparatively small
room, back and forth across the floor of which paced a man
in a scarlet tunic, upon the front and back of which was
embroidered an enormous parrot and upon whose head was a
barbaric headdress surmounted by a stuffed parrot.

The walls of this room were entirely hidden by hangings
upon which hundreds, even thousands, of parrots were em-
broidered. Inlaid in the floor were golden parrots, while, as
thickly as they could be painted, upon the ceiling were bril-
liant-hued parrots with wings outspread as though in the act
of flying.

The man himself was larger of stature than any she had
yet seen within the city. His parchment-like skin was wrinkled
with age and he was much fatter than any other of his kind
that she had seen. His bared arms, however, gave evidence of
great strength and his gait was not that of an old man. His
facial expression denoted almost utter imbecility and he was
quite the most repulsive creature that ever Bertha Kircher
had looked upon.

For several minutes after she was conducted into his pres-
ence he appeared not to be aware that she was there but
continued his restless pacing to and fro. Suddenly, without the
slightest warning, and while he was at the far end of the room
from her with his back toward her, he wheeled and rushed
madly at her. Involuntarily the girl shrank back, extending her
open palms toward the frightful creature as though to hold
him aloof but a man upon either side of her, the two who had
conducted her into the apartment, seized and held her.

Although he rushed violently toward her the man stopped
without touching her. For a moment his horrid white-rimmed
eyes glared searchingly into her face, immediately following
which he burst into maniacal laughter. For two or three
minutes the creature gave himself over to merriment and then,
stopping as suddenly as he had commenced to laugh, he fell
to examining the prisoner. He felt of her hair, her skin, the
texture of the garment she wore and by means of signs made
her understand she was to open her mouth. In the latter he
seemed much interested, calling the attention of one of the
guards to her canine teeth and then baring his own sharp fangs
for the prisoner to see.

Presently he resumed pacing to and fro across the floor, and
it was fully fifteen minutes before he again noticed the pris-
oner, and then it was to issue a curt order to her guards, who
immediately conducted her from the apartment.

The guards now led the girl through a series of corridors
and apartments to a narrow stone stairway which led to the
floor above, finally stopping before a small door where stood
a naked Negro armed with a spear. At a word from one of
her guards the Negro opened the door and the party passed
into a low-ceiled apartment, the windows of which immedi-
ately caught the girl's attention through the fact that they were
heavily barred. The room was furnished similarly to those that
she had seen in other parts of the building, the same carved
tables and benches, the rugs upon the floor, the decorations
upon the walls, although in every respect it was simpler than
anything she had seen on the floor below. In one corner was a
low couch covered with a rug similar to those on the floor ex-
cept that it was of a lighter texture, and upon this sat a woman.

As Bertha Kircher's eyes alighted upon the occupant of the
room the girl gave a little gasp of astonishment, for she recog-
nized immediately that here was a creature more nearly of her
own kind than any she had seen within the city's walls. An
old woman it was who looked at her through faded blue eyes,
sunken deep in a wrinkled and toothless face. But the eyes
were those of a sane and intelligent creature, and the wrinkled
face was the face of a white woman.

At sight of the girl the woman rose and came forward, her
gait so feeble and unsteady that she was forced to support
herself with a long staff which she grasped in both her hands.
One of the guards spoke a few words to her and then the men
turned and left the apartment. The girl stood just within the
door waiting in silence for what might next befall her.

The old woman crossed the room and stopped before her,
raising her weak and watery eyes to the fresh young face of
the newcomer. Then she scanned her from head to foot and
once again the old eyes returned to the girl's face. Bertha
Kircher on her part was not less frank in her survey of the
little old woman. It was the latter who spoke first. In a thin,
cracked voice she spoke, hesitatingly, falteringly, as though she
were using unfamiliar words and speaking a strange tongue.

"You are from the outer world?" she asked in English.
"God grant that you may speak and understand this tongue."

"English?" the girl exclaimed, "Yes, of course, I speak Eng-
lish."

"Thank God!" cried the little old woman. "I did not know
whether I myself might speak it so that another could under-
stand. For sixty years I have spoken only their accursed
gibberish. For sixty years I have not heard a word in my
native language. Poor creature! Poor creature!" she mumbled.
"What accursed misfortune threw you into their hands?"

"You are an English woman?" asked Bertha Kircher. "Did
I understand you aright that you are an English woman and
have been here for sixty years?"

The old woman nodded her head affirmatively. "For sixty
years I have never been outside of this palace. Come," she
said, stretching forth a bony hand. "I am very old and cannot
stand long. Come and sit with me on my couch."

The girl took the proffered hand and assisted the old lady
back to the opposite side of the room and when she was seated
the girl sat down beside her.

"Poor child! Poor child!" moaned the old woman. "Far
better to have died than to have let them bring you here. At
first I might have destroyed myself but there was always the
hope that someone would come who would take me away,
but none ever comes. Tell me how they got you."

Very briefly the girl narrated the principal incidents which
led up to her capture by some of the creatures of the city.

"Then there is a man with you in the city?" asked the old
woman.

"Yes," said the girl, "but I do not know where he is nor
what are their intentions in regard to him. In fact, I do not
know what their intentions toward me are."

"No one might even guess," said the old woman. "They
do not know themselves from one minute to the next what
their intentions are, but I think you can rest assured, my poor
child, that you will never see your friend again."

"But they haven't slain you," the girl reminded her, "and
you have been their prisoner, you say, for sixty years."

"No," replied her companion, "they have not killed me, nor
will they kill you, though God knows before you have lived
long in this horrible place you will beg them to kill you."

"Who are they --" asked Bertha Kircher, "what kind of
people? They differ from any that I ever have seen. And tell
me, too, how you came here."

"It was long ago," said the old woman, rocking back and
forth on the couch. "It was long ago. Oh, how long it was!
I was only twenty then. Think of it, child! Look at me. I have
no mirror other than my bath, I cannot see what I look like
for my eyes are old, but with my fingers I can feel my old and
wrinkled face, my sunken eyes, and these flabby lips drawn
in over toothless gums. I am old and bent and hideous, but
then I was young and they said that I was beautiful. No, I
will not be a hypocrite; I was beautiful. My glass told me that.

"My father was a missionary in the interior and one day
there came a band of Arabian slave raiders. They took the
men and women of the little native village where my father
labored, and they took me, too. They did not know much
about our part of the country so they were compelled to rely
upon the men of our village whom they had captured to
guide them. They told me that they never before had been
so far south and that they had heard there was a country rich
in ivory and slaves west of us. They wanted to go there and
from there they would take us north, where I was to be sold
into the harem of some black sultan.

"They often discussed the price I would bring, and that
that price might not lessen, they guarded me jealously from
one another so the journeys were made as little fatiguing for
me as possible. I was given the best food at their command
and I was not harmed.

"But after a short time, when we had reached the confines
of the country with which the men of our village were familiar
and had entered upon a desolate and arid desert waste, the
Arabs realized at last that we were lost. But they still kept on,
ever toward the west, crossing hideous gorges and marching
across the face of a burning land beneath the pitiless sun. The
poor slaves they had captured were, of course, compelled to
carry all the camp equipage and loot and thus heavily bur-
dened, half starved and without water, they soon commenced
to die like flies.

"We had not been in the desert land long before the Arabs
were forced to kill their horses for food, and when we reached
the first gorge, across which it would have been impossible
to transport the animals, the balance of them were slaughtered
and the meat loaded upon the poor staggering blacks who still
survived.

"Thus we continued for two more days and now all but a
handful of blacks were dead, and the Arabs themselves had
commenced to succumb to hunger and thirst and the intense
heat of the desert. As far as the eye could reach back toward
the land of plenty from whence we had come, our route was
marked by circling vultures in the sky and by the bodies of
the dead who lay down in the trackless waste for the last
time. The ivory had been abandoned tusk by tusk as the
blacks gave out, and along the trail of death was strewn the
camp equipage and the horse trappings of a hundred men.

"For some reason the Arab chief favored me to the last,
possibly with the idea that of all his other treasures I could
be most easily transported, for I was young and strong and after
the horses were killed I had walked and kept up with the best
of the men. We English, you know, are great walkers, while
these Arabians had never walked since they were old enough
to ride a horse.

"I cannot tell you how much longer we kept on but at last,
with our strength almost gone, a handful of us reached the
bottom of a deep gorge. To scale the opposite side was out
of the question and so we kept on down along the sands of
what must have been the bed of an ancient river, until finally
we came to a point where we looked out upon what appeared
to be a beautiful valley in which we felt assured that we would
find game in plenty.

"By then there were only two of us left -- the chief and my-
self. I do not need to tell you what the valley was, for you
found it in much the same way as I did. So quickly were we
captured that it seemed they must have been waiting for us,
and I learned later that such was the case, just as they were
waiting for you.

"As you came through the forest you must have seen the
monkeys and parrots and since you have entered the palace,
how constantly these animals, and the lions, are used in the
decorations. At home we were all familiar with talking par-
rots who repeated the things that they were taught to say, but
these parrots are different in that they all talk in the same
lan-
guage that the people of the city use, and they say that the
monkeys talk to the parrots and the parrots fly to the city and
tell the people what the monkeys say. And, although it is hard
to believe, I have learned that this is so, for I have lived here
among them for sixty years in the palace of their king.

"They brought me, as they brought you, directly to the pal-
ace. The Arabian chief was taken elsewhere. I never knew
what became of him. Ago XXV was king then. I have seen
many kings since that day. He was a terrible man; but then,
they are all terrible."

"What is the matter with them?" asked the girl.

"They are a race of maniacs," replied the old woman. "Had
you not guessed it? Among them are excellent craftsmen and
good farmers and a certain amount of law and order, such as
it is.

"They reverence all birds, but the parrot is their chief deity.
There is one who is held here in the palace in a very beautiful
apartment. He is their god of gods. He is a very old bird. If
what Ago told me when I came is true, he must be nearly
three hundred years old by now. Their religious rites are re-
volting in the extreme, and I believe that it may be the prac-
tice of these rites through ages that has brought the race to
its present condition of imbecility.

"And yet, as I said, they are not without some redeeming
qualities. If legend may be credited, their forebears -- a little
handful of men and women who came from somewhere out
of the north and became lost in the wilderness of central Af-
rica -- found here only a barren desert valley. To my own
knowledge rain seldom, if ever, falls here, and yet you have
seen a great forest and luxuriant vegetation outside of the
city as well as within. This miracle is accomplished by the
utilization of natural springs which their ancestors developed,
and upon which they have improved to such an extent that
the entire valley receives an adequate amount of moisture at
all times.

"Ago told me that many generations before his time the
forest was irrigated by changing the course of the streams
which carried the spring water to the city but that when the
trees had sent their roots down to the natural moisture of the
soil and required no further irrigation, the course of the stream
was changed and other trees were planted. And so the forest
grew until today it covers almost the entire floor of the valley
except for the open space where the city stands. I do not know
that this is true. It may be that the forest has always been
here, but it is one of their legends and it is borne out by the
fact that there is not sufficient rainfall here to support
vegeta-
tion.

"They are peculiar people in many respects, not only in
their form of worship and religious rites but also in that they
breed lions as other people breed cattle. You have seen how
they use some of these lions but the majority of them they
fatten and eat. At first, I imagine, they ate lion meat as a part
of their religious ceremony but after many generations they
came to crave it so that now it is practically the only flesh
they
eat. They would, of course, rather die than eat the flesh of a
bird, nor will they eat monkey's meat, while the herbivorous
animals they raise only for milk, hides, and flesh for the lions.
Upon the south side of the city are the corrals and pastures
where the herbivorous animals are raised. Boar, deer, and an-
telope are used principally for the lions, while goats are kept
for milk for the human inhabitants of the city."

"And you have lived here all these years," exclaimed the
girl, "without ever seeing one of your own kind?"

The old woman nodded affirmatively.

"For sixty years you have lived here," continued Bertha
Kircher, "and they have not harmed you!"

"I did not say they had not harmed me," said the old wom-
an, "they did not kill me, that is all."

"What" -- the girl hesitated -- "what," she continued at last,
"was your position among them? Pardon me," she added
quickly, "I think I know but I should like to hear from your
own lips, for whatever your position was, mine will doubtless
be the same."

The old woman nodded. "Yes," she said, "doubtless; if they
can keep you away from the women."

"What do you mean?" asked the girl.

"For sixty years I have never been allowed near a woman.
They would kill me, even now, if they could reach me. The
men are frightful, God knows they are frightful! But heaven
keep you from the women!"

"You mean," asked the girl, "that the men will not harm
me?"

"Ago XXV made me his queen," said the old woman. "But
he had many other queens, nor were they all human. He was
not murdered for ten years after I came here. Then the next
king took me, and so it has been always. I am the oldest
queen now. Very few of their women live to a great age. Not
only are they constantly liable to assassination but, owing to
their subnormal mentalities, they are subject to periods of de-
pression during which they are very likely to destroy them-
selves."

She turned suddenly and pointed to the barred windows.
"You see this room," she said, "with the black eunuch out-
side? Wherever you see these you will know that there are
women, for with very few exceptions they are never allowed
out of captivity. They are considered and really are more vio-
lent than the men."

For several minutes the two sat in silence, and then the
younger woman turned to the older.

"Is there no way to escape?" she asked.

The old woman pointed again to the barred windows and
then to the door, saying: "And there is the armed eunuch.
And if you should pass him, how could you reach the street?
And if you reached the street,  how could you pass through the
city to the outer wall? And even if, by some miracle, you
should gain the outer wall, and, by another miracle, you should
be permitted to pass through the gate, could you ever hope
to traverse the forest where the great black lions roam and
feed upon men? No!" she exclaimed, answering her own ques-
tion, "there is no escape, for after one had escaped from the
palace and the city and the forest it would be but to invite
death in the frightful desert land beyond.

"In sixty years you are the first to find this buried city. In a
thousand no denizen of this valley has ever left it, and within
the memory of man, or even in their legends, none had found
them prior to my coming other than a single warlike giant, the
story of whom has been handed down from father to son.

"I think from the description that he must have been a
Spaniard, a giant of a man in buckler and helmet, who fought
his way through the terrible forest to the city gate, who fell
upon those who were sent out to capture him and slew them
with his mighty sword. And when he had eaten of the vege-
tables from the gardens, and the fruit from the trees and
drank of the water from the stream, he turned about and
fought his way back through the forest to the mouth of the
gorge. But though he escaped the city and the forest he did
not escape the desert. For a legend runs that the king, fearful
that he would bring others to attack them, sent a party after
him to slay him.

"For three weeks they did not find him, for they went in the
wrong direction, but at last they came upon his bones picked
clean by the vultures, lying a day's march up the same gorge
through which you and I entered the valley. I do not know,"
continued the old woman, "that this is true. It is just one of
their many legends."

"Yes," said the girl, "it is true. I am sure it is true, for I
have seen the skeleton and the corroded armor of this great
giant."

At this juncture the door was thrown open without ceremony
and a Negro entered bearing two flat vessels in which were
several smaller ones. These he set down on one of the tables
near the women, and, without a word, turned and left. With
the entrance of the man with the vessels, a delightful odor of
cooked food had aroused the realization in the girl's mind that
she was very hungry, and at a word from the old woman she
walked to the table to examine the viands. The larger vessels
which contained the smaller ones were of pottery while those
within them were quite evidently of hammered gold. To her
intense surprise she found lying between the smaller vessels a
spoon and a fork, which, while of quaint design, were quite as
serviceable as any she had seen in more civilized communities.
The tines of the fork were quite evidently of iron or steel, the
girl did not know which, while the handle and the spoon were
of the same material as the smaller vessels.

There was a highly seasoned stew with meat and vegetables,
a dish of fresh fruit, and a bowl of milk beside which was a
little jug containing something which resembled marmalade.
So ravenous was she that she did not even wait for her com-
panion to reach the table, and as she ate she could have sworn
that never before had she tasted more palatable food. The
old woman came slowly and sat down on one of the benches
opposite her.

As she removed the smaller vessels from the larger and
arranged them before her on the table a crooked smile twisted
her lips as she watched the younger woman eat.

"Hunger is a great leveler," she said with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" asked the girl.

"I venture to say that a few weeks ago you would have
been nauseated at the idea of eating cat."

"Cat?" exclaimed the girl.

"Yes," said the old woman. "What is the difference -- a lion
is a cat."

"You mean I am eating lion now?"

"Yes," said the old woman, "and as they prepare it, it is very
palatable. You will grow very fond of it."

Bertha Kircher smiled a trifle dubiously. "I could not tell
it," she said, "from lamb or veal."

"No," said the woman, "it tastes as good to me. But these
lions are very carefully kept and very carefully fed and their
flesh is so seasoned and prepared that it might be anything so
far as taste is concerned."

And so Bertha Kircher broke her long fast upon strange
fruits, lion meat, and goat's milk.

Scarcely had she finished when again the door opened and
there entered a yellow-coated soldier. He spoke to the old
woman.

"The king," she said, "has commanded that you be prepared
and brought to him. You are to share these apartments with
me. The king knows that I am not like his other women. He
never would have dared to put you with them. Herog XVI
has occasional lucid intervals. You must have been brought
to him during one of these. Like the rest of them he thinks
that he alone of all the community is sane, but more than once
I have thought that the various men with whom I have come
in contact here, including the kings themselves, looked upon
me as, at least, less mad than the others. Yet how I have re-
tained my senses all these years is beyond me."

"What do you mean by prepare?" asked Bertha Kircher.
"You said that the king had commanded I be prepared and
brought to him."

"You will be bathed and furnished with a robe similar to
that which I wear."

"Is there no escape?" asked the girl. "Is there no way even
in which I can kill myself?"

The woman handed her the fork. "This is the only way,"
she said, "and you will notice that the tines are very short and
blunt."

The girl shuddered and the old woman laid a hand gently
upon her shoulder. "He may only look at you and send you
away," she said. "Ago XXV sent for me once, tried to talk
with me, discovered that I could not understand him and that
he could not understand me, ordered that I be taught the
language of his people, and then apparently forgot me for a
year. Sometimes I do not see the king for a long period.
There was one king who ruled for five years whom I never saw.
There is always hope; even I whose very memory has doubtless
been forgotten beyond these palace walls still hope, though
none knows better how futilely."

The old woman led Bertha Kircher to an adjoining apart-
ment in the floor of which was a pool of water. Here the girl
bathed and afterward her companion brought her one of the
clinging garments of the native women and adjusted it about
her figure. The material of the robe was of a gauzy fabric
which accentuated the rounded beauty of the girlish form.

"There," said the old woman, as she gave a final pat to one
of the folds of the garment, "you are a queen indeed!"

The girl looked down at her naked breasts and but half-
concealed limbs in horror. "They are going to lead me into
the presence of men in this half-nude condition!" she ex-
claimed.

The old woman smiled her crooked smile. "It is nothing,"
she said. "You will become accustomed to it as did I who was
brought up in the home of a minister of the gospel, where it
was considered little short of a crime for a woman to expose
her stockinged ankle. By comparison with what you will
doubtless see and the things that you may be called upon to
undergo, this is but a trifle."

For what seemed hours to the distraught girl she paced the
floor of her apartment, awaiting the final summons to the
presence of the mad king. Darkness had fallen and the oil
flares within the palace had been lighted long before two
messengers appeared with instructions that Herog demanded
her immediate presence and that the old woman, whom they
called Xanila, was to accompany her. The girl felt some
slight relief when she discovered that she was to have at least
one friend with her, however powerless to assist her the old
woman might be.

The messengers conducted the two to a small apartment on
the floor below. Xanila explained that this was one of the
anterooms off the main throneroom in which the king was
accustomed to hold court with his entire retinue. A number
of yellow-tunicked warriors sat about upon the benches within
the room. For the most part their eyes were bent upon the
floor and their attitudes that of moody dejection. As the two
women entered several glanced indifferently at them, but for
the most part no attention was paid to them.

While they were waiting in the anteroom there entered from
another apartment a young man uniformed similarly to the
others with the exception that upon his head was a fillet of
gold, in the front of which a single parrot feather rose erectly
above his forehead. As he entered, the other soldiers in the
room rose to their feet.

"That is Metak, one of the king's sons," Xanila whispered
to the girl.

The prince was crossing the room toward the audience
chamber when his glance happened to fall upon Bertha
Kircher. He halted in his tracks and stood looking at her for
a full minute without speaking. The girl, embarrassed by his
bold stare and her scant attire, flushed and, dropping her gaze
to the floor, turned away. Metak suddenly commenced to
tremble from head to foot and then, without warning other
than a loud, hoarse scream he sprang forward and seized the
girl in his arms.

Instantly pandemonium ensued. The two messengers who
had been charged with the duty of conducting the girl to the
king's presence danced, shrieking, about the prince, waving
their arms and gesticulating wildly as though they would
force him to relinquish her, the while they dared not lay hands
upon royalty. The other guardsmen, as though suffering in
sympathy the madness of their prince, ran forward screaming
and brandishing their sabers.

The girl fought to release herself from the horrid embrace
of the maniac, but with his left arm about her he held her as
easily as though she had been but a babe, while with his free
hand he drew his saber and struck viciously at those nearest
him.

One of the messengers was the first to feel the keen edge of
Metak's blade. With a single fierce cut the prince drove
through the fellow's collar bone and downward to the center
of his chest. With a shrill shriek that rose above the screaming
of the other guardsmen the man dropped to the floor, and as
the blood gushed from the frightful wound he struggled to rise
once more to his feet and then sank back again and died in a
great pool of his own blood.

In the meantime Metak, still clinging desperately to the girl,
had backed toward the opposite door. At the sight of the
blood two of the guardsmen, as though suddenly aroused to
maniacal frenzy, dropped their sabers to the floor and fell upon
each other with nails and teeth, while some sought to reach the
prince and some to defend him. In a corner of the room sat
one of the guardsmen laughing uproariously and just as Metak
succeeded in reaching the door and taking the girl through,
she thought that she saw another of the men spring upon the
corpse of the dead messenger and bury his teeth in its flesh.

During the orgy of madness Xanila had kept closely at the
girl's side but at the door of the room Metak had seen her
and, wheeling suddenly, cut viciously at her. Fortunately for
Xanila she was halfway through the door at the time, so that
Metak's blade but dented itself upon the stone arch of the
portal, and then Xanila, guided doubtless by the wisdom of
sixty years of similar experiences, fled down the corridor as
fast as her old and tottering legs would carry her.

Metak, once outside the door, returned his saber to its
scabbard and lifting the girl bodily from the ground carried
her off in the opposite direction from that taken by Xanila.

Came Tarzan

Just before dark that evening, an almost exhausted flier
entered the headquarters of Colonel Capell of the Second
Rhodesians and saluted.

"Well, Thompson," asked the superior, "what luck? The
others have all returned. Never saw a thing of Oldwick or his
plane. I guess we shall have to give it up unless you were
more successful."

"I was," replied the young officer. "I found the plane."

"No!" ejaculated Colonel Capell. "Where was it? Any sign
of Oldwick?"

"It is in the rottenest hole in the ground you ever saw, quite
a bit inland. Narrow gorge. Saw the plane all right but can't
reach it. There was a regular devil of a lion wandering around
it. I landed near the edge of the cliff and was going to climb
down and take a look at the plane. But this fellow hung
around for an hour or more and I finally had to give it up."

"Do you think the lions got Oldwick?" asked the colonel.

"I doubt it," replied Lieutenant Thompson, "from the fact
that there was no indication that the lion had fed anywhere
about the plane. I arose after I found it was impossible to get
down around the plane and reconnoitered up and down the
gorge. Several miles to the south I found a small, wooded
valley in the center of which -- please don't think me crazy, sir
-- is a regular city -- streets, buildings, a central plaza with
a
lagoon, good-sized buildings with domes and minarets and
all that sort of stuff."

The elder officer looked at the younger compassionately.
"You're all wrought up, Thompson," he said. "Go and take a
good sleep. You have been on this job now for a long while
and it must have gotten on your nerves."

The young man shook his head a bit irritably. "Pardon me,
sir," he said, "but I am telling you the truth. I am not mis-
taken. I circled over the place several times. It may be that
Oldwick has found his way there -- or has been captured by
these people."

"Were there people in the city?" asked the colonel.

"Yes, I saw them in the streets."

"Do you think cavalry could reach the valley?" asked the
colonel.

"No," replied Thompson, "the country is all cut up with
these deep gorges. Even infantry would have a devil of a
time of it, and there is absolutely no water that I could dis-
cover for at least a two days' march."

It was at this juncture that a big Vauxhall drew up in front
of the headquarters of the Second Rhodesians and a moment
later General Smuts alighted and entered. Colonel Capell arose
from his chair and saluted his superior, and the young lieu-
tenant saluted and stood at attention.

"I was passing," said the general, "and I thought I would
stop for a chat. By the way, how is the search for Lieutenant
Smith-Oldwick progressing? I see Thompson here and I believe
he was one of those detailed to the search."

"Yes," said Capell, "he was. He is the last to come in. He
found the lieutenant's ship," and then he repeated what Lieu-
tenant Thompson had reported to him. The general sat down
at the table with Colonel Capell, and together the two officers,
with the assistance of the flier, marked the approximate loca-
tion of the city which Thompson had reported he'd discovered.

"It's a mighty rough country," remarked Smuts, "but we
can't leave a stone unturned until we have exhausted every re-
source to find that boy. We will send out a small force; a small
one will be more likely to succeed than a large one. About one
company, Colonel, or say two, with sufficient motor lorries for
transport of rations and water. Put a good man in command
and let him establish a base as far to the west as the motors
can travel. You can leave one company there and send the
other forward. I am inclined to believe you can establish your
base within a day's march of the city and if such is the case the
force you send ahead should have no trouble on the score of
lack of water as there certainly must be water in the valley
where the city lies. Detail a couple of planes for reconnais-
sance and messenger service so that the base can keep in touch
at all times with the advance party. When can your force
move out?"

"We can load the lorries tonight," replied Capell, "and
march about one o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Good," said the general, "keep me advised," and returning
the others' salutes he departed.

As Tarzan leaped for the vines he realized that the lion was
close upon him and that his life depended upon the strength
of the creepers clinging to the city walls; but to his intense
relief he found the stems as large around as a man's arm, and
the tendrils which had fastened themselves to the wall so
firmly fixed, that his weight upon the stem appeared to have
no appreciable effect upon them.

He heard Numa's baffled roar as the lion slipped downward
clawing futilely at the leafy creepers, and then with the agility
of the apes who had reared him, Tarzan bounded nimbly aloft
to the summit of the wall.

A few feet below him was the flat roof of the adjoining
building and as he dropped to it his back was toward the niche
from which an embrasure looked out upon the gardens and
the forest beyond, so that he did not see the figure crouching
there in the dark shadow. But if he did not see he was not
long in ignorance of the fact that he was not alone, for scarcely
had his feet touched the roof when a heavy body leaped upon
him from behind and brawny arms encircled him about the
waist.

Taken at a disadvantage and lifted from his feet, the ape-
man was, for the time being, helpless. Whatever the creature
was that had seized him, it apparently had a well-defined
purpose in mind, for it walked directly toward the edge of the
roof so that it was soon apparent to Tarzan that he was to be
hurled to the pavement below -- a most efficacious manner of
disposing of an intruder. That he would be either maimed or
killed the ape-man was confident; but he had no intention
of permitting his assailant to carry out the plan.

Tarzan's arms and legs were free but he was in such a disad-
vantageous position that he could not use them to any good
effect. His only hope lay in throwing the creature off its
balance, and to this end Tarzan straightened his body and
leaned as far back against his captor as he could, and then
suddenly lunged forward. The result was as satisfactory as
he could possibly have hoped. The great weight of the ape-
man thrown suddenly out from an erect position caused the
other also to lunge violently forward with the result that to
save himself he involuntarily released his grasp. Catlike in
his movements, the ape-man had no sooner touched the roof
than he was upon his feet again, facing his adversary, a man
almost as large as himself and armed with a saber which he
now whipped from its scabbard. Tarzan, however, had no
mind to allow the use of this formidable weapon and so he
dove for the other's legs beneath the vicious cut that was
directed at him from the side, and as a football player tackles
an opposing runner, Tarzan tackled his antagonist, carrying
him backward several yards and throwing him heavily to the
roof upon his back.

No sooner had the man touched the roof than the ape-man
was upon his chest, one brawny hand sought and found the
sword wrist and the other the throat of the yellow-tunicked
guardsman. Until then the fellow had fought in silence but
just as Tarzan's fingers touched his throat he emitted a single
piercing shriek that the brown fingers cut off almost instantly.
The fellow struggled to escape the clutch of the naked creature
upon his breast but equally as well might he have fought to
escape the talons of Numa, the lion.

Gradually his struggles lessened, his pin-point eyes popped
from their sockets, rolling horribly upward, while from his
foam-flecked lips his swollen tongue protruded. As his
struggles ceased Tarzan arose, and placing a foot upon the
carcass of his kill, was upon the point of screaming forth his
victory cry when the thought that the work before him
required the utmost caution sealed his lips.

Walking to the edge of the roof he looked down into the
narrow, winding street below. At intervals, apparently at each
street intersection, an oil flare sputtered dimly from brackets
set in the walls a trifle higher than a man's head. For the
most part the winding alleys were in dense shadow and even
in the immediate vicinity of the flares the illumination was far
from brilliant. In the restricted area of his vision he could see
that there were still a few of the strange inhabitants moving
about the narrow thoroughfares.

To prosecute his search for the young officer and the girl
he must be able to move about the city as freely as possible,
but to pass beneath one of the corner flares, naked as he was
except for a loin cloth, and in every other respect markedly
different from the inhabitants of the city, would be but to court
almost immediate discovery. As these thoughts flashed
through his mind and he cast about for some feasible plan of
action, his eyes fell upon the corpse upon the roof near him,
and immediately there occurred to him the possibility of
disguising himself in the raiment of his conquered adversary.

It required but a few moments for the ape-man to clothe
himself in the tights, sandals, and parrot emblazoned yellow
tunic of the dead soldier. Around his waist he buckled the
saber belt but beneath the tunic he retained the hunting knife
of his dead father. His other weapons he could not lightly dis-
card, and so, in the hope that he might eventually recover
them, he carried them to the edge of the wall and dropped
them among the foliage at its base. At the last moment he
found it difficult to part with his rope, which, with his knife,
was his most accustomed weapon, and one which he had used
for the greatest length of time. He found that by removing the
saber belt he could wind the rope about his waist beneath his
tunic, and then replacing the belt still retain it entirely con-
cealed from chance observation.

At last, satisfactorily disguised, and with even his shock of
black hair adding to the verisimilitude of his likeness to the
natives of the city, he sought for some means of reaching the
street below. While he might have risked a drop from the
eaves of the roof he feared to do so lest he attract the
attention
of passers-by, and probable discovery. The roofs of the build-
ings varied in height but as the ceilings were all low he found
that he could easily travel along the roof tops and this he did
for some little distance, until he suddenly discovered just
ahead of him several figures reclining upon the roof of a
near-by building.

He had noticed openings in each roof, evidently giving
ingress to the apartments below, and now, his advance cut off
by those ahead of him, he decided to risk the chance of
reaching the street through the interior of one of the build-
ings. Approaching one of the openings he leaned over the
black hole and, listened for sounds of life in the apartment
below. Neither his ears nor his nose registered evidence of
the presence of any living creature in the immediate vicinity,
and so without further hesitation the ape-man lowered his
body through the aperture and was about to drop when his
foot came in contact with the rung of a ladder, which he im-
mediately took advantage of to descend to the floor of the
room below.

Here, all was almost total darkness until his eyes became
accustomed to the interior, the darkness of which was slightly
alleviated by the reflected light from a distant street flare
which shone intermittently through the narrow windows front-
ing the thoroughfare. Finally, assured that the apartment was
unoccupied, Tarzan sought for a stairway to the ground floor.
This he found in a dark hallway upon which the room opened
-- a flight of narrow stone steps leading downward toward
the street. Chance favored him so that he reached the shadows
of the arcade without encountering any of the inmates of the
house.

Once on the street he was not at a loss as to the direction in
which he wished to go, for he had tracked the two Europeans
practically to the gate, which he felt assured must have given
them entry to the city. His keen sense of direction and loca-
tion made it possible for him to judge with considerable ac-
curacy the point within the city where he might hope to pick
up the spoor of those whom he sought.

The first need, however, was to discover a street paralleling
the northern wall along which he could make his way in the
direction of the gate he had seen from the forest. Realizing
that his greatest hope of success lay in the boldness of his
operations he moved off in the direction of the nearest street
flare without making any other attempt at concealment than
keeping in the shadows of the arcade, which he judged would
draw no particular attention to him in that he saw other
pedestrians doing likewise. The few he passed gave him no
heed, and he had almost reached the nearest intersection when
he saw several men wearing yellow tunics identical to that
which he had taken from his prisoner.

They were coming directly toward him and the ape-man
saw that should he continue on he would meet them directly
at the intersection of the two streets in the full light of the
flare. His first inclination was to go steadily on, for
personally
he had no objection to chancing a scrimmage with them; but a
sudden recollection of the girl, possibly a helpless prisoner in
the hands of these people, caused him to seek some other and
less hazardous plan of action.

He had almost emerged from the shadow of the arcade into
the full light of the flare and the approaching men were but a
few yards from him, when he suddenly kneeled and pretended
to adjust the wrappings of his sandals -- wrappings, which, by
the way, he was not at all sure that he had adjusted as their
makers had intended them to be adjusted. He was still kneel-
ing when the soldiers came abreast of him. Like the others
he had passed they paid no attention to him and the moment
they were behind him he continued upon his way, turning to
the right at the intersection of the two streets.

The street he now took was, at this point, so extremely
winding that, for the most part, it received no benefit from the
flares at either corner, so that he was forced practically to
grope his way in the dense shadows of the arcade. The street
became a little straighter just before he reached the next flare,
and as he came within sight of it he saw silhouetted against a
patch of light the figure of a lion. The beast was coming
slowly down the street in Tarzan's direction.

A woman crossed the way directly in front of it and the lion
paid no attention to her, nor she to the lion. An instant later a
little child ran after the woman and so close did he run before
the lion that the beast was forced to turn out of its way a step
to avoid colliding with the little one. The ape-man grinned
and crossed quickly to the opposite side of the street, for his
delicate senses indicated that at this point the breeze stirring
through the city streets and deflected by the opposite wall
would now blow from the lion toward him as the beast passed,
whereas if he remained upon the side of the street upon which
he had been walking when he discovered the carnivore, his
scent would have been borne to the nostrils of the animal, and
Tarzan was sufficiently jungle-wise to realize that while he
might deceive the eyes of man and beast he could not so easily
disguise from the nostrils of one of the great cats that he was a
creature of a different species from the inhabitants of the city,
the only human beings, possibly, that Numa was familiar with.
In him the cat would recognize a stranger, and, therefore, an
enemy, and Tarzan had no desire to be delayed by an en-
counter with a savage lion. His ruse worked successfully, the
lion passing him with not more than a side glance in his
direction.

He had proceeded for some little distance and had about
reached a point where he judged he would find the street
which led up from the city gate when, at an intersection of two
streets, his nostrils caught the scent spoor of the girl. Out of
a maze of other scent spoors the ape-man picked the familiar
odor of the girl and, a second later, that of Smith-Oldwick.
He had been forced to accomplish it, however, by bending
very low at each street intersection in repeated attention to his
sandal wrappings, bringing his nostrils as close to the pave-
ment as possible.

As he advanced along the street through which the two had
been conducted earlier in the day he noted, as had they, the
change in the type of buildings as he passed from a residence
district into that portion occupied by shops and bazaars. Here
the number of flares was increased so that they appeared not
only at street intersections but midway between as well, and
there were many more people abroad. The shops were open
and lighted, for with the setting of the sun the intense heat of
the day had given place to a pleasant coolness. Here also the
number of lions, roaming loose through the thoroughfares,
increased, and also for the first time Tarzan noted the idiosyn-
crasies of the people.

Once he was nearly upset by a naked man running rapidly
through the street screaming at the top of his voice. And
again he nearly stumbled over a woman who was making her
way in the shadows of one of the arcades upon all fours. At
first the ape-man thought she was hunting for something she
had dropped, but as he drew to one side to watch her, he saw
that she was doing nothing of the kind -- that she had merely
elected to walk upon her hands and knees rather than erect
upon her feet. In another block he saw two creatures strug-
gling upon the roof of an adjacent building until finally one of
them, wrenching himself free from the grasp of the other, gave
his adversary a mighty push which hurled him to the pavement
below, where he lay motionless upon the dusty road. For an
instant a wild shriek re-echoed through the city from the lungs
of the victor and then, without an instant's hesitation, the fel-
low leaped headfirst to the street beside the body of his
victim. A lion moved out from the dense shadows of a door-
way and approached the two bloody and lifeless things before
him. Tarzan wondered what effect the odor of blood would
have upon the beast and was surprised to see that the animal
only sniffed at the corpses and the hot red blood and then lay
down beside the two dead men.

He had passed the lion but a short distance when his atten-
tion was called to the figure of a man lowering himself la-
boriously from the roof of a building upon the east side of the
thoroughfare. Tarzan's curiosity was aroused.

In the Alcove

As Smith-Oldwick realized that he was alone and practi-
cally defenseless in an enclosure filled with great lions
 he was, in his weakened condition, almost in a state
verging upon hysterical terror. Clinging to the grating for
support he dared not turn his head in the direction of the
beasts behind him. He felt his knees giving weakly beneath
him. Something within his head spun rapidly around. He be-
came very dizzy and nauseated and then suddenly all went
black before his eyes as his limp body collapsed at the foot
of the grating.

How long he lay there unconscious he never knew; but as
reason slowly reasserted itself in his semi-conscious state he
was aware that he lay in a cool bed upon the whitest of linen
in a bright and cheery room, and that upon one side close to
him was an open window, the delicate hangings of which
were fluttering in a soft summer breeze which blew in from a
sun-kissed orchard of ripening fruit which he could see with-
out -- an old orchard in which soft, green grass grew between
the laden trees, and where the sun filtered through the foliage;
and upon the dappled greensward a little child was playing
with a frolicsome puppy.

"God," thought the man, "what a horrible nightmare I have
passed through!" and then he felt a hand stroking his brow and
cheek -- a cool and gentle hand that smoothed away his
troubled recollections. For a long minute Smith-Oldwick lay
in utter peace and content until gradually there was forced
upon his sensibilities the fact that the hand had become
rough, and that it was no longer cool but hot and moist; and
suddenly he opened his eyes and looked up into the face of a
huge lion.

Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick was not only an
English gentleman and an officer in name, he was also what
these implied -- a brave man; but when he realized that the
sweet picture he had looked upon was but the figment of a
dream, and that in reality he still lay where he had fallen at
the foot of the grating with a lion standing over him licking his
face, the tears sprang to his eyes and ran down his cheeks.
Never, he thought, had an unkind fate played so cruel a joke
upon a human being.

For some time he lay feigning death while the lion, having
ceased to lick him, sniffed about his body. There are some
things than which death is to be preferred; and there came at
last to the Englishman the realization that it would be better
to die swiftly than to lie in this horrible predicament until his
mind broke beneath the strain and he went mad.

And so, deliberately and without haste, he rose, clinging to
the grating for support. At his first move the lion growled,
but after that he paid no further attention to the man, and
when at last Smith-Oldwick had regained his feet the lion
moved indifferently away. Then it was that the man turned
and looked about the enclosure.

Sprawled beneath the shade of the trees and lying upon the
long bench beside the south wall the great beasts rested, with
the exception of two or three who moved restlessly about. It
was these that the man feared and yet when two more of them
had passed him by he began to feel reassured, recalling the
fact that they were accustomed to the presence of man.

And yet he dared not move from the grating. As the man
examined his surroundings he noted that the branches of one
of the trees near the further wall spread close beneath an open
window. If he could reach that tree and had strength to
do so, he could easily climb out upon the branch and escape,
at least, from the enclosure of the lions. But in order to
reach the tree he must pass the full length of the enclosure,
and at the very bole of the tree itself two lions lay sprawled
out in slumber.

For half an hour the man stood gazing longingly at this
seeming avenue of escape, and at last, with a muttered oath,
he straightened up and throwing back his shoulders in a ges-
ture of defiance, he walked slowly and deliberately down the
center of the courtyard. One of the prowling lions turned
from the side wall and moved toward the center directly in
the man's path, but Smith-Oldwick was committed to what he
considered his one chance, for even temporary safety, and so
he kept on, ignoring the presence of the beast. The lion
slouched to his side and sniffed him and then, growling, he
bared his teeth.

Smith-Oldwick drew the pistol from his shirt. "If he has
made up his mind to kill me," he thought. "I can't see that it
will make any difference in the long run whether I infuriate
him or not. The beggar can't kill me any deader in one mood
than another."

But with the man's movement in withdrawing the weapon
from his shirt the lion's attitude suddenly altered and though
he still growled he turned and sprang away, and then at last
the Englishman stood almost at the foot of the tree that was his
goal, and between him and safety sprawled a sleeping lion.

Above him was a limb that ordinarily he could have leaped
for and reached with ease; but weak from his wounds and loss
of blood he doubted his ability to do so now. There was even
a question as to whether he would be able to ascend the tree
at all. There was just one chance: the lowest branch left the
bole within easy reach of a man standing on the ground close
to the tree's stem, but to reach a position where the branch
would be accessible he must step over the body of a lion.
Taking a deep breath he placed one foot between the sprawled
legs of the beast and gingerly raised the other to plant it upon
the opposite side of the tawny body. "What," he thought, "if
the beggar should happen to wake now?" The suggestion
sent a shudder through his frame but he did not hesitate or
withdraw his foot. Gingerly he planted it beyond the lion,
threw his weight forward upon it and cautiously brought his
other foot to the side of the first. He had passed and the lion
had not awakened.

Smith-Oldwick was weak from loss of blood and the hard-
ships he had undergone, but the realization of his situation
impelled him to a show of agility and energy which he prob-
ably could scarcely have equaled when in possession of his
normal strength. With his life depending upon the success of
his efforts, he swung himself quickly to the lower branches of
the tree and scrambled upward out of reach of possible harm
from the lions below -- though the sudden movement in the
branches above them awakened both the sleeping beasts. The
animals raised their heads and looked questioningly up for a
moment and then lay back again to resume their broken
slumber.

So easily had the Englishman succeeded thus far that he
suddenly began to question as to whether he had at any time
been in real danger. The lions, as he knew, were accustomed
to the presence of men, but yet they were still lions and he
was free to admit that he breathed more easily now that he was
safe above their clutches.

Before him lay the open window he had seen from the
ground. He was now on a level with it and could see an
apparently unoccupied chamber beyond, and toward this he
made his way along a stout branch that swung beneath the
opening. It was not a difficult feat to reach the window, and
a moment later he drew himself over the sill and dropped
into the room.

He found himself in a rather spacious apartment, the floor of
which was covered with rugs of barbaric design, while the few
pieces of furniture were of a similar type to that which he had
seen in the room on the first floor into which he and Bertha
Kircher had been ushered at the conclusion of their journey.
At one end of the room was what appeared to be a curtained
alcove, the heavy hangings of which completely hid the inte-
rior. In the wall opposite the window and near the alcove was
a closed door, apparently the only exit from the room.

He could see, in the waning light without, that the close of
the day was fast approaching, and he hesitated while he de-
liberated the advisability of waiting until darkness had fallen,
or of immediately searching for some means of escape from the
building and the city. He at last decided that it would do no
harm to investigate beyond the room, that he might have some
idea as how best to plan his escape after dark. To this end he
crossed the room toward the door but he had taken only a
few steps when the hangings before the alcove separated and
the figure of a woman appeared in the opening.

She was young and beautifully formed; the single drapery
wound around her body from below her breasts left no detail
of her symmetrical proportions unrevealed, but her face was
the face of an imbecile. At sight of her Smith-Oldwick halted,
momentarily expecting that his presence would elicit screams
for help from her. On the contrary she came toward him
smiling, and when she was close her slender, shapely fingers
touched the sleeve of his torn blouse as a curious child might
handle a new toy, and still with the same smile she examined
him from head to foot, taking in, in childish wonderment,
every detail of his apparel.

Presently she spoke to him in a soft, well-modulated voice
which contrasted sharply with her facial appearance. The
voice and the girlish figure harmonized perfectly and seemed
to belong to each other, while the head and face were those
of another creature. Smith-Oldwick could understand no word
of what she said, but nevertheless he spoke to her in his
own cultured tone, the effect of which upon her was evidently
most gratifying, for before he realized her intentions or could
prevent her she had thrown both arms about his neck and was
kissing him with the utmost abandon.

The man tried to free himself from her rather surprising
attentions, but she only clung more tightly to him, and sud-
denly, as he recalled that he had always heard that one must
humor the mentally deficient, and at the same time seeing in
her a possible agency of escape, he dosed his eyes and re-
turned her embraces.

It was at this juncture that the door opened and a man
entered. With the sound from the first movement of the latch,
Smith-Oldwick opened his eyes, but though he endeavored to
disengage himself from the girl he realized that the newcomer
had seen their rather compromising position. The girl, whose
back was toward the door, seemed at first not to realize that
someone had entered, but when she did she turned quickly
and as her eyes fell upon the man whose terrible face was now
distorted with an expression of hideous rage she turned,
screaming, and fled toward the alcove. The Englishman,
flushed and embarrassed, stood where she had left him. With
the sudden realization of the futility of attempting an explana-
tion, came that of the menacing appearance of the man, whom
he now recognized as the official who had received them in the
room below. The fellow's face, livid with insane rage and,
possibly, jealousy, was twitching violently, accentuating the
maniacal expression that it habitually wore.

For a moment he seemed paralyzed by anger, and then with
a loud shriek that rose into an uncanny wail, he drew his
curved saber and sprang toward the Englishman. To Smith-
Oldwick there seemed no possible hope of escaping the keen-
edged weapon in the hands of the infuriated man, and though
he felt assured that it would draw down upon him an equally
sudden and possibly more terrible death, he did the only thing
that remained for him to do -- drew his pistol and fired straight
for the heart of the oncoming man. Without even so much as
a groan the fellow lunged forward upon the floor at Smith-
Oldwick's feet -- killed instantly with a bullet through the
heart. For several seconds the silence of the tomb reigned in
the apartment.

The Englishman, standing over the prostrate figure of the
dead man, watched the door with drawn weapon, expecting
momentarily to hear the rush of feet of those whom he was
sure would immediately investigate the report of the pistol.
But no sounds came from below to indicate that anyone there
had heard the explosion, and presently the man's attention
was distracted from the door to the alcove, between the hang-
ings of which the face of the girl appeared. The eyes were
widely dilated and the lower jaw dropped in an expression of
surprise and awe.

The girl's gaze was riveted upon the figure upon the floor,
and presently she crept stealthily into the room and tiptoed
toward the corpse. She appeared as though constantly poised
for flight, and when she had come to within two or three feet
of the body she stopped and, looking up at Smith-Oldwick,
voiced some interrogation which he could not, of course, un-
derstand. Then she came close to the side of the dead man
and kneeling upon the floor felt gingerly of the body.

Presently she shook the corpse by the shoulder, and then
with a show of strength which her tenderly girlish form belied,
she turned the body over on its back. If she had been in
doubt before, one glance at the hideous features set in death
must have convinced her that life was extinct, and with the
realization there broke from her lips peal after peal of mad,
maniacal laughter as with her little hands she beat upon the
upturned face and breast of the dead man. It was a gruesome
sight from which the Englishman involuntarily drew back --
a gruesome, disgusting sight such as, he realized, might never
be witnessed outside a madhouse or this frightful city.

In the midst of her frenzied rejoicing at the death of the
man, and Smith-Oldwick could attribute her actions to no
other cause, she suddenly desisted from her futile attacks upon
the insensate flesh and, leaping to her feet, ran quickly to the
door, where she shot a wooden bolt into its socket, thus secur-
ing them from interference from without. Then she returned
to the center of the room and spoke rapidly to the Englishman,
gesturing occasionally toward the body of the slain man. When
he could not understand, she presently became provoked and
in a sudden hysteria of madness she rushed forward as though
to strike the Englishman. Smith-Oldwick dropped back a
few steps and leveled his pistol upon her. Mad though she
must have been, she evidently was not so mad but what she
had connected the loud report, the diminutive weapon, and the
sudden death of the man in whose house she dwelt, for she
instantly desisted and quite as suddenly as it had come upon
her, her homicidal mood departed.

Again the vacuous, imbecile smile took possession of her
features, and her voice, dropping its harshness, resumed the
soft, well-modulated tones with which she had first addressed
him. Now she attempted by signs to indicate her wishes, and
motioning Smith-Oldwick to follow her she went to the hang-
ings and opening them disclosed the alcove. It was rather
more than an alcove, being a fair-sized room heavy with rugs
and hangings and soft, pillowed couches. Turning at the
entrance she pointed to the corpse upon the floor of the outer
room, and then crossing the alcove she raised some draperies
which covered a couch and fell to the floor upon all sides,
disclosing an opening beneath the furniture.

To this opening she pointed and then again to the corpse,
indicating plainly to the Englishman that it was her desire
that the body be hidden here. But if he had been in doubt,
she essayed to dispel it by grasping his sleeve and urging him
in the direction of the body which the two of them then lifted
and half carried and half dragged into the alcove. At first
they encountered some difficulty when they endeavored to
force the body of the man into the small space she had selected
for it, but eventually they succeeded in doing so. Smith-Old-
wick was again impressed by the fiendish brutality of the girl.
In the center of the room lay a blood-stained rug which the
girl quickly gathered up and draped over a piece of furniture
in such a way that the stain was hidden. By rearranging the
other rugs and by bringing one from the alcove she restored
the room to order so no outward indication of the tragedy so
recently enacted there was apparent.

These things attended to, and the hangings draped once
more about the couch that they might hide the gruesome thing
beneath, the girl once more threw her arms about the English-
man's neck and dragged him toward the soft and luxurious
pillows above the dead man. Acutely conscious of the horror
of his position, filled with loathing, disgust, and an outraged
sense of decency, Smith-Oldwick was also acutely alive to the
demands of self-preservation. He felt that he was warranted
in buying his life at almost any price; but there was a point at
which his finer nature rebelled.

It was at this juncture that a loud knock sounded upon the
door of the outer room. Springing from the couch, the girl
seized the man by the arm and dragged him after her to the
wall close by the head of the couch. Here she drew back one
of the hangings, revealing a little niche behind, into which she
shoved the Englishman and dropped the hangings before him,
effectually hiding him from observation from the rooms be-
yond.

He heard her cross the alcove to the door of the outer room,
and heard the bolt withdrawn followed by the voice of a man
mingled with that of the girl. The tones of both seemed
rational so that he might have been listening to an ordinary
conversation in some foreign tongue. Yet with the gruesome
experiences of the day behind him, he could not but momen-
tarily expect some insane outbreak from beyond the hangings.

He was aware from the sounds that the two had entered
the alcove, and, prompted by a desire to know what manner
of man he might next have to contend with, he slightly parted
the heavy folds that hid the two from his view and looking out
saw them sitting on the couch with their arms about each
other, the girl with the same expressionless smile upon her
face that she had vouchsafed him. He found he could so
arrange the hangings that a very narrow slit between two of
them permitted him to watch the actions of those in the alcove
without revealing himself or increasing his liability of detec-
tion.

He saw the girl lavishing her kisses upon the newcomer, a
much younger man than he whom Smith-Oldwick had dis-
patched. Presently the girl disengaged herself from the em-
brace of her lover as though struck by a sudden memory.
Her brows puckered as in labored thought and then with a
startled expression, she threw a glance backward toward the
hidden niche where the Englishman stood, after which she
whispered rapidly to her companion, occasionally jerking her
head in the direction of the niche and on several occasions
making a move with one hand and forefinger, which Smith-
Oldwick could not mistake as other than an attempt to de-
scribe his pistol and its use.

It was evident then to him that she was betraying him, and
without further loss of time he turned his back toward the
hangings and commenced a rapid examination of his hiding
place. In the alcove the man and the girl whispered, and
then cautiously and with great stealth, the man rose and drew
his curved saber. On tiptoe he approached the hangings, the
girl creeping at his side. Neither spoke now, nor was there
any sound in the room as the girl sprang forward and with
outstretched arm and pointing finger indicated a point upon
the curtain at the height of a man's breast. Then she stepped
to one side, and her companion, raising his blade to a hori-
zontal position, lunged suddenly forward and with the full
weight of his body and his right arm, drove the sharp point
through the hangings and into the niche behind for its full
length.

Bertha Kircher, finding her struggles futile and realizing
that she must conserve her strength for some chance oppor-
tunity of escape, desisted from her efforts to break from the
grasp of Prince Metak as the fellow fled with her through the
dimly lighted corridors of the palace. Through many cham-
bers the prince fled, bearing his prize. It was evident to the
girl that, though her captor was the king's son, he was not
above capture and punishment for his deeds, as otherwise he
would not have shown such evident anxiety to escape with
her, as well as from the results of his act.

From the fact that he was constantly turning affrighted
eyes behind them, and glancing suspiciously into every nook
and corner that they passed, she guessed that the prince's
punishment might be both speedy and terrible were he caught.

She knew from their route that they must have doubled
back several times although she had quite lost all sense of
direction; but she did not know that the prince was as equally
confused as she, and that really he was running in an aimless,
erratic manner, hoping that he might stumble eventually upon
a place of refuge.

Nor is it to be wondered at that this offspring of maniacs
should have difficulty in orienting himself in the winding
mazes of a palace designed by maniacs for a maniac king.
Now a corridor turned gradually and almost imperceptibly
in a new direction, again one doubled back upon and crossed
itself; here the floor rose gradually to the level of another
story,
or again there might be a spiral stairway down which the mad
prince rushed dizzily with his burden. Upon what floor they
were or in what part of the palace even Metak had no idea
until, halting abruptly at a closed door, he pushed it open to
step into a brilliantly lighted chamber filled with warriors, at
one end of which sat the king upon a great throne; beside this,
to the girl's surprise, she saw another throne where was seated
a huge lioness, recalling to her the words of Xanila which, at
the time, had made no impression on her: "But he had many
other queens, nor were they all human."

At sight of Metak and the girl, the king rose from his throne
and started across the chamber, all semblance of royalty
vanishing in the maniac's uncontrollable passion. And as he
came he shrieked orders and commands at the top of his voice.
No sooner had Metak so unwarily opened the door to this
hornets' nest than he immediately withdrew and, turning, fled
again in a new direction. But now a hundred men were close
upon his heels, laughing, shrieking, and possibly cursing. He
dodged hither and thither, distancing them for several minutes
until, at the bottom of a long runway that inclined steeply
downward from a higher level, he burst into a subterranean
apartment lighted by many flares.

In the center of the room was a pool of considerable size,
the level of the water being but a few inches below the floor.
Those behind the fleeing prince and his captive entered the
chamber in time to see Metak leap into the water with the
girl and disappear beneath the surface taking his captive with
him, nor, though they waited excitedly around the rim of the
pool, did either of the two again emerge.

When Smith-Oldwick turned to investigate his hiding place,
his hands, groping upon the rear wall, immediately came in
contact with the wooden panels of a door and a bolt such as
that which secured the door of the outer room. Cautiously
and silently drawing the wooden bar he pushed gently against
the panel to find that the door swung easily and noiselessly
outward into utter darkness. Moving carefully and feeling
forward for each step he passed out of the niche, closing the
door behind him.

Peeling about, he discovered that he was in a narrow cor-
ridor which he followed cautiously for a few yards to be
brought up suddenly by what appeared to be a ladder across
the passageway. He felt of the obstruction carefully with his
hands until he was assured that it was indeed a ladder and
that a solid wall was just beyond it, ending the corridor.
Therefore, as he could not go forward and as the ladder
ended at the floor upon which he stood, and as he did not care
to retrace his steps, there was no alternative but to climb up-
ward, and this he did, his pistol ready in a side pocket of his
blouse.

He had ascended but two or three rungs when his head
came suddenly and painfully in contact with a hard surface
above him. Groping about with one hand over his head he
discovered that the obstacle seemed to be the covering to a
trap door in the ceiling which, with a little effort, he
succeeded
in raising a couple of inches, revealing through the cracks
the stars of a clear African night.

With a sigh of relief, but with unabated caution, he gently
slid the trapdoor to one side far enough to permit him to raise
his eyes above the level of the roof. A quick glance assured
him that there was none near enough to observe his move-
ments, nor, in fact, as far as he could see, was anyone in
sight.

Drawing himself quickly through the aperture he replaced
the cover and endeavored to regain his bearings. Directly
to the south of him the low roof he stood upon adjoined a
much loftier portion of the building, which rose several stories
above his head. A few yards to the west he could see the
flickering light of the flares of a winding street, and toward
this he made his way.

From the edge of the roof he looked down upon the night
life of the mad city. He saw men and women and children
and lions, and of all that he saw it was quite evident to him
that only the lions were sane. With the aid of the stars he
easily picked out the points of the compass, and following
carefully in his memory the steps that had led him into the
city and to the roof upon which he now stood, he knew that
the thoroughfare upon which he looked was the same along
which he and Bertha Kircher had been led as prisoners earlier
in the day.

If he could reach this he might be able to pass undetected
in the shadows of the arcade to the city gate. He had already
given up as futile the thought of seeking out the girl and
attempting to succor her, for he knew that alone and with the
few remaining rounds of ammunition he possessed, he could
do nothing against this city-full of armed men. That he
could live to cross the lion-infested forest beyond the city was
doubtful, and having, by some miracle, won to the desert
beyond, his fate would be certainly sealed; but yet he was
consumed with but one desire -- to leave behind him as far
as possible this horrid city of maniacs.

He saw that the roofs rose to the same level as that upon
which he stood unbroken to the north to the next street inter-
section. Directly below him was a flare. To reach the pave-
ment in safety it was necessary that he find as dark a portion
of the avenue as possible. And so he sought along the edge
of the roofs for a place where he might descend in comparative
concealment.

He had proceeded some little way beyond a point where
the street curved abruptly to the east before he discovered a
location sufficiently to his liking. But even here he was com-
pelled to wait a considerable time for a satisfactory moment
for his descent, which he had decided to make down one of
the pillars of the arcade. Each time he prepared to lower
himself over the edge of the roofs, footsteps approaching in
one direction or another deterred him until at last he had
almost come to the conclusion that he would have to wait for
the entire city to sleep before continuing his flight.

But finally came a moment which he felt propitious and
though with inward qualms, it was with outward calm that he
commenced the descent to the street below.

When at last he stood beneath the arcade he was con-
gratulating himself upon the success that had attended his
efforts up to this point when, at a slight sound behind him,
he turned to see a tall figure in the yellow tunic of a warrior
confronting him.

Out of the Niche

Numa, the lion, growled futilely in baffled rage as he
slipped back to the ground at the foot of the wall after
his unsuccessful attempt to drag down the fleeing ape-
man. He poised to make a second effort to follow his escaping
quarry when his nose picked up a hitherto unnoticed quality
in the scent spoor of his intended prey. Sniffing at the ground
that Tarzan's feet had barely touched, Numa's growl changed
to a low whine, for he had recognized the scent spoor of the
man-thing that had rescued him from the pit of the Wama-
bos.

What thoughts passed through that massive head? Who
may say? But now there was no indication of baffled rage as
the great lion turned and moved majestically eastward along
the wall. At the eastern end of the city he turned toward the
south, continuing his way to the south side of the wall along
which were the pens and corrals where the herbivorous flocks
were fattened for the herds of domesticated lions within the
city. The great black lions of the forest fed with almost equal
impartiality upon the flesh of the grass-eaters and man. Like
Numa of the pit they occasionally made excursions across the
desert to the fertile valley of the Wamabos, but principally
they took their toll of meat from the herds of the walled city
of Herog, the mad king, or seized upon some of his luckless
subjects.

Numa of the pit was in some respect an exception to the
rule which guided his fellows of the forest in that as a cub he
had been trapped and carried into the city, where he was kept
for breeding purposes, only to escape in his second year. They
had tried to teach him in the city of maniacs that he must not
eat the flesh of man, and the result of their schooling was that
only when aroused to anger or upon that one occasion that
he had been impelled by the pangs of hunger, did he ever at-
tack man.

The animal corrals of the maniacs are protected by an outer
wall or palisade of upright logs, the lower ends of which are
imbedded in the ground, the logs themselves being placed as
close together as possible and further reinforced and bound
together by withes. At intervals there are gates through which
the flocks are turned on to the grazing land south of the city
during the daytime. It is at such times that the black lions
of the forest take their greatest toll from the herds, and it is
infrequent that a lion attempts to enter the corrals at night.
But Numa of the pit, having scented the spoor of his bene-
factor, was minded again to pass into the walled city, and with
that idea in his cunning brain he crept stealthily along the
outer side of the palisade, testing each gateway with a padded
foot until at last he discovered one which seemed insecurely
fastened. Lowering his great head he pressed against the gate,
surging forward with all the weight of his huge body and the
strength of his giant sinews -- one mighty effort and Numa was
within the corral.

The enclosure contained a herd of goats which immediately
upon the advent of the carnivore started a mad stampede to
the opposite end of the corral which was bounded by the south
wall of the city. Numa had been within such a corral as this
before, so that he knew that somewhere in the wall was a small
door through which the goatherd might pass from the city
to his flock; toward this door he made his way, whether by
plan or accident it is difficult to say, though in the light of
ensuing events it seems possible that the former was the case.

To reach the gate he must pass directly through the herd
which had huddled affrightedly close to the opening so that
once again there was a furious rush of hoofs as Numa strode
quickly to the side of the portal. If Numa had planned, he
had planned well, for scarcely had he reached his position
when the door opened and a herder's head was projected
into the enclosure, the fellow evidently seeking an explana-
tion of the disturbance among his flock. Possibly he discov-
ered the cause of the commotion, but it is doubtful, for it was
dark and the great, taloned paw that reached up and struck
downward a mighty blow that almost severed his head from
his body, moved so quickly and silently that the man was dead
within a fraction of a second from the moment that he opened
the door, and then Numa, knowing now his way, passed
through the wall into the dimly lighted streets of the city be-
yond.

Smith-Oldwick's first thought when he was accosted by the
figure in the yellow tunic of a soldier was to shoot the man
dead and trust to his legs and the dimly lighted, winding streets
to permit his escape, for he knew that to be accosted was
equivalent to recapture since no inhabitant of this weird city
but would recognize him as an alien. It would be a simple
thing to shoot the man from the pocket where the pistol lay
without drawing the weapon, and with this purpose in mind
the Englishman slipped his hands into the side pocket of his
blouse, but simultaneously with this action his wrist was seized
in a powerful grasp and a low voice whispered in English:
"Lieutenant, it is I, Tarzan of the Apes."

The relief from the nervous strain under which he had
been laboring for so long, left Smith-Oldwick suddenly as
weak as a babe, so that he was forced to grasp the ape-man's
arm for support -- and when he found his voice all he could
do was to repeat: "You? You? I thought you were dead!"

"No, not dead," replied Tarzan, "and I see that you are not
either. But how about the girl?"

"I haven't seen her," replied the Englishman, "since we
were brought here. We were taken into a building on the
plaza close by and there we were separated. She was led away
by guards and I was put into a den of lions. I haven't seen
her since."

"How did you escape?" asked the ape-man.

"The lions didn't seem to pay much attention to me and I
climbed out of the place by way of a tree and through a win-
dow into a room on the second floor. Had a little scrimmage
there with a fellow and was hidden by one of their women
in a hole in the wall. The loony thing then betrayed me to
another bounder who happened in, but I found a way out
and up onto the roof where I have been for quite some time
now waiting for a chance to get down into the street without
being seen. That's all I know, but I haven't the slightest idea
in the world where to look for Miss Kircher."

"Where were you going now?" asked Tarzan.

Smith-Oldwick hesitated. "I -- well, I couldn't do anything
here alone and I was going to try to get out of the city and
in some way reach the British forces east and bring help."

"You couldn't do it," said Tarzan. "Even if you got through
the forest alive you could never cross the desert country with-
out food or water."

"What shall we do, then?" asked the Englishman.

"We will see if we can find the girl," replied the ape-man,
and then, as though he had forgotten the presence of the Eng-
lishman and was arguing to convince himself, "She may be a
German and a spy, but she is a woman -- a white woman -- I
can't leave her here."

"But how are we going to find her?" asked the Englishman.

"I have followed her this far," replied Tarzan, "and unless
I am greatly mistaken I can follow her still farther."

"But I cannot accompany you in these clothes without ex-
posing us both to detection and arrest," argued Smith-Oldwick.

"We will get you other clothes, then," said Tarzan.

"How?" asked the Englishman.

"Go back to the roof beside the city wall where I entered,"
replied the ape-man with a grim smile, "and ask the naked
dead man there how I got my disguise."

Smith-Oldwick looked quickly up at his companion. "I have
it," he exclaimed. "I know where there is a fellow who doesn't
need his clothes anymore, and if we can get back on this roof
I think we can find him and get his apparel without much
resistance. Only a girl and a young fellow whom we could
easily surprise and overcome."

"What do you mean?" asked Tarzan. "How do you know
that the man doesn't need his clothes any more."

"I know he doesn't need them," replied the Englishman,
"because I killed him."

"Oh!" exclaimed the ape-man, "I see. I guess it might be
easier that way than to tackle one of these fellows in the street
where there is more chance of our being interrupted."

"But how are we going to reach the roof again, after all?"
queried Smith-Oldwick.

"The same way you came down," replied Tarzan. "This
roof is low and there is a little ledge formed by the capital
of each column; I noticed that when you descended. Some of
the buildings wouldn't have been so easy to negotiate."

Smith-Oldwick looked up toward the eaves of the low roof.
"It's not very high," he said, "but I am afraid I can't make it.
I'll try -- I've been pretty weak since a lion mauled me and
the guards beat me up, and too, I haven't eaten since yester-
day."

Tarzan thought a moment. "You've got to go with me," he
said at last. "I can't leave you here. The only chance you have
of escape is through me and I can't go with you now until
we have found the girl."

"I want to go with you," replied Smith-Oldwick. "I'm not
much good now but at that two of us may be better than
one."

"All right," said Tarzan, "come on," and before the Eng-
lishman realized what the other contemplated Tarzan had
picked him up and thrown him across his shoulder. "Now,
hang on," whispered the ape-man, and with a short run he
clambered apelike up the front of the low arcade. So quickly
and easily was it done that the Englishman scarcely had time
to realize what was happening before he was deposited safely
upon the roof.

"There," remarked Tarzan. "Now, lead me to the place
you speak of."

Smith-Oldwick had no difficulty in locating the trap in the
roof through which he had escaped. Removing the cover the
ape-man bent low, listening and sniffing. "Come," he said
after a moment's investigation and lowered himself to the
floor beneath. Smith-Oldwick followed him, and together the
two crept through the darkness toward the door in the back
wall of the niche in which the Englishman had been hidden
by the girl. They found the door ajar and opening it Tarzan
saw a streak of light showing through the hangings that sep-
arated it from the alcove.

Placing his eye close to the aperture he saw the girl and
the young man of which the Englishman had spoken seated
on opposite sides of a low table upon which food was spread.
Serving them was a giant Negro and it was he whom the ape-
man watched most closely. Familiar with the tribal idiosyn-
crasies of a great number of African tribes over a considerable
proportion of the Dark Continent, the Tarmangani at last felt
reasonably assured that he knew from what part of Africa this
slave had come, and the dialect of his people. There was, how-
ever, the chance that the fellow had been captured in child-
hood and that through long years of non-use his native lan-
guage had become lost to him, but then there always had been
an element of chance connected with nearly every event of
Tarzan's life, so he waited patiently until in the performance
of his duties the black man approached a little table which
stood near the niche in which Tarzan and the Englishman hid.

As the slave bent over some dish which stood upon the table
his ear was not far from the aperture through which Tarzan
looked. Apparently from a solid wall, for the Negro had no
knowledge of the existence of the niche, came to him in the
tongue of his own people, the whispered words: "If you would
return to the land of the Wamabo say nothing, but do as I
bid you."

The black rolled terrified eyes toward the hangings at his
side. The ape-man could see him tremble and for a moment
was fearful that in his terror he would betray them. "Fear
not," he whispered, "we are your friends."

At last the Negro spoke in a low whisper, scarcely audible
even to the keen ears of the ape-man. "What," he asked, "can
poor Otobu do for the god who speaks to him out of the solid
wall?"

"This," replied Tarzan. "Two of us are coming into this
room. Help us prevent this man and woman from escaping
or raising an outcry that will bring others to their aid."

"I will help you," replied the Negro, "to keep them within
this room, but do not fear that their outcries will bring others.
These walls are built so that no sound may pass through, and
even if it did what difference would it make in this village
which is constantly filled with the screams of its mad people.
Do not fear their cries. No one will notice them. I go to do
your bidding."

Tarzan saw the black cross the room to the table upon which
he placed another dish of food before the feasters. Then he
stepped to a place behind the man and as he did so raised his
eyes to the point in the wall from which the ape-man's voice
had come to him, as much as to say, "Master, I am ready."

Without more delay Tarzan threw aside the hangings and
stepped into the room. As he did so the young man rose from
the table to be instantly seized from behind by the black slave.
The girl, whose back was toward the ape-man and his com-
panion, was not at first aware of their presence but saw only
the attack of the slave upon her lover, and with a loud scream
she leaped forward to assist the latter. Tarzan sprang to her
side and laid a heavy hand upon her arm before she could
interfere with Otobu's attentions to the young man. At first,
as she turned toward the ape-man, her face reflected only mad
rage, but almost instantly this changed into the vapid smile
with which Smith-Oldwick was already familiar and her slim
fingers commenced their soft appraisement of the newcomer.

Almost immediately she discovered Smith-Oldwick but there
was neither surprise nor anger upon her countenance. Evi-
dently the poor mad creature knew but two principal moods,
from one to the other of which she changed with lightning-
like rapidity.

"Watch her a moment," said Tarzan to the Englishman,
"while I disarm that fellow," and stepping to the side of the
young man whom Otobu was having difficulty in subduing
Tarzan relieved him of his saber. "Tell them," he said to the
Negro, "if you speak their language, that we will not harm
them if they leave us alone and let us depart in peace."

The black had been looking at Tarzan with wide eyes, evi-
dently not comprehending how this god could appear in so
material a form, and with the voice of a white bwana and the
uniform of a warrior of this city to which he quite evidently
did not belong. But nevertheless his first confidence in the
voice
that offered him freedom was not lessened and he did as
Tarzan bid him.

"They want to know what you want," said Otobu, after he
had spoken to the man and the girl.

"Tell them that we want food for one thing," said Tarzan,
"and something else that we know where to find in this room.
Take the man's spear, Otobu; I see it leaning against the wall
in the corner of the room. And you, Lieutenant, take his
saber," and then again to Otobu, "I will watch the man while
you go and bring forth that which is beneath the couch over
against this wall," and Tarzan indicated the location of the
piece of furniture.

Otobu, trained to obey, did as he was bid. The eyes of the
man and the girl followed him, and as he drew back the hang-
ings and dragged forth the corpse of the man Smith-Oldwick
had slain, the girl's lover voiced a loud scream and attempted
to leap forward to the side of the corpse. Tarzan, however,
seized him and then the fellow turned upon him with teeth
and nails. It was with no little difficulty that Tarzan finally
sub-
dued the man, and while Otobu was removing the outer cloth-
ing from the corpse, Tarzan asked the black to question the
young man as to his evident excitement at the sight of the body.

"I can tell you Bwana," replied Otobu. "This man was his
father."

"What is he saying to the girl?" asked Tarzan.

"He is asking her if she knew that the body of his father was
under the couch. And she is saying that she did not know it."

Tarzan repeated the conversation to Smith-Oldwick, who
smiled. "If the chap could have seen her removing all evi-
dence of the crime and arranging the hangings of the couch
so that the body was concealed after she had helped me drag
it across the room, he wouldn't have very much doubt as to her
knowledge of the affair. The rug you see draped over the
bench in the corner was arranged to hide the blood stain -- in
some ways they are not so loony after all."

The black man had now removed the outer garments from
the dead man, and Smith-Oldwick was hastily drawing them
on over his own clothing. "And now," said Tarzan, "we will
sit down and eat. One accomplishes little on an empty stom-
ach." As they ate the ape-man attempted to carry on a conver-
sation with the two natives through Otobu. He learned that
they were in the palace which had belonged to the dead man
lying upon the floor beside them. He had held an official posi-
tion of some nature, and he and his family were of the ruling
class but were not members of the court.

When Tarzan questioned them about Bertha Kircher, the
young man said that she had been taken to the king's palace;
and when asked why replied: "For the king, of course."

During the conversation both the man and the girl appeared
quite rational, even asking some questions as to the country
from which their uninvited guests had come, and evidencing
much surprise when informed that there was anything but
waterless wastes beyond their own valley.

When Otobu asked the man, at Tarzan's suggestion, if he
was familiar with the interior of the king's palace, he replied
that he was; that he was a friend of Prince Metak, one of the
king's sons, and that he often visited the palace and that Metak
also came here to his father's palace frequently. As Tarzan
ate he racked his brain for some plan whereby he might utilize
the knowledge of the young man to gain entrance to the
palace, but he had arrived at nothing which he considered
feasible when there came a loud knocking upon the door of
the outer room.

For a moment no one spoke and then the young man raised
his voice and cried aloud to those without. Immediately
Otobu sprang for the fellow and attempted to smother his
words by clapping a palm over his mouth.

"What is he saying?" asked Tarzan.

"He is telling them to break down the door and rescue him
and the girl from two strangers who entered and made them
prisoners. If they enter they will kill us all."

"Tell him," said Tarzan, "to hold his peace or I will slay
him."

Otobu did as he was instructed and the young maniac lapsed
into scowling silence. Tarzan crossed the alcove and entered
the outer room to note the effect of the assaults upon the door.
Smith-Oldwick followed him a few steps, leaving Otobu to
guard the two prionsers. The ape-man saw that the door could
not long withstand the heavy blows being dealt the panels
from without. "I wanted to use that fellow in the other room,"
he said to Smith-Oldwick, "but I am afraid we will have to get
out of here the way we came. We can't accomplish anything
by waiting here and meeting these fellows. From the noise out
there there must be a dozen of them. Come," he said, "you go
first and I will follow."

As the two turned back from the alcove they witnessed an
entirely different scene from that upon which they had turned
their backs but a moment or two before. Stretched on the
floor and apparently lifeless lay the body of the black slave,
while the two prisoners had vanished completely.

The Flight from Xuja

As Metak bore Bertha Kircher toward the edge of the
pool, the girl at first had no conception of the deed he
contemplated but when, as they approached the edge,
he did not lessen his speed she guessed the frightful truth. As
he leaped head foremost with her into the water, she closed
her eyes and breathed a silent prayer, for she was confident
that the maniac had no other purpose than to drown himself
and her. And yet, so potent is the first law of nature that even
in the face of certain death, as she surely believed herself, she
clung tenaciously to life, and while she struggled to free her-
self from the powerful clutches of the madman, she held her
breath against the final moment when the asphyxiating waters
must inevitably flood her lungs.

Through the frightful ordeal she maintained absolute con-
trol of her senses so that, after the first plunge, she was aware
that the man was swimming with her beneath the surface. He
took perhaps not more than a dozen strokes directly toward
the end wall of the pool and then he arose; and once again she
knew that her head was above the surface. She opened her
eyes to see that they were in a corridor dimly lighted by grat-
ings set in its roof -- a winding corridor, water filled from
wall
to wall.

Along this the man was swimming with easy powerful
strokes, at the same time holding her chin above the water.
For ten minutes he swam thus without stopping and the girl
heard him speak to her, though she could not understand what
he said, as he evidently immediately realized, for, half
floating,
he shifted his hold upon her so that he could touch her nose
and mouth with the fingers of one hand. She grasped what he
meant and immediately took a deep breath, whereat he dove
quickly beneath the surface pulling her down with him and
again for a dozen strokes or more he swam thus wholly
submerged.

When they again came to the surface, Bertha Kircher saw
that they were in a large lagoon and that the bright stars were
shining high above them, while on either hand domed and
minareted buildings were silhouetted sharply against the star-
lit sky. Metak swam swiftly to the north side of the lagoon
where, by means of a ladder, the two climbed out upon the
embankment. There were others in the plaza but they paid but
little if any attention to the two bedraggled figures. As Metak
walked quickly across the pavement with the girl at his side,
Bertha Kircher could only guess at the man's intentions. She
could see no way in which to escape and so she went docilely
with him, hoping against hope that some fortuitous circum-
stance might eventually arise that would give her the coveted
chance for freedom and life.

Metak led her toward a building which, as she entered, she
recognized as the same to which she and Lieutenant Smith-
Oldwick had been led when they were brought into the city.
There was no man sitting behind the carved desk now, but
about the room were a dozen or more warriors in the tunics
of the house to which they were attached, in this case white
with a small lion in the form of a crest or badge upon the
breast and back of each.

As Metak entered and the men recognized him they arose,
and in answer to a query he put, they pointed to an arched
doorway at the rear of the room. Toward this Metak led the
girl, and then, as though filled with a sudden suspicion, his
eyes
narrowed cunningly and turning toward the soldiery he issued
an order which resulted in their all preceding him through the
small doorway and up a flight of stairs a short distance beyond.

The stairway and the corridor above were lighted by small
flares which revealed several doors in the walls of the upper
passageway. To one of these the men led the prince. Bertha
Kircher saw them knock upon the door and heard a voice reply
faintly through the thick door to the summons. The effect
upon those about her was electrical. Instantly excitement
reigned, and in response to orders from the king's son the
soldiers commenced to beat heavily upon the door, to throw
their bodies against it and to attempt to hew away the panels
with their sabers. The girl wondered at the cause of the evident
excitement of her captors.

She saw the door giving to each renewed assault, but what
she did not see just before it crashed inward was the figures of
the two men who alone, in all the world, might have saved
her, pass between the heavy hangings in an adjoining alcove
and disappear into a dark corridor.

As the door gave and the warriors rushed into the apartment
followed by the prince, the latter became immediately filled
with baffled rage, for the rooms were deserted except for the
dead body of the owner of the palace, and the still form of the
black slave, Otobu, where they lay stretched upon the floor of
the alcove.

The prince rushed to the windows and looked out, but as
the suite overlooked the barred den of lions from which, the
prince thought, there could be no escape, his puzzlement was
only increased. Though he searched about the room for some
clue to the whereabouts of its former occupants he did not dis-
cover the niche behind the hangings. With the fickleness of
insanity he quickly tired of the search, and, turning to the
soldiers who had accompanied him from the floor below,
dismissed them.

After setting up the broken door as best they could, the men
left the apartment and when they were again alone Metak
turned toward the girl. As he approached her, his face dis-
torted by a hideous leer, his features worked rapidly in spas-
modic twitches. The girl, who was standing at the entrance of
the alcove, shrank back, her horror reflected in her face. Step
by step she backed across the room, while the crouching
maniac crept stealthily after her with clawlike fingers poised
in anticipation of the moment they should leap forth and
seize her.

As she passed the body of the Negro, her foot touched some
obstacle at her side, and glancing down she saw the spear with
which Otobu had been supposed to hold the prisoners. In-
stantly she leaned forward and snatched it from the floor
with its sharp point directed at the body of the madman. The
effect upon Metak was electrical. From stealthy silence he
broke into harsh peals of laughter, and drawing his saber
danced to and fro before the girl, but whichever way he went
the point of the spear still threatened him.

Gradually the girl noticed a change in the tone of the crea-
ture's screams that was also reflected in the changing expres-
sion upon his hideous countenance. His hysterical laughter
was slowly changing into cries of rage while the silly leer upon
his face was supplanted by a ferocious scowl and upcurled
lips, which revealed the sharpened fangs beneath.

He now ran rapidly in almost to the spear's point, only to
jump away, run a few steps to one side and again attempt to
make an entrance, the while he slashed and hewed at the
spear with such violence that it was with difficulty the girl
maintained her guard, and all the time was forced to give
ground step by step. She had reached the point where she was
standing squarely against the couch at the side of the room
when, with an incredibly swift movement, Metak stooped and
grasping a low stool hurled it directly at her head.

She raised the spear to fend off the heavy missile, but she
was not entirely successful, and the impact of the blow carried
her backward upon the couch, and instantly Metak was upon her.

Tarzan and Smith-Oldwick gave little thought as to what
had become of the other two occupants of the room. They
were gone, and so far as these two were concerned they might
never return. Tarzan's one desire was to reach the street
again, where, now that both of them were in some sort of
disguise, they should be able to proceed with comparative
safety to the palace and continue their search for the girl.

Smith-Oldwick preceded Tarzan along the corridor and as
they reached the ladder he climbed aloft to remove the trap.
He worked for a moment and then, turning, addressed Tarzan.

"Did we replace the cover on this trap when we came down?
I don't recall that we did."

"No," said Tarzan, "it was left open."

"So I thought," said Smith-Oldwick, "but it's closed now
and locked. I cannot move it. Possibly you can," and he
descended the ladder.

Even Tarzan's immense strength, however, had no effect
other than to break one of the rungs of the ladder against
which he was pushing, nearly precipitating him to the floor
below. After the rung broke he rested for a moment before
renewing his efforts, and as he stood with his head near the
cover of the trap, he distinctly heard voices on the roof above
him.

Dropping down to Oldwick's side he told him what he had
heard. "We had better find some other way out," he said, and
the two started to retrace their steps toward the alcove. Tarzan
was again in the lead, and as he opened the door in the back
of the niche, he was suddenly startled to hear, in tones of
terror and in a woman's voice, the words: "O God, be merci-
ful" from just beyond the hangings.

Here was no time for cautious investigation and, not even
waiting to find the aperture and part the hangings, but with
one sweep of a brawny hand dragging them from their sup-
port, the ape-man leaped from the niche into the alcove.

At the sound of his entry the maniac looked up, and as he
saw at first only a man in the uniform of his father's soldiers,
he shrieked forth an angry order, but at the second glance,
which revealed the face of the newcomer, the madman leaped
from the prostrate form of his victim and, apparently for-
getful of the saber which he had dropped upon the floor beside
the couch as he leaped to grapple with the girl, closed with
bare hands upon his antagonist, his sharp-filed teeth searching
for the other's throat.

Metak, the son of Herog, was no weakling. Powerful by
nature and rendered still more so in the throes of one of his
maniacal fits of fury he was no mean antagonist, even for the
mighty ape-man, and to this a distinct advantage for him was
added by the fact that almost at the outset of their battle
Tarzan, in stepping backward, struck his heel against the
corpse of the man whom Smith-Oldwick had killed, and fell
heavily backward to the floor with Metak upon his breast.

With the quickness of a cat the maniac made an attempt to
fasten his teeth in Tarzan's jugular, but a quick movement of
the latter resulted in his finding a hold only upon the Tar-
mangani's shoulder. Here he clung while his fingers sought
Tarzan's throat, and it was then that the ape-man, realizing
the possibility of defeat, called to Smith-Oldwick to take the
girl and seek to escape.

The Englishman looked questioningly at Bertha Kircher,
who had now risen from the couch, shaking and trembling.
She saw the question in his eyes and with an effort she drew
herself to her full height. "No," she cried, "if he dies here I
shall die with him. Go if you wish to. You can do nothing
here, but I -- I cannot go."

Tarzan had now regained his feet, but the maniac still clung
to him tenaciously. The girl turned suddenly to Smith-Oldwick.
"Your pistol!" she cried. "Why don't you shoot him?"

The man drew the weapon from his pocket and approached
the two antagonists, but by this time they were moving so
rapidly that there was no opportunity for shooting one without
the danger of hitting the other. At the same time Bertha
Kircher circled about them with the prince's saber, but neither
could she find an opening. Again and again the two men fell
to the floor, until presently Tarzan found a hold upon the
other's throat, against which contingency Metak had been
constantly battling, and slowly, as the giant fingers closed, the
other's mad eyes protruded from his livid face, his jaws gaped
and released their hold upon Tarzan's shoulder, and then in a
sudden excess of disgust and rage the ape-man lifted the body
of the prince high above his head and with all the strength of
his great arms hurled it across the room and through the
window where it fell with a sickening thud into the pit of lions
beneath.

As Tarzan turned again toward his companions, the girl was
standing with the saber still in her hand and an expression
upon her face that he never had seen there before. Her eyes
were wide and misty with unshed tears, while her sensitive lips
trembled as though she were upon the point of giving way to
some pent emotion which her rapidly rising and falling bosom
plainly indicated she was fighting to control.

"If we are going to get out of here," said the ape-man, "we
can't lose any time. We are together at last and nothing can
be gained by delay. The question now is the safest way. The
couple who escaped us evidently departed through the pas-
sageway to the roof and secured the trap against us so that
we are cut off in that direction. What chance have we below?
You came that way," and he turned toward the girl.

"At the foot of the stairs," she said, "is a room full of armed
men. I doubt if we could pass that way."

It was then that Otobu raised himself to a sitting posture.
"So you are not dead after all," exclaimed the ape-man.
"Come, how badly are you hurt?"

The Negro rose gingerly to his feet, moved his arms and
legs and felt of his head.

"Otobu does not seem to be hurt at all, Bwana," he replied,
"only for a great ache in his head."

"Good," said the ape-man. "You want to return to the
Wamabo country?"

"Yes, Bwana."

"Then lead us from the city by the safest way."

"There is no safe way," replied the black, "and even if we
reach the gates we shall have to fight. I can lead you from this
building to a side street with little danger of meeting anyone
on the way. Beyond that we must take our chance of discov-
ery. You are all dressed as are the people of this wicked city so
perhaps we may pass unnoticed, but at the gate it will be a dif-
ferent matter, for none is permitted to leave the city at night."

"Very well," replied the ape-man, "let us be on our way."

Otobu led them through the broken door of the outer room,
and part way down the corridor he turned into another apart-
ment at the right. This they crossed to a passageway beyond,
and, finally, traversing several rooms and corridors, he led
them down a flight of steps to a door which opened directly
upon a side street in rear of the palace.

Two men, a woman, and a black slave were not so extraordi-
nary a sight upon the streets of the city as to arouse comment.
When passing beneath the flares the three Europeans were
careful to choose a moment when no chance pedestrian might
happen to get a view of their features, but in the shadow of
the arcades there seemed little danger of detection. They had
covered a good portion of the distance to the gate without mis-
hap when there came to their ears from the central portion
of the city sounds of a great commotion.

"What does that mean?" Tarzan asked of Otobu, who was
now trembling violently.

"Master," he replied, "they have discovered that which has
happened in the palace of Veza, mayor of the city. His son and
the girl escaped and summoned soldiers who have now doubt-
less discovered the body of Veza."

"I wonder," said Tarzan, "if they have discovered the party
I threw through the window."

Bertha Kircher, who understood enough of the dialect to
follow their conversation, asked Tarzan if he knew that the
man he had thrown from the window was the king's son. The
ape-man laughed. "No," he said, "I did not. That rather
complicates matters -- at least if they have found him."

Suddenly there broke above the turmoil behind them the
clear strains of a bugle. Otobu increased his pace. "Hurry,
Master," he cried, "it is worse than I had thought."

"What do you mean?" asked Tarzan.

"For some reason the king's guard and the king's lions are
being called out. I fear, O Bwana, that we cannot escape them.
But why they should be called out for us I do not know."

But if Otobu did not know, Tarzan at least guessed that they
had found the body of the king's son. Once again the notes of
the bugle rose high and clear upon the night air. "Calling more
lions?" asked Tarzan.

"No, Master," replied Otobu. "It is the parrots they are
calling."

They moved on rapidly in silence for a few minutes when
their attention was attracted by the flapping of the wings of a
bird above them. They looked up to discover a parrot circling
about over their heads.

"Here are the parrots, Otobu," said Tarzan with a grin.
"Do they expect to kill us with parrots?"

The Negro moaned as the bird darted suddenly ahead of
them toward the city wall. "Now indeed are we lost, Master,"
cried the black. "The bird that found us has flown to the gate
to warn the guard."

"Come, Otobu, what are you talking about?" exclaimed
Tarzan irritably. "Have you lived among these lunatics so
long that you are yourself mad?"

"No, Master," replied Otobu. "I am not mad. You do not
know them. These terrible birds are like human beings with-
out hearts or souls. They speak the language of the people of
this city of Xuja. They are demons, Master, and when in
sufficient numbers they might even attack and kill us."

"How far are we from the gate?" asked Tarzan.

"We are not very far," replied the Negro. "Beyond this next
turn we will see it a few paces ahead of us. But the bird has
reached it before us and by now they are summoning the
guard," the truth of which statement was almost immediately
indicated by sounds of many voices raised evidently in com-
mands just ahead of them, while from behind came increased
evidence of approaching pursuit -- loud screams and the roars
of lions.

A few steps ahead a narrow alley opened from the east into
the thoroughfare they were following and as they approached
it there emerged from its dark shadows the figure of a mighty
lion. Otobu halted in his tracks and shrank back against
Tarzan. "Look, Master," he whimpered, "a great black lion
of the forest!"

Tarzan drew the saber which still hung at his side. "We
cannot go back," he said. "Lions, parrots, or men, it must be
all the same," and he moved steadily forward in the direction
of the gate. What wind was stirring in the city street moved
from Tarzan toward the lion and when the ape-man had ap-
proached to within a few yards of the beast, who had stood
silently eyeing them up to this time, instead of the expected
roar, a whine broke from the beast's throat. The ape-man was
conscious of a very decided feeling of relief. "It's Numa of
the pit," he called back to his companions, and to Otobu, "Do
not fear, this lion will not harm us."

Numa moved forward to the ape-man's side and then
turning, paced beside him along the narrow street. At the next
turn they came in sight of the gate, where, beneath several
flares, they saw a group of at least twenty warriors prepared
to seize them, while from the opposite direction the roars of
the pursuing lions sounded close upon them, mingling with the
screams of numerous parrots which now circled about their
heads. Tarzan halted and turned to the young aviator. "How
many rounds of ammunition have you left?" he asked.

"I have seven in the pistol," replied Smith-Oldwick, "and
perhaps a dozen more cartridges in my blouse pocket."

"I'm going to rush them," said Tarzan. "Otobu, you stay at
the side of the woman. Oldwick, you and I will go ahead, you
upon my left. I think we need not try to tell Numa what to
do," for even then the great lion was baring his fangs and
growling ferociously at the guardsmen, who appeared uneasy
in the face of this creature which, above all others, they
feared.

"As we advance, Oldwick," said the ape-man, "fire one shot.
It may frighten them, and after that fire only when necessary.
All ready? Let's go!" and he moved forward toward the gate.
At the same time, Smith-Oldwick discharged his weapon and a
yellow-coated warrior screamed and crumpled forward upon
his face. For a minute the others showed symptoms of panic
but one, who seemed to be an officer, rallied them. "Now,"
said Tarzan, "all together!" and he started at a run for the
gate. Simultaneously the lion, evidently scenting the purpose
of the Tarmangani, broke into a full charge toward the guard.

Shaken by the report of the unfamiliar weapon, the ranks
of the guardsmen broke before the furious assault of the great
beast. The officer screamed forth a volley of commands in a
mad fury of uncontrolled rage but the guardsmen, obeying the
first law of nature as well as actuated by their inherent fear of
the black denizen of the forest scattered to right and left to
elude the monster. With ferocious growls Numa wheeled to
the right, and with raking talons struck right and left among a
little handful of terrified guardsmen who were endeavoring
to elude him, and then Tarzan and Smith-Oldwick closed with
the others.

For a moment their most formidable antagonist was the
officer in command. He wielded his curved saber as only an
adept might as he faced Tarzan, to whom the similar weapon
in his own hand was most unfamiliar. Smith-Oldwick could
not fire for fear of hitting the ape-man when suddenly to his
dismay he saw Tarzan's weapon fly from his grasp as the
Xujan warrior neatly disarmed his opponent. With a scream
the fellow raised his saber for the final cut that would termi-
nate the earthly career of Tarzan of the Apes when, to the
astonishment of both the ape-man and Smith-Oldwick, the
fellow stiffened rigidly, his weapon dropped from the nerve-
less fingers of his upraised hand, his mad eyes rolled upward
and foam flecked his bared lip. Gasping as though in the
throes of strangulation the fellow pitched forward at Tarzan's
feet.

Tarzan stooped and picked up the dead man's weapon, a
smile upon his face as he turned and glanced toward the
young Englishman.

"The fellow is an epileptic," said Smith-Oldwick. "I sup-
pose many of them are. Their nervous condition is not with-
out its good points -- a normal man would have gotten you."

The other guardsmen seemed utterly demoralized at the
loss of their leader. They were huddled upon the opposite
side of the street at the left of the gate, screaming at the tops
of their voices and looking in the direction from which sounds
of reinforcements were coming, as though urging on the men
and lions that were already too close for the comfort of the
fugitives. Six guardsmen still stood with their backs against
the gate, their weapons flashing in the light of the flares and
their parchment-like faces distorted in horrid grimaces of rage
and terror.

Numa had pursued two fleeing warriors down the street
which paralleled the wall for a short distance at this point.
The ape-man turned to Smith-Oldwick. "You will have to
use your pistol now," he said, "and we must get by these
fellows at once;" and as the young Englishman fired, Tarzan
rushed in to close quarters as though he had not already dis-
covered that with the saber he was no match for these trained
swordsmen. Two men fell to Smith-Oldwick's first two shots
and then he missed, while the four remaining divided, two
leaping for the aviator and two for Tarzan.

The ape-man rushed in in an effort to close with one of his
antagonists where the other's saber would be comparatively
useless. Smith-Oldwick dropped one of his assailants with a
bullet through the chest and pulled his trigger on the second,
only to have the hammer fall futilely upon an empty chamber.
The cartridges in his weapon were exhausted and the warrior
with his razor-edged, gleaming saber was upon him.

Tarzan raised his own weapon but once and that to divert a
vicious cut for his head. Then he was upon one of his assail-
ants and before the fellow could regain his equilibrium and
leap back after delivering his cut, the ape-man had seized him
by the neck and crotch. Tarzan's other antagonist was edging
around to one side where he might use his weapon, and as he
raised the blade to strike at the back of the Tarmangani's neck,
the latter swung the body of his comrade upward so that it
received the full force of the blow. The blade sank deep into
the body of the warrior, eliciting a single frightful scream, and
then Tarzan hurled the dying man in the face of his final
adversary.

Smith-Oldwick, hard pressed and now utterly defenseless,
had given up all hope in the instant that he realized his
weapon was empty, when, from his left, a living bolt of black-
maned ferocity shot past him to the breast of his opponent.
Down went the Xujan, his face bitten away by one snap of the
powerful jaws of Numa of the pit.

In the few seconds that had been required for the consum-
mation of these rapidly ensuing events, Otobu had dragged
Bertha Kircher to the gate which he had unbarred and thrown
open, and with the vanquishing of the last of the active guards-
men, the party passed out of the maniac city of Xuja into the
outer darkness beyond. At the same moment a half dozen
lions rounded the last turn in the road leading back toward the
plaza, and at sight of them Numa of the pit wheeled and
charged. For a moment the lions of the city stood their
ground, but only for a moment, and then before the black
beast was upon them, they turned and fled, while Tarzan and
his party moved rapidly toward the blackness of the forest
beyond the garden.

"Will they follow us out of the city?" Tarzan asked Otobu.

"Not at night," replied the black. "I have been a slave here
for five years but never have I known these people to leave
the city by night. If they go beyond the forest in the daytime
they usually wait until the dawn of another day before they
return, as they fear to pass through the country of the black
lions after dark. No, I think, Master, that they will not follow
us tonight, but tomorrow they will come, and, O Bwana, then
will they surely get us, or those that are left of us, for at
least
one among us must be the toll of the black lions as we pass
through their forest."

As they crossed the garden, Smith-Oldwick refilled the
magazine of his pistol and inserted a cartridge in the chamber.
The girl moved silently at Tarzan's left, between him and the
aviator. Suddenly the ape-man stopped and turned toward
the city, his mighty frame, clothed in the yellow tunic of
Herog's soldiery, plainly visible to the others beneath the light
of the stars. They saw him raise his head and they heard
break from his lips the plaintive note of a lion calling to his
fellows. Smith-Oldwick felt a distinct shudder pass through
his frame, while Otobu, rolling the whites of his eyes in ter-
rified surprise, sank tremblingly to his knees. But the girl
thrilled and she felt her heart beat in a strange exultation, and
then she drew nearer to the beast-man until her shoulder
touched his arm. The act was involuntary and for a moment
she scarce realized what she had done, and then she stepped
silently back, thankful that the light of the stars was not
sufficient to reveal to the eyes of her companions the flush
which she felt mantling her cheek. Yet she was not ashamed
of the impulse that had prompted her, but rather of the act
itself which she knew, had Tarzan noticed it, would have been
repulsive to him.

From the open gate of the city of maniacs came the answer-
ing cry of a lion. The little group waited where they stood
until presently they saw the majestic proportions of the black
lion as he approached them along the trail. When he had
rejoined them Tarzan fastened the fingers of one hand in the
black mane and started on once more toward the forest. Be-
hind them, from the city, rose a bedlam of horrid sounds, the
roaring of lions mingling with the raucous voices of the
screaming parrots and the mad shrieks of the maniacs. As
they entered the Stygian darkness of the forest the girl once
again involuntarily shrank closer to the ape-man, and this time
Tarzan was aware of the contact.

Himself without fear, he yet instinctively appreciated how
terrified the girl must be. Actuated by a sudden kindly im-
pulse he found her hand and took it in his own and thus they
continued upon their way, groping through the blackness of
the trail. Twice they were approached by forest lions, but
upon both occasions the deep growls of Numa of the pit drove
off their assailants. Several times they were compelled to rest,
for Smith-Oldwick was constantly upon the verge of exhaus-
tion, and toward morning Tarzan was forced to carry him on
the steep ascent from the bed of the valley.

The Tommies

Daylight overtook them after they had entered the gorge,
but, tired as they all were with the exception of Tar-
zan, they realized that they must keep on at all costs
until they found a spot where they might ascend the precipi-
tous side of the gorge to the floor of the plateau above. Tarzan
and Otobu were both equally confident that the Xujans would
not follow them beyond the gorge, but though they scanned
every inch of the frowning cliffs upon either hand noon came
and there was still no indication of any avenue of escape to
right or left. There were places where the ape-man alone
might have negotiated the ascent but none where the others
could hope successfully to reach the plateau, nor where Tar-
zan, powerful and agile as he was, could have ventured safely
to carry them aloft.

For half a day the ape-man had been either carrying or
supporting Smith-Oldwick and now, to his chagrin, he saw
that the girl was faltering. He had realized well how much
she had undergone and how greatly the hardships and dan-
gers and the fatigue of the past weeks must have told upon
her vitality. He saw how bravely she attempted to keep up,
yet how often she stumbled and staggered as she labored
through the sand and gravel of the gorge. Nor could he help
but admire her fortitude and the uncomplaining effort she was
making to push on.

The Englishman must have noticed her condition too, for
some time after noon, he stopped suddenly and sat down in
the sand. "It's no use," he said to Tarzan. "I can go no far-
ther. Miss Kircher is rapidly weakening. You will have to go
on without me."

"No," said the girl, "we cannot do that. We have all been
through so much together and the chances of our escape are
still so remote that whatever comes, let us remain together,
unless," and she looked up at Tarzan, "you, who have done
so much for us to whom you are under no obligations, will
go on without us. I for one wish that you would. It must be
as evident to you as it is to me that you cannot save us, for
though you succeeded in dragging us from the path of our
pursuers, even your great strength and endurance could never
take one of us across the desert waste which lies between
here and the nearest fertile country."

The ape-man returned her serious look with a smile. "You
are not dead," he said to her, "nor is the lieutenant, nor Otobu,
nor myself. One is either dead or alive, and until we are dead
we should plan only upon continuing to live. Because we
remain here and rest is no indication that we shall die here.
I cannot carry you both to the country of the Wamabos, which
is the nearest spot at which we may expect to find game and
water, but we shall not give up on that account. So far we
have found a way. Let us take things as they come. Let us
rest now because you and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick need the
rest, and when you are stronger we will go on again."

"But the Xujans --?" she asked, "may they not follow us
here?"

"Yes," he said, "they probably will. But we need not be
concerned with them until they come."

"I wish," said the girl, "that I possessed your philosophy
but I am afraid it is beyond me."

"You were not born and reared in the jungle by wild beasts
and among wild beasts, or you would possess, as I do, the
fatalism of the jungle."

And so they moved to the side of the gorge beneath the
shade of an overhanging rock and lay down in the hot sand to
rest. Numa wandered restlessly to and fro and finally, after
sprawling for a moment close beside the ape-man, rose and
moved off up the gorge to be lost to view a moment later be-
yond the nearest turn.

For an hour the little party rested and then Tarzan suddenly
rose and, motioning the others to silence, listened. For a min-
ute he stood motionless, his keen ears acutely receptive to
sounds so faint and distant that none of the other three could
detect the slightest break in the utter and deathlike quiet of
the
gorge. Finally the ape-man relaxed and turned toward them.
"What is it?" asked the girl.

"They are coming," he replied. "They are yet some distance
away, though not far, for the sandaled feet of the men and the
pads of the lions make little noise upon the soft sands."

"What shall we do -- try to go on?" asked Smith-Oldwick.
"I believe I could make a go of it now for a short way. I am
much rested. How about you Miss Kircher?"

"Oh, yes," she said, "I am much stronger. Yes, surely I can
go on."

Tarzan knew that neither of them quite spoke the truth,
that people do not recover so quickly from utter exhaustion,
but he saw no other way and there was always the hope that
just beyond the next turn would be a way out of the gorge.

"You help the lieutenant, Otobu," he said, turning to the
black, "and I will carry Miss Kircher," and though the girl
objected, saying that he must not waste his strength, he lifted
her lightly in his arms and moved off up the canyon, followed
by Otobu and the Englishman. They had gone no great dis-
tance when the others of the party became aware of the sounds
of pursuit, for now the lions were whining as though the fresh
scent spoor of their quarry had reached their nostrils.

"I wish that your Numa would return," said the girl.

"Yes," said Tarzan, "but we shall have to do the best we can
without him. I should like to find some place where we can
barricade ourselves against attack from all sides. Possibly then
we might hold them off. Smith-Oldwick is a good shot and if
there are not too many men he might be able to dispose of
them provided they can only come at him one at a time. The
lions don't bother me so much. Sometimes they are stupid
animals, and I am sure that these that pursue us, and who are
so dependent upon the masters that have raised and trained
them, will be easily handled after the warriors are disposed of."

"You think there is some hope, then?" she asked.

"We are still alive," was his only answer.

"There," he said presently, "I thought I recalled this very
spot." He pointed toward a fragment that had evidently fallen
from the summit of the cliff and which now lay imbedded in
the sand a few feet from the base. It was a jagged fragment of
rock which rose some ten feet above the surface of the sand,
leaving a narrow aperture between it and the cliff behind. To-
ward this they directed their steps and when finally they
reached their goal they found a space about two feet wide and
ten feet long between the rock and the cliff. To be sure it was
open at both ends but at least they could not be attacked
upon all sides at once.

They had scarcely concealed themselves before Tarzan's
quick ears caught a sound upon the face of the cliff above
them, and looking up he saw a diminutive monkey perched
upon a slight projection -- an ugly-faced little monkey who
looked down upon them for a moment and then scampered
away toward the south in the direction from which their pur-
suers were coming. Otobu had seen the monkey too. "He will
tell the parrots," said the black, "and the parrots will tell the
madmen."

"It is all the same," replied Tarzan; "the lions would have
found us here. We could not hope to hide from them."

He placed Smith-Oldwick, with his pistol, at the north open-
ing of their haven and told Otobu to stand with his spear at
the Englishman's shoulder, while he himself prepared to guard
the southern approach. Between them he had the girl lie down
in the sand. "You will be safe there in the event that they use
their spears," he said.

The minutes that dragged by seemed veritable eternities to
Bertha Kircher and then at last, and almost with relief, she
knew that the pursuers were upon them. She heard the angry
roaring of the lions and the cries of the madmen. For several
minutes the men seemed to be investigating the stronghold
which their quarry had discovered. She could hear them both
to the north and south and then from where she lay she saw
a lion charging for the ape-man before her. She saw the giant
arm swing back with the curved saber and she saw it fall
with terrific velocity and meet the lion as he rose to grapple
with the man, cleaving his skull as cleanly as a butcher opens
up a sheep.

Then she heard footsteps running rapidly toward Smith-
Oldwick and, as his pistol spoke, there was a scream and the
sound of a falling body. Evidently disheartened by the failure
of their first attempt the assaulters drew off, but only for a
short time. Again they came, this time a man opposing Tar-
zan and a lion seeking to overcome Smith-Oldwick. Tarzan
had cautioned the young Englishman not to waste his car-
tridges upon the lions and it was Otobu with the Xujan spear
who met the beast, which was not subdued until both he and
Smith-Oldwick had been mauled, and the latter had succeeded
in running the point of the saber the girl had carried, into the
beast's heart. The man who opposed Tarzan inadvertently
came too close in an attempt to cut at the ape-man's head, with
the result that an instant later his corpse lay with the neck
broken upon the body of the lion.

Once again the enemy withdrew, but again only for a short
time, and now they came in full force, the lions and the men,
possibly a half dozen of each, the men casting their spears
and the lions waiting just behind, evidently for the signal to
charge.

"Is this the end?" asked the girl.

"No," cried the ape-man, "for we still live!"

The words had scarcely passed his lips when the remaining
warriors, rushing in, cast their spears simultaneously from
both sides. In attempting to shield the girl, Tarzan received
one of the shafts in the shoulder, and so heavily had the
weapon been hurled that it bore him backward to the ground.
Smith-Oldwick fired his pistol twice when he too was struck
down, the weapon entering his right leg midway between hip
and knee. Only Otobu remained to face the enemy, for the
Englishman, already weak from his wounds and from the
latest mauling he had received at the claws of the lion, had lost
consciousness as he sank to the ground with this new hurt.

As he fell his pistol dropped from his fingers, and the girl,
seeing, snatched it up. As Tarzan struggled to rise, one of the
warriors leaped full upon his breast and bore him back as, with
fiendish shrieks, he raised the point of his saber above the
other's heart. Before he could drive it home the girl leveled
Smith-Oldwick's pistol and fired point-blank at the fiend's
face.

Simultaneously there broke upon the astonished ears of both
attackers and attacked a volley of shots from the gorge. With
the sweetness of the voice of an angel from heaven the Euro-
peans heard the sharp-barked commands of an English non-
com. Even above the roars of the lions and the screams of
the maniacs, those beloved tones reached the ears of Tarzan
and the girl at the very moment that even the ape-man had
given up the last vestige of hope.

Rolling the body of the warrior to one side Tarzan strug-
gled to his feet, the spear still protruding from his shoulder.
The girl rose too, and as Tarzan wrenched the weapon from
his flesh and stepped out from behind the concealment of
their refuge, she followed at his side. The skirmish that had
resulted in their rescue was soon over. Most of the lions es-
caped but all of the pursuing Xujans had been slain. As Tar-
zan and the girl came into full view of the group, a British
Tommy leveled his rifle at the ape-man. Seeing the fellow's
actions and realizing instantly the natural error that Tarzan's
yellow tunic had occasioned the girl sprang between him and
the soldier. "Don't shoot," she cried to the latter, "we are both
friends."

"Hold up your hands, you, then," he commanded Tarzan.
"I ain't taking no chances with any duffer with a yellow shirt."

At this juncture the British sergeant who had been in com-
mand of the advance guard approached and when Tarzan and
the girl spoke to him in English, explaining their disguises, he
accepted their word, since they were evidently not of the
same race as the creatures which lay dead about them. Ten
minutes later the main body of the expedition came into view.
Smith-Oldwick's wounds were dressed, as well as were those
of the ape-man, and in half an hour they were on their way to
the camp of their rescuers.

That night it was arranged that the following day Smith-
Oldwick and Bertha Kircher should be transported to British
headquarters near the coast by aeroplane, the two planes
attached to the expeditionary force being requisitioned for the
purpose. Tarzan and Otobu declined the offers of the British
captain to accompany his force overland on the return march
as Tarzan explained that his country lay to the west, as did
Otobu's, and that they would travel together as far as the
country of the Wamabos.

"You are not going back with us, then?" asked the girl.

"No," replied the ape-man. "My home is upon the west
coast. I will continue my journey in that direction."

She cast appealing eyes toward him. "You will go back into
that terrible jungle?" she asked. "We shall never see you
again?"

He looked at her a moment in silence. "Never," he said,
and without another word turned and walked away.

In the morning Colonel Capell came from the base camp in
one of the planes that was to carry Smith-Oldwick and the girl
to the east. Tarzan was standing some distance away as the
ship landed and the officer descended to the ground. He saw
the colonel greet his junior in command of the advance de-
tachment, and then he saw him turn toward Bertha Kircher
who was standing a few paces behind the captain. Tarzan won-
dered how the German spy felt in this situation, especially
when she must know that there was one there who knew her
real status. He saw Colonel Capell walk toward her with out-
stretched hands and smiling face and, although he could
not hear the words of his greeting, he saw that it was friendly
and cordial to a degree.

Tarzan turned away scowling, and if any had been close by
they might have heard a low growl rumble from his chest. He
knew that his country was at war with Germany and that not
only his duty to the land of his fathers, but also his personal
grievance against the enemy people and his hatred of them,
demanded that he expose the girl's perfidy, and yet he hesi-
tated, and because he hesitated he growled -- not at the German
spy but at himself for his weakness.

He did not see her again before she entered a plane and was
borne away toward the east. He bid farewell to Smith-Oldwick
and received again the oft-repeated thanks of the young Eng-
lishman. And then he saw him too borne aloft in the high
circling plane and watched until the ship became a speck far
above the eastern horizon to disappear at last high in air.

The Tommies, their packs and accouterments slung, were
waiting the summons to continue their return march. Colonel
Capell had, through a desire to personally observe the stretch
of country between the camp of the advance detachment and
the base, decided to march back his troops. Now that all was
in readiness for departure he turned to Tarzan. "I wish you
would come back with us, Greystoke," he said, "and if my
appeal carries no inducement possibly that of Smith-Oldwick
'and the young lady who just left us may. They asked me to
urge you to return to civilization."

"No;" said Tarzan, "I shall go my own way. Miss Kircher
and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick were only prompted by a sense
of gratitude in considering my welfare."

"Miss Kircher?" exclaimed Capell and then he laughed,
"You know her then as Bertha Kircher, the German spy?"

Tarzan looked at the other a moment in silence. It was
beyond him to conceive that a British officer should thus laco-
nically speak of an enemy spy whom he had had within his
power and permitted to escape. "Yes," he replied, "I knew
that she was Bertha Kircher, the German spy?"

"Is that all you knew?" asked Capell.

"That is all," said the ape-man.

"She is the Honorable Patricia Canby," said Capell, "one
of the most valuable members of the British Intelligence Serv-
ice attached to the East African forces. Her father and I
served in India together and I have known her ever since she
was born.

"Why, here's a packet of papers she took from a German
officer and has been carrying it through all her vicissitudes --
single-minded in the performance of her duty. Look! I
haven't yet had time to examine them but as you see here is a
military sketch map, a bundle of reports, and the diary of one
Hauptmann Fritz Schneider."

"The diary of Hauptmann Fritz Schneider!" repeated Tar-
zan in a constrained voice. "May I see it, Capell? He is the
man who murdered Lady Greystoke."

The Englishman handed the little volume over to the other
without a word. Tarzan ran through the pages quickly look-
ing for a certain date -- the date that the horror had been com-
mitted -- and when he found it he read rapidly. Suddenly a
gasp of incredulity burst from his lips. Capell looked at him
questioningly.

"God!" exclaimed the ape-man. "Can this be true? Listen!"
and he read an excerpt from the closely written page:

"'Played a little joke on the English pig. When he comes
home he will find the burned body of his wife in her boudoir --
but he will only think it is his wife. Had von Goss substitute
the body of a dead Negress and char it after putting Lady
Greystoke's rings on it -- Lady G will be of more value to the
High Command alive than dead.'"

"She lives!" cried Tarzan.

"Thank God!" exclaimed Capell. "And now?"

"I will return with you, of course. How terribly I have
wronged Miss Canby, but how could I know? I even told
Smith-Oldwick, who loves her, that she was a German spy.

"Not only must I return to find my wife but I must right
this wrong."

"Don't worry about that," said Capell, "she must have con-
vinced him that she is no enemy spy, for just before they left
this morning he told me she had promised to marry him."

End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Tarzan the Untamed, by Burroughs

Note: I have made the following changes to the text:
PAGE  LINE  ORIGINAL          CHANGED TO
  25    10  noislessly        noiselessly
  40    34  hole              bole
  41    45  later             latter
  53    43  but               "but
  66    19  half-smiled       half-smile
  69    45  to many           too many
  75    16  fine              find
  81     3  forth             fourth
  86    14  hoplessly         hopelessly
  86    42  interferred       interfered
  93    15  born              borne
 101    40  Englishman        Englishmen
 108    16  divertisements    divertissements
 110    29  asid              said
 127    14  apppreciate       appreciate
 128    45  fuseluge          fuselage
 138    25  as the            at the
 142    34  girls'            girl's
 146    44  sourroundings,    surroundings,
 148    30  spirit on         spirit of
 149    33  upon              upon.
 153     3  immediately       immediate
 153    39  nothwithstanding  notwithstanding
 159    43  "The              The
 163    45  known             know
 171     8  one the           on the
 172     8  sandled           sandaled
 175     2  junlgle           jungle
 181    46  swifty            swiftly
 189    23  not,              not.
 198    45  "Come,"           Come,"
 219     1  still             sill
 225    21  sigh or           sigh of
 227    20  occasionaly       occasionally
 228     5  gazing            grazing
 234    24  prionsers.        prisoners.
 237    11  qiuckly           quickly
 237    16  opproached        approached
 243    16  is his            in his
 244    32  second            seconds
I have also omitted the page-wide line beneath each chapter
heading.