'Yes.'
'How did they get you, and how did you get away from them?'
'I was in a tree above them. The branch broke. I was stunned for a moment. Then they bound me.'
'That was the crash I heard as I was leaving the village.'
'Doubtless,' agreed the ape-man. 'I called the great apes,' he continued, 'and they came and carried me here. Where is the white girl?'
'She and I were on our way toward my camp when the ape got me,' explained Old Timer. 'She is alone back there now. When I get these wires off, may I go back to her?'
'I shall go with you. Where was the place? Do you think you can find it?'
'It cannot be far, not more than a few miles, yet I may not be able to find it.'
'I can,' said Tarzan.
'How?' inquired Old Timer.
'By Ga-yat's spoor. It is still fresh.'
The white man nodded, but he was not convinced. He thought it would be a slow procedure picking out the foot prints of the beast all the way back to the spot at which he had been seized. He had removed the wires from Tarzan's wrists and was working upon those of his ankles; a moment later the ape-man was free. He leaped to his feet.
'Come!' he directed and started at a trot toward the spot at which Ga-yat had emerged from the jungle.
Old Timer tried to keep up with him, but discovered that he was weak from hunger and exhaustion. 'You go ahead,' he called to the ape-man. 'I cannot keep up with you, and we can't waste any time. She is there alone.'
'If I leave you, you will get lost,' objected Tarzan. 'Wait, I have it!' He called to Nkima, who was swinging through the trees above them, and the monkey dropped to his shoulder. 'Stay near the Tarmangani,' he directed, 'and show him the trail that Tarzan follows.'
Nkima objected; he was not interested in the Tarmangani, but at last he understood that he must do as Tarzan wished. Old Timer watched them chattering to one another. It seemed incredible that they were conversing, yet the illusion was perfect.
'Follow Nkima,' said Tarzan; 'he will guide you in the right direction.' Then he was off at a swinging trot along a track that Old Timer could not see.
* * * * *
Kali Bwana was stunned by the hopelessness of her position. After the brief sense of security she had enjoyed since the man had taken her from the village of the pygmies her present situation seemed unbearable by contrast, and in addition she had suffered a personal loss. To the burden of her danger was added grief.
She gazed at the crude shelter he had built for her, and two tears rolled down her cheeks. She picked up the bow he had made and pressed her lips against the insensate wood. She knew that she would never see him again, and the thought brought a choking sob to her throat. It had been long since Kali Bwana had wept. In the face of privation, adversity, and danger she had been brave; but now she crept into the shelter and gave herself over to uncontrolled grief.
What a mess she had made of everything! Thus ran her thoughts. Her ill-conceived search for Jerry had ended in failure; but worse, it had embroiled a total stranger and led him to his death, nor was he the first to die because of her. There had been the faithful Andereya, whom the Leopard Men had killed when they captured her; and there had been Wlala, and Rebega, and his three warriors-all these lives snuffed out because of her stubborn refusal to understand her own limitations. The white officers and civilians along the lower stretch of the river had tried to convince her, but she had refused to listen. She had had her own way, but at what price! She was paying now in misery and remorse.
For some time she lay there, a victim of vain regrets; and then she realized the futility of repining, and by an effort of the will seized control of her shaken nerves. She told herself that she must not give up, that even this last, terrible blow must not stop her. She still lived, and she had not found Jerry. She would go on. She would try to reach the river; she would try in some way to cross it, and she would find Old Timer's camp and enlist the aid of his partner. But she must have food, strength-giving flesh. She could not carry on in her weakened condition. The bow that he had made, and that she had hugged to her breast as she lay in the shelter, would furnish her the means to secure meat; and with this thought in mind she arose and went out to gather up the arrows. It was still not too late to hunt.
As she emerged from the frail hut she saw one of the creatures that she had long feared inwardly, knowing that this forest abounded in them-a leopard. The beast was standing at the edge of the jungle looking toward her. As its yellow eyes discovered her, it dropped to its belly, its face grimacing in a horrid snarl. Then it started to creep cautiously toward her, its tail weaving sinuously. It could have charged and destroyed her without these preliminaries; but it seemed to be playing with her, as a cat plays with a mouse.
Nearer and nearer it came. The girl fitted an arrow to the bow. She knew how futile a gesture it would be to launch that tiny missile at this great engine of destruction; but she was courageous, and she would not give up her life without defending it to the last.
The beast was coming closer. She wondered when it would charge. Many things passed through her mind, but clear and outstanding above all the rest was the image of a man in rags and tatters. Then, beyond the leopard, she saw a figure emerge from the jungle-a giant white man, naked but for a loin cloth.
He did not hesitate. She saw him running quickly forward toward the leopard; and she saw that the beast did not see him, for its eyes were upon her. The man made no sound as he sprang lightly across the soft turf. Suddenly, to her horror, she saw that he was unarmed.
The leopard raised its body a little from the ground. It gathered its hind feet beneath it. It was about to start the swift rush that would end in death for her. Then she saw the running man launch himself through the air straight for the back of the grim beast. She wanted to close her eyes to shut out the horrid scene that she knew must ensue as the leopard turned and tore his rash antagonist to ribbons.
What followed after the bronzed body of the white man closed with that of the great cat defied her astonished eyes to follow. There was a swift intermingling of spotted hide and bronzed skin, of arms and legs, of talons and teeth; and above all rose the hideous growls of two blood-mad beasts. To her horror she realized that not the cat alone was the author of them; the growls of the man were as savage as those of the beast.
From the midst of the whirling mass she saw the man suddenly rise to his feet, dragging the leopard with him. His powerful fingers encircled the throat of the carnivore from behind. The beast struck and struggled to free itself from that grip of death, but no longer did it growl. Slowly its struggles lessened in violence, and at last it went limp; then the man released one hand and twisted its neck until the vertebrae snapped, after which he cast the carcass to the ground. For a moment he stood over it. He seemed to have forgotten the girl; then he placed a foot upon it, and the forest reechoed to the victory cry of the bull ape.
Kali Bwana shuddered. She felt her flesh turn cold. She thought to flee from this terrible wild man of the forest; then he turned toward her, and she knew that it was too late. She still held the bow and arrow ready in her hands. She wondered if she could hold him off with these. He did not appear an easy man to frighten.
Then he spoke to her. 'I seem to have arrived just in time,' he said quietly. 'Your friend will be here presently,' he added, for he saw that she was afraid of him. That one should fear him was no new thing to Tarzan of the Apes. There were many who had feared him, and perhaps for this reason he had come to expect it from every stranger. 'You may put down your bow. I shall not harm you.'
She lowered the weapon to her side. 'My friend!' she repeated. 'Who? Whom do you mean?'
'I do not know his name. Have you many friends here?'
'Only one, but I thought him dead. A huge ape carried him away.'
'He is safe,' the ape-man assured her. 'He is following behind me.'
Kali Bwana sank limply to the ground. 'Thank God!' she murmured.
Tarzan stood with folded arms watching her. How small and delicate she looked! He wondered that she had been able to survive all that she had passed through. The Lord of the Jungle admired courage, and he knew what courage this slender girl must possess to have undergone what she had undergone and still be able to face a charging leopard with that puny weapon lying on the grass beside her.
Presently he heard some one approaching and knew it was the man. When he appeared he was breathing
