Tarzan scooped a shallow grave for the Kincaid's cook,beneath whose repulsive exterior had beaten the heart ofa chivalrous gentleman. That was all he could do in the crueljungle for the man who had given his life in the service ofhis little son and his wife.

Then Tarzan took up again the pursuit of Rokoff. Now thathe was positive that the woman ahead of him was indeedJane, and that she had again fallen into the hands of theRussian, it seemed that with all the incredible speed of hisfleet and agile muscles he moved at but a snail's pace.

It was with difficulty that he kept the trail, for there weremany paths through the jungle at this point--crossing andcrisscrossing, forking and branching in all directions, and overthem all had passed natives innumerable, coming and going. The spoor of the white men was obliterated by that of thenative carriers who had followed them, and over all was thespoor of other natives and of wild beasts.

It was most perplexing; yet Tarzan kept on assiduously,checking his sense of sight against his sense of smell, that hemight more surely keep to the right trail. But, with all hiscare, night found him at a point where he was positive thathe was on the wrong trail entirely.

He knew that the pack would follow his spoor, and so hehad been careful to make it as distinct as possible, brushingoften against the vines and creepers that walled the jungle-path, and in other ways leaving his scent-spoor plainly discernible.

As darkness settled a heavy rain set in, and there wasnothing for the baffled ape-man to do but wait in the partialshelter of a huge tree until morning; but the coming of dawnbrought no cessation of the torrential downpour.

For a week the sun was obscured by heavy clouds, whileviolent rain and wind storms obliterated the last remnants ofthe spoor Tarzan constantly though vainly sought.

During all this time he saw no signs of natives, nor of hisown pack, the members of which he feared had lost his trailduring the terrific storm. As the country was strange to him,he had been unable to judge his course accurately, since he had hadneither sun by day nor moon nor stars by night to guide him.

When the sun at last broke through the clouds in thefore- noon of the seventh day, it looked down uponan almost frantic ape-man.

For the first time in his life, Tarzan of the Apes had beenlost in the jungle. That the experience should have befallenhim at such a time seemed cruel beyond expression. Somewhere inthis savage land his wife and son lay in the clutches of thearch-fiend Rokoff.

What hideous trials might they not have undergone duringthose seven awful days that nature had thwarted him in hisendeavours to locate them? Tarzan knew the Russian, inwhose power they were, so well that he could not doubt butthat the man, filled with rage that Jane had once escapedhim, and knowing that Tarzan might be close upon his trail,would wreak without further loss of time whatever vengeancehis polluted mind might be able to conceive.

But now that the sun shone once more, the ape-man was stillat a loss as to what direction to take. He knew that Rokoffhad left the river in pursuit of Anderssen, but whether hewould continue inland or return to the Ugambi was a question.

The ape-man had seen that the river at the point he had leftit was growing narrow and swift, so that he judged thatit could not be navigable even for canoes to any greatdistance farther toward its source. However, if Rokoff hadnot returned to the river, in what direction had he proceeded?

From the direction of Anderssen's flight with Jane and thechild Tarzan was convinced that the man had purposedattempting the tremendous feat of crossing the continent toZanzibar; but whether Rokoff would dare so dangerous ajourney or not was a question.

Fear might drive him to the attempt now that he knew themanner of horrible pack that was upon his trail, and thatTarzan of the Apes was following him to wreak upon himthe vengeance that he deserved.

At last the ape-man determined to continue toward thenortheast in the general direction of German East Africa untilhe came upon natives from whom he might gain informationas to Rokoff's whereabouts.

The second day following the cessation of the rain Tarzancame upon a native village the inhabitants of which fled intothe bush the instant their eyes fell upon him. Tarzan, not tobe thwarted in any such manner as this, pursued them, andafter a brief chase caught up with a young warrior. The fellowwas so badly frightened that he was unable to defendhimself, dropping his weapons and falling upon the ground,wide-eyed and screaming as he gazed on his captor.

It was with considerable difficulty that the ape-man quietedthe fellow's fears sufficiently to obtain a coherent statementfrom him as to the cause of his uncalled-for terror.

From him Tarzan learned, by dint of much coaxing, thata party of whites had passed through the village severaldays before. These men had told them of a terrible whitedevil that pursued them, warning the natives against it andthe frightful pack of demons that accompanied it.

The black had recognized Tarzan as the white devil fromthe descriptions given by the whites and their black servants. Behind him he had expected to see a horde of demons disguisedas apes and panthers.

In this Tarzan saw the cunning hand of Rokoff. The Russianwas attempting to make travel as difficult as possible forhim by turning the natives against him in superstitious fear.

The native further told Tarzan that the white man who hadled the recent expedition had promised them a fabulous rewardif they would kill the white devil. This they had fullyintended doing should the opportunity present itself; but themoment they had seen Tarzan their blood had turned to water,as the porters of the white men had told them would be the case.

Finding the ape-man made no attempt to harm him, the nativeat last recovered his grasp upon his courage, and, at Tarzan'ssuggestion, accompanied the white devil back to the village,calling as he went for his fellows to return also, as "thewhite devil has promised to do you no harm if you come backright away and answer his questions."

One by one the blacks straggled into the village, but thattheir fears were not entirely allayed was evident from theamount of white that showed about the eyes of the majorityof them as they cast constant and apprehensive sidelongglances at the ape-man.

The chief was among the first to return to the village, andas it was he that Tarzan was most anxious to interview, helost no time in entering into a palaver with the black.

The fellow was short and stout, with an unusually low anddegraded countenance and apelike arms. His whole expressiondenoted deceitfulness.

Only the superstitious terror engendered in him by thestories poured into his ears by the whites and blacks of theRussian's party kept him from leaping upon Tarzan with hiswarriors and slaying him forthwith, for he and his peoplewere inveterate maneaters. But the fear that he might indeedbe a devil, and that out there in the jungle behind him hisfierce demons waited to do his bidding, kept M'ganwazamfrom putting his desires into action.

Tarzan questioned the fellow closely, and by comparinghis statements with those of the young warrior he had firsttalked with he learned that Rokoff and his safari were interror-stricken retreat in the direction of the far East Coast.

Many of the Russian's porters had already deserted him. In that very village he had hanged five for theft andattempted desertion. Judging, however, from what the Waganwazamhad learned from those of the Russian's blacks who were nottoo far gone in terror of the brutal Rokoff to fear even tospeak of their plans, it was apparent that he would not travelany great distance before the last of his porters, cooks,tent-boys, gun-bearers, askari, and even his headman,would have turned back into the bush, leaving him tothe mercy of the merciless jungle.

M'ganwazam denied that there had been any white womanor child with the party of whites; but even as he spoke Tarzanwas convinced that he lied. Several times the ape-man approachedthe subject from different angles, but never was he successfulin surprising the wily cannibal into a direct contradiction ofhis original statement that there had been no women or childrenwith the party.

Tarzan demanded food of the chief, and after considerable hagglingon the part of the monarch succeeded in obtaining a meal.He then tried to draw out others of the tribe, especially theyoung man whom he had captured in the bush, but M'ganwazam'spresence sealed their lips.

At last, convinced that these people knew a great dealmore than they had told him concerning the whereabouts ofthe Russian and the fate of Jane and the child, Tarzandetermined to remain overnight among them in the hope ofdiscovering something further of importance.

When he had stated his decision to the chief he was rathersurprised to note the sudden change in the fellow's attitudetoward him. From apparent dislike and suspicion M'ganwazambecame a most eager and solicitous host.

Nothing would do but that the ape-man should occupy thebest hut in the village, from which M'ganwazam's oldestwife was forthwith summarily ejected, while the chief took uphis temporary abode in the hut of one of his younger consorts.

Had Tarzan chanced to recall the fact that a princely reward hadbeen offered the blacks if they should succeed in killing him,he might have more quickly interpreted M'ganwazam's suddenchange in front.

To have the white giant sleeping peacefully in one of his ownhuts would greatly facilitate the matter of earning the reward,and so the chief was urgent in his suggestions that Tarzan,doubtless being very much fatigued after his travels,should retire early to the comforts of the anything butinviting palace.

As much as the ape-man detested the thought of sleepingwithin a native hut, he had determined to do so this night,on the chance that he might be able to induce one of theyounger men to sit and chat with him before the fire thatburned in the centre of the smoke-filled dwelling, and fromhim draw the truths he sought. So Tarzan accepted theinvitation of old M'ganwazam, insisting, however, that he muchpreferred sharing a hut with some of the younger men ratherthan driving the chief's old wife out in the cold.

The toothless old hag grinned her appreciation of this suggestion,and as the plan still better suited the chief's scheme,in that it would permit him to surround Tarzan with a gangof picked assassins, he readily assented, so that presentlyTarzan had been installed in a hut close to the village gate.

As there was to be a dance that night in honour of a bandof recently returned hunters, Tarzan was left alone in the hut,the young men, as M'ganwazam explained, having to take partin the festivities.

As soon as the ape-man was safely installed in the trap,M'Ganwazam called about him the young warriors whom hehad selected to spend the night with the white devil!

None of them was overly enthusiastic about the plan, sincedeep in their superstitious hearts lay an exaggerated fearof the strange white giant; but the word of M'ganwazam waslaw among his people, so not one dared refuse the duty hewas called upon to perform.

As M'ganwazam unfolded his plan in whispers to the savagessquatting about him the old, toothless hag, to whom Tarzanhad saved her hut for the night, hovered about the conspiratorsostensibly to replenish the supply of firewood for the blazeabout which the men sat, but really to drink in as much oftheir conversation as possible.

Tarzan had slept for perhaps an hour or two despite thesavage din of the revellers when his keen senses came suddenlyalert to a suspiciously stealthy movement in the hut inwhich he lay. The fire had died down to a little heap ofglowing embers, which accentuated rather than relieved thedarkness that shrouded the interior of the evil-smellingdwelling, yet the trained senses of the ape-man warned himof another presence creeping almost silently toward himthrough the gloom.

He doubted that it was one of his hut mates returning fromthe festivities, for he still heard the wild cries of the dancersand the din of the tom-toms in the village street without. Who could it be that took such pains to conceal his approach?

As the presence came within reach of him the ape-man boundedlightly to the opposite side of the hut, his spear poisedready at his side.

"Who is it," he asked, "that creeps upon Tarzan of theApes, like a hungry lion out of the darkness?"

"Silence, bwana!" replied an old cracked voice. "It isTambudza--she whose hut you would not take, and thus drivean old woman out into the cold night."

"What does Tambudza want of Tarzan of the Apes?" asked the ape-man.

"You were kind to me to whom none is now kind, and I have cometo warn you in payment of your kindness," answered the old hag.

"Warn me of what?"

"M'ganwazam has chosen the young men who are to sleep in thehut with you," replied Tambudza. "I was near as he talkedwith them, and heard him issuing his instructions to them. When the dance is run well into the morning they areto come to the hut.

"If you are awake they are to pretend that they have cometo sleep, but if you sleep it is M'ganwazam's command thatyou be killed. If you are not then asleep they will wait quietlybeside you until you do sleep, and then they will all fall uponyou together and slay you. M'ganwazam is determined towin the reward the white man has offered."

"I had forgotten the reward," said Tarzan, half to himself,and then he added, "How may M'ganwazam hope to collectthe reward now that the white men who are my enemieshave left his country and gone he knows not where?"

"Oh, they have not gone far," replied Tambudza. "M'ganwazam knows where they camp. His runners couldquickly overtake them--they move slowly."

"Where are they?" asked Tarzan.

"Do you wish to come to them?" asked Tambudza in way of reply.

Tarzan nodded.

"I cannot tell you where they lie so that you could cometo the place yourself, but I could lead you to them, bwana."

In their interest in the conversation neither of the speakershad noticed the little figure which crept into the darkness ofthe hut behind them, nor did they see it when it slunknoiselessly out again.

It was little Buulaoo, the chief's son by one of his youngerwives--a vindictive, degenerate little rascal who hated Tambudza,and was ever seeking opportunities to spy upon her and report herslightest breach of custom to his father.

"Come, then," said Tarzan quickly, "let us be on our way."

This Buulaoo did not hear, for he was already legging it upthe village street to where his hideous sire guzzled nativebeer, and watched the evolutions of the frantic dancersleaping high in the air and cavorting wildly in theirhysterical capers.

So it happened that as Tarzan and Tambudza sneaked warilyfrom the village and melted into the Stygian darkness ofthe jungle two lithe runners took their way in the samedirection, though by another trail.

When they had come sufficiently far from the village tomake it safe for them to speak above a whisper, Tarzan askedthe old woman if she had seen aught of a white woman anda little child.

"Yes, bwana," replied Tambudza, "there was a womanwith them and a little child--a little white piccaninny. It died here in our village of the fever and they buried it!"