Tarzan that they had reached this stage in evolution through the expedience of flight. Their bearing as they trod the jungle trail bespoke assurance and even truculence, as though they were indeed the lords of creation, fearing nothing. Perhaps Tarzan understood their attitude better than another might have since it had been his own always in the jungle—unquestioning fearlessness—with which a certain intelligent caution was not inconsistent.
They had come but a short distance from the scene of Tarzan's capture when the Sagoths stopped beside a hollow log, the skeleton of a great tree that had fallen beside the trail. One of the creatures tapped upon the log with his club—one, two; one, two; one, two, three. And then, after a moment's pause, he repeated the same tapping. Three times the signal boomed through the jungle and then the signaler paused, listening, while others stopped and put their ears against the ground.
Faintly through the air, more plainly through the ground, came an answering signal—one, two; one, two; one, two, three.
The creatures seemed satisfied and climbing into the surrounding trees, disposed themselves comfortably as though settling down to a wait. Two of them carried Tarzan easily aloft with them, as with his hands bound behind his back he could not climb unassisted.
Since they had started on the march Tarzan had not spoken, but now he turned to one of the Sagoths near him. 'Remove the bonds from my wrists,' he said. 'I am not an enemy.'
'Tar-gash,' said he whom Tarzan had addressed, 'the gilak wants his bonds removed.'
Tar-gash, a large bull with noticeably long, white canine fangs, turned his savage eyes upon the ape-man. For a long time he glared unblinkingly at the prisoner and it seemed to Tarzan that the mind of the half-brute was struggling with a new idea. Presently he turned to the Sagoth who had repeated Tarzan's request. 'Take them off,' he said.
'Why?' demanded another of the bulls. The tone was challenging.
'Because I, Tar-gash, say 'take them off,'' growled the other.
'You are not M'wa-lot. He is king. If M'wa-lot says take them off, we will take them off.'
'I am not M'wa-lot, To-yad; I am Tar-gash, and Tar-gash says 'take them off.''
To-yad swung to Tarzan's side. 'M'wa-lot will come soon,' he said. 'If M'wa-lot says take them off, we shall take them off. We do not take orders from Tar-gash.'
Like a panther, quickly, silently Tar-gash sprang straight for the throat of To-yad. There was no warning, not even an instant of hesitation. In this Tarzan saw that Tar-gash differed from the great apes with whom the Lord of the Jungle had been familiar upon the outer crust, for among them two bulls ordinarily must need have gone through a long preliminary of stiff-legged strutting and grumbled invective before either one launched himself upon the other in deadly combat. But the mind of Tar-gash had functioned with like celerity, so much so that decision and action had appeared to be almost simultaneous.
The impact of the heavy body of Tar-gash toppled To-yad from the branch upon which he had been standing, but so naturally arboreal were the two great creatures that even as they fell they reached out and seized the same branch and still fighting, each with his free hand and his heavy fangs, they hung there a second breaking their fall, and then dropped to the ground. They fought almost silently except for low growls, Tar-gash seeking the jugular of To-yad with those sharp, white fangs that had given him his name. To-yad, his every faculty concentrated upon defense, kept the grinning jaws from his flesh and suddenly twisting quickly around, tore loose from the powerful fingers of his opponent and sought safety in flight. But like a football player, Tar-gash launched himself through the air; his long hairy arms encircled the legs of the fleeing To-yad, bringing him heavily to the ground, and an instant later the powerful aggressor was on the back of his opponent and To-yad's jugular was at the mercy of his foe, but the great jaws of Tar-gash did not close.
'Ka-goda?' he inquired.
'Ka-goda,' growled To-yad, and instantly Tar-gash arose from the body of the other bull.
With the agility of a monkey the victor leaped back into the branches of the tree. 'Remove the bonds from the wrists of the gilak,' he said, and at the same time he glared ferociously about him to see if there was another so mutinously minded as To-yad; but none spoke and none objected as one of the Sagoths who had dragged Tarzan up into the tree untied the bonds that secured his wrists.
'If he tries to run away from us,' said Tar-gash, 'kill him.'
When his bonds were removed Tarzan expected that the Sagoths would take his knife away from him. He had lost his spear and bow and most of his arrows at the instant that the snare had snapped him from the ground, but though they had lain in plain view in the trail beneath the snare the Sagoths had paid no attention to them; nor did they now pay any attention to his knife. He was sure they must have seen it and he could not understand their lack of concern regarding it, unless they were ignorant of its purpose or held him in such contempt that they did not consider it worth the effort to disarm him.
Presently To-yad sneaked back into the tree, but he huddled sullenly by himself, apart from the others.
Faintly, from a distance, Tarzan heard something approaching. He heard it just a moment before the Sagoths heard it.
'They come!' announced Tar-gash.
'M'wa-lot comes,' said another, glancing at To-yad. Now Tarzan knew why the primitive drum had been sounded, but he wondered why they were gathering.
At last they arrived, nor was it difficult for Tarzan to recognize M'wa-lot, the king among the others. A great bull walked in front—a bull with so much gray among the hairs on his face that the latter had a slightly bluish complexion, and instantly the ape-man saw how the king had come by his name.
As soon as the Sagoths with Tarzan were convinced of the identity of the approaching party, they descended from the trees to the ground and when M'wa-lot had approached within twenty paces of them, he halted. 'I am M'wa-lot,' he announced. 'With me are the people of my tribe.'
'I am Tar-gash,' replied the bull who seemed to be in charge of the other party. 'With me are other bulls of the tribe of M'wa-lot.'
This precautionary preliminary over, M'wa-lot advanced, followed by the bulls, the shes and the balus of his tribe.
'What is that?' demanded M'wa-lot, as his fierce eyes espied Tarzan.
'It is a gilak that we found caught in our snare,' replied Tar-gash.
'That is the feast that you called us to?' demanded M'wa-lot, angrily. 'You should have brought it to the tribe. It can walk.'
'This is not the food of which the drum spoke,' replied Tar-gash. 'Nearby is the body of a thag that was killed by a tarag close by the snare in which this gilak was caught.'
'Ugh!' grunted M'wa-lot. 'We can eat the gilak later.'
'We can have a dance,' suggested one of Tarzan's captors. 'We have eaten and slept many times since we have danced, M'wa-lot.'
As the Sagoths, guided by Tar-gash, proceeded along the trail towards the body of the thag, the shes with balus growled savagely when one of the little ones chanced to come near to Tarzan. The bulls eyed him suspiciously and all seemed uneasy because of his presence. In these and in other ways the Sagoths were reminiscent of the apes of the tribe of Kerchak and to such an extent was this true that Tarzan, although a prisoner among them, felt strangely at home in this new environment.
A short distance ahead of the ape-man walked M'wa-lot, king of the tribe, and at M'wa-lot's elbow was To- yad. The two spoke in low tones and from the frequent glances they cast at Tar-gash, who walked ahead of them, it was evident that he was the subject of their conversation, the effect of which upon M'wa-lot seemed to be highly disturbing.
Tarzan could see that the shaggy chieftain was working himself into a frenzy of rage, the inciting cause of which was evidently the information that To-yad was imparting to him. The latter seemed to be attempting to goad him to greater fury, a fact which seemed to be now apparent to every member of the tribe with the exception of Tar-gash, who was walking in the lead, ahead of M'wa-lot and To-yad, for practically every other eye was turned upon the king, whose evident excitement had imparted a certain fierce restlessness to the other members of his party. But it was not until they had come within sight of the body of the thag that the storm broke and then, without warning, M'wa-lot swung his heavy club and leaped forward toward Tar-gash with the very evident intention of braining him from behind.
If the life of the ape-man in his constant battle for survival had taught him to act quickly, it also had taught
