upon it. Tomorrow you had better go on without me; I'm afraid I can't keep up, ma'am; and I'm only delaying the rest of you.'
'You're doing splendidly, Tibbs,' said Jane, encouragingly. 'I know it's hard on you now; but you'll be surprised how quickly your muscles will toughen as they get accustomed to the work, and then you'll be able to keep up with any of us.'
'I 'ope so, Milady, but the way I feel now I don't believe I'll be able to go on.'
'Don't worry, Tibbsy, we'll stick by you,' said Brown, reassuringly.
'It's mighty good of you, Mr. Brown, but——'
'But nothing,' said Brown. 'We could get along with one less member in this outfit,' and as he spoke, he stared straight at Sborov, 'but it ain't you, Tibbsy.'
'Now,' said Jane, 'I'm going out to look for meat. I want you men to promise me that you will not quarrel while I'm gone. We have already had too much bloodshed and disaster.'
'Tibbsy don't never fight with no one,' said Brown, 'and I won't be here; so you won't have to worry.'
'You won't be here?' demanded Jane. 'Where are you going?'
'I'm going with you, Miss.'
'But you can't. I can't hunt with you along.'
'Then you won't do no hunting,' said Brown, 'because I'm going with you. You may be boss, but there's one thing you ain't going to do no more.'
'What is that?' asked the girl.
'You ain't going off alone by yourself, again, after what happened to Annette.'
'If I may say so, Milady, I think Mr. Brown is quite right. We can't take any chances with you, Milady.'
Jane shrugged. 'Perhaps you're right,' she said, 'from your point of view, but really I'm much better able to take care of myself in the jungle than any of you.'
'That ain't neither here nor there,' said Brown. 'You just ain't going into the jungle alone, and that's that.'
'All right,' said Jane, with a laugh. 'I suppose I'll have to give in. Come ahead then, Brown; we'll see what we can find.'
Tibbs and Alexis watched them depart, and then the former turned to the prince. 'Beg pardon, sir,' he said, 'but hadn't we better start building a boma and gathering firewood?'
'Yes, you had,' said Alexis; 'and you'd better hurry up about it as it will soon be dark.'
'You're not going to help me, sir?' demanded Tibbs.
'Certainly not, my man. I'm far too tired.'
'And 'ow about me, sir? I'm tired, too.' Tibbs was surprised at his own temerity.
'You've no business to be tired. I'm not paying you to be tired. I'm paying you to work. Come, get busy; and don't be impudent. You seem to be forgetting yourself, Tibbs.'
'If I may make so bold as to say so, your 'ighness, if you're not careful, I shall.'
'What do you mean, you impertinent puppy?' demanded Alexis.
Tibbs sat down on the ground and leaned his back against the tree. 'I mean, sir, that if you don't help and do your share there won't be any boma and there won't be any firewood when Lady Greystoke and Brown come back to the camp. I daresay they'll both be very angry, especially Brown. If I were you, sir, I wouldn't antagonize him any more. I suspect that he does not like you; and out here in the jungle sir, where there ain't no laws nor no Bobbies, he wouldn't need much more of an excuse to kill you.'
For a minute or two Alexis sat in silent thought; then he rose painfully and slowly. 'Come on, my man,' he said, 'and I'll give you a hand with the boma.'
It was almost sunset when Jane and Brown returned with a small antelope, slices of which Tibbs was soon grilling before a cooking fire, while the others sat silently waiting.
There was little conversation as they ate their slender meal. It was an ill-assorted company, with little in common among them other than the grim disasters which had befallen them and which made such depressing conversation that they were taboo as though by a tacit understanding. The girl and Brown each found the other the most congenial member of the party; and what little talk there was passed between these two; but very soon even they were silent; and presently all slept, except Tibbs who had the first watch.
The long night wore on to the accompaniment of savage, jungle sound, usually remote but sometimes so close as to arouse the sleepers—stealthy sounds, weird sounds, fierce and savage sounds, sometimes whispering, sometimes thundering, died softly, dying into nothingness, or reverberated through the jungle until the earth trembled.
Each in his turn, the men stood guard. At four in the morning, Tibbs completing his second tour, awoke Alexis who was to follow him.
Shivering in the chill of early morning, Sborov piled more wood upon the fire. Then he stood with his back toward it gazing out into the night.
Just beyond the farthest reaches of the firelight rose a black, impenetrable wall of darkness—a mysterious world filled with nameless terrors; when a tongue of flame leaped higher in the air than its fellows its light glanced momentarily from the bole of a tree or from a cluster of leaves giving the impression of movement out there beyond the rim of his little world.
There were noises, too, sounds that he could not interpret. His fear and his imagination put strange interpretation upon the things that he saw and heard. A moaning woman floated at the border line of reality. He could swear that he saw her.
Sborov recalled the ghost of the murdered woman that came back for her maid, and cursed Tibbs. A beast screamed and Sborov shuddered.
He turned away from the forest and sought to concentrate his mind upon other things. His eyes wandered over the figures of his sleeping comrades. They fell upon the hand-axe lying close beside Brown. Sborov breathed an imprecation and tore his gaze away. It fell on Jane and rested there. How beautiful she was. Why did she spurn him? He had always had luck with women. He fascinated them, and he knew it. He could not understand why Jane repulsed him; and so he blamed Brown, whom he hated, assuring himself that the fellow had talked against him and embittered Jane's mind.
His eyes wandered back to Brown and the hand-axe. How he hated the man and feared him. The fellow would kill him. He had threatened him more than once.
Alexis felt that if the man were dead, his own life would be safer and—there would be no one to stand between him and Jane.
He rose and walked nervously to and fro. Every once in awhile he shot a glance at Brown and the axe.
He walked closer to Tibbs and listened. Yes, the fellow was already asleep, sound asleep. He must have been asleep almost at the instant he touched the ground. Jane was asleep, too, and so was Brown. Sborov assured himself of both of these facts.
If Brown were only dead! The thought repeated itself monotonously, drumming on his tired brain. If Brown were only dead! Presently Alexis Sborov seemed galvanized by a sudden determination. He moved directly, though stealthily, toward the sleeping Brown. He paused beside him and kneeled upon one knee. Listening intently, he remained there silent, motionless; then cautiously one hand crept out toward the axe.
Brown moved and turned in his sleep, and Sborov froze with terror; then the pilot resumed the regular breathing of sleep. Sborov reached out and seized the axe handle. His mad eyes glued upon the forehead of the sleeping man, he raised the weapon aloft to strike.
Chapter 20 Nkima Plays a Game
TARZAN AND the Waziri moved on in search of the village of the Kavuru. It was yet early in the morning; the dawn mists still defied the efforts of a low-swinging sun to dispel them. The spirits of the searchers were low, for they were many long marches from their homeland; and with each passing day a sense of the futility of their quest had been increasingly impressed upon them, for not once since they started had they seen any sign or clue to suggest that they were on the right track; only vague rumors based upon tribal legend had suggested the fate of
