When Mugambi had turned back into the jungle with the packhe had a definite purpose in view. It was to obtain adugout wherewith to transport the beasts of Tarzan to theside of the Kincaid. Nor was he long in coming upon theobject which he sought.

Just at dusk he found a canoe moored to the bank of asmall tributary of the Ugambi at a point where he hadfelt certain that he should find one.

Without loss of time he piled his hideous fellows into thecraft and shoved out into the stream. So quickly had theytaken possession of the canoe that the warrior had not noticedthat it was already occupied. The huddled figure sleeping inthe bottom had entirely escaped his observation in the darknessof the night that had now fallen.

But no sooner were they afloat than a savage growlingfrom one of the apes directly ahead of him in the dugoutattracted his attention to a shivering and cowering figurethat trembled between him and the great anthropoid. To Mugambi'sastonishment he saw that it was a native woman. With difficultyhe kept the ape from her throat, and after a time succeededin quelling her fears.

It seemed that she had been fleeing from marriage with anold man she loathed and had taken refuge for the night in thecanoe she had found upon the river's edge.

Mugambi did not wish her presence, but there she was,and rather than lose time by returning her to the shorethe black permitted her to remain on board the canoe.

As quickly as his awkward companions could paddle thedugout down-stream toward the Ugambi and the Kincaid theymoved through the darkness. It was with difficulty thatMugambi could make out the shadowy form of the steamer, butas he had it between himself and the ocean it was much moreapparent than to one upon either shore of the river.

As he approached it he was amazed to note that it seemedto be receding from him, and finally he was convinced thatthe vessel was moving down-stream. Just as he was about tourge his creatures to renewed efforts to overtake the steamerthe outline of another canoe burst suddenly into view notthree yards from the bow of his own craft.

At the same instant the occupants of the stranger discoveredthe proximity of Mugambi's horde, but they did not at firstrecognize the nature of the fearful crew. A man in thebow of the oncoming boat challenged them just as the twodugouts were about to touch.

For answer came the menacing growl of a panther, and thefellow found himself gazing into the flaming eyes of Sheeta,who had raised himself with his forepaws upon the bow of theboat, ready to leap in upon the occupants of the other craft.

Instantly Rokoff realized the peril that confronted him andhis fellows. He gave a quick command to fire upon the occupantsof the other canoe, and it was this volley and the scream of theterrified native woman in the canoe with Mugambi that bothTarzan and Jane had heard.

Before the slower and less skilled paddlers in Mugambi'scanoe could press their advantage and effect a boarding ofthe enemy the latter had turned swiftly down-stream and werepaddling for their lives in the direction of the Kincaid,which was now visible to them.

The vessel after striking upon the bar had swung loose againinto a slow-moving eddy, which returns up-stream close to thesouthern shore of the Ugambi only to circle out once more andjoin the downward flow a hundred yards or so farther up.Thus the Kincaid was returning Jane Clayton directly intothe hands of her enemies.

It so happened that as Tarzan sprang into the river thevessel was not visible to him, and as he swam out into thenight he had no idea that a ship drifted so close at hand. He was guided by the sounds which he could hear coming fromthe two canoes.

As he swam he had vivid recollections of the last occasionupon which he had swum in the waters of the Ugambi, andwith them a sudden shudder shook the frame of the giant.

But, though he twice felt something brush his legs fromthe slimy depths below him, nothing seized him, and of asudden he quite forgot about crocodiles in the astonishmentof seeing a dark mass loom suddenly before him where hehad still expected to find the open river.

So close was it that a few strokes brought him up to thething, when to his amazement his outstretched hand came incontact with a ship's side.

As the agile ape-man clambered over the vessel's rail therecame to his sensitive ears the sound of a struggle at theopposite side of the deck.

Noiselessly he sped across the intervening space.

The moon had risen now, and, though the sky was stillbanked with clouds, a lesser darkness enveloped the scenethan that which had blotted out all sight earlier inthe night. His keen eyes, therefore, saw the figuresof two men grappling with a woman.

That it was the woman who had accompanied Anderssentoward the interior he did not know, though he suspected asmuch, as he was now quite certain that this was the deck ofthe Kincaid upon which chance had led him.

But he wasted little time in idle speculation. There was awoman in danger of harm from two ruffians, which was enoughexcuse for the ape-man to project his giant thews into theconflict without further investigation.

The first that either of the sailors knew that there was anew force at work upon the ship was the falling of a mightyhand upon a shoulder of each. As if they had been in the gripof a fly-wheel, they were jerked suddenly from their prey.

"What means this?" asked a low voice in their ears.

They were given no time to reply, however, for at the soundof that voice the young woman had sprung to her feet andwith a little cry of joy leaped toward their assailant.

"Tarzan!" she cried.

The ape-man hurled the two sailors across the deck, wherethey rolled, stunned and terrified, into the scuppers upon theopposite side, and with an exclamation of incredulity gatheredthe girl into his arms.

Brief, however, were the moments for their greeting.

Scarcely had they recognized one another than the cloudsabove them parted to show the figures of a half-dozen menclambering over the side of the Kincaid to the steamer's deck.

Foremost among them was the Russian. As the brilliantrays of the equatorial moon lighted the deck, and he realizedthat the man before him was Lord Greystoke, he screamedhysterical commands to his followers to fire upon the two.

Tarzan pushed Jane behind the cabin near which they hadbeen standing, and with a quick bound started for Rokoff. The men behind the Russian, at least two of them, raisedtheir rifles and fired at the charging ape-man; but thosebehind them were otherwise engaged--for up the monkey-ladder in their rear was thronging a hideous horde.

First came five snarling apes, huge, manlike beasts,with bared fangs and slavering jaws; and after them agiant black warrior, his long spear gleaming in the moonlight.

Behind him again scrambled another creature, and of all thehorrid horde it was this they most feared--Sheeta, the panther,with gleaming jaws agape and fiery eyes blazing at themin the mightiness of his hate and of his blood lust.

The shots that had been fired at Tarzan missed him, and hewould have been upon Rokoff in another instant had not thegreat coward dodged backward between his two henchmen, and,screaming in hysterical terror, bolted forward towardthe forecastle.

For the moment Tarzan's attention was distracted by thetwo men before him, so that he could not at the time pursuethe Russian. About him the apes and Mugambi were battlingwith the balance of the Russian's party.

Beneath the terrible ferocity of the beasts the men were soonscampering in all directions--those who still lived to scamper,for the great fangs of the apes of Akut and the tearing talonsof Sheeta already had found more than a single victim.

Four, however, escaped and disappeared into the forecastle,where they hoped to barricade themselves against further assault. Here they found Rokoff, and, enraged at his desertion of themin their moment of peril, no less than at the uniformlybrutal treatment it had been his wont to accord them,they gloated upon the opportunity now offered them torevenge themselves in part upon their hated employer.

Despite his prayers and grovelling pleas, therefore, theyhurled him bodily out upon the deck, delivering him to themercy of the fearful things from which they had themselvesjust escaped.

Tarzan saw the man emerge from the forecastle--saw andrecognized his enemy; but another saw him even as soon.

It was Sheeta, and with grinning jaws the mighty beastslunk silently toward the terror-stricken man.

When Rokoff saw what it was that stalked him his shrieks forhelp filled the air, as with trembling knees he stood, as oneparalyzed, before the hideous death that was creeping upon him.

Tarzan took a step toward the Russian, his brain burningwith a raging fire of vengeance. At last he had the murdererof his son at his mercy. His was the right to avenge.

Once Jane had stayed his hand that time that he sought to takethe law into his own power and mete to Rokoff the death thathe had so long merited; but this time none should stay him.

His fingers clenched and unclenched spasmodically as he approachedthe trembling Russ, beastlike and ominous as a brute of prey.

Presently he saw that Sheeta was about to forestall him,robbing him of the fruits of his great hate.

He called sharply to the panther, and the words, as ifthey had broken a hideous spell that had held the Russian,galvanized him into sudden action. With a scream he turnedand fled toward the bridge.

After him pounced Sheeta the panther, unmindful of hismaster's warning voice.

Tarzan was about to leap after the two when he felt a lighttouch upon his arm. Turning, he found Jane at his elbow.

"Do not leave me," she whispered. "I am afraid."

Tarzan glanced behind her.

All about were the hideous apes of Akut. Some, even,were approaching the young woman with bared fangs andmenacing guttural warnings.

The ape-man warned them back. He had forgotten for themoment that these were but beasts, unable to differentiatehis friends and his foes. Their savage natures were roused bytheir recent battle with the sailors, and now all flesh outsidethe pack was meat to them.

Tarzan turned again toward the Russian, chagrined thathe should have to forgo the pleasure of personal revenge--unless the man should escape Sheeta. But as he looked he sawthat there could be no hope of that. The fellow had retreatedto the end of the bridge, where he now stood trembling andwide-eyed, facing the beast that moved slowly toward him.

The panther crawled with belly to the planking, utteringuncanny mouthings. Rokoff stood as though petrified,his eyes protruding from their sockets, his mouth agape,and the cold sweat of terror clammy upon his brow.

Below him, upon the deck, he had seen the great anthropoids,and so had not dared to seek escape in that direction. In fact, even now one of the brutes was leaping to seize thebridge-rail and draw himself up to the Russian's side.

Before him was the panther, silent and crouched.

Rokoff could not move. His knees trembled. His voicebroke in inarticulate shrieks. With a last piercing wail hesank to his knees--and then Sheeta sprang.

Full upon the man's breast the tawny body hurtled,tumbling the Russian to his back.

As the great fangs tore at the throat and chest, Jane Claytonturned away in horror; but not so Tarzan of the Apes. A coldsmile of satisfaction touched his lips. The scar upon hisforehead that had burned scarlet faded to the normal hue of histanned skin and disappeared.

Rokoff fought furiously but futilely against the growling,rending fate that had overtaken him. For all his countlesscrimes he was punished in the brief moment of the hideousdeath that claimed him at the last.

After his struggles ceased Tarzan approached, at Jane'ssuggestion, to wrest the body from the panther and give whatremained of it decent human burial; but the great cat rosesnarling above its kill, threatening even the master it lovedin its savage way, so that rather than kill his friend of thejungle, Tarzan was forced to relinquish his intentions.

All that night Sheeta, the panther, crouched upon the grislything that had been Nikolas Rokoff. The bridge of theKincaid was slippery with blood. Beneath the brillianttropic moon the great beast feasted until, when the sun rosethe following morning, there remained of Tarzan's great enemyonly gnawed and broken bones.

Of the Russian's party, all were accounted for except Paulvitch. Four were prisoners in the Kincaid's forecastle. The rest were dead.

With these men Tarzan got up steam upon the vessel, and withthe knowledge of the mate, who happened to be one of those surviving,he planned to set out in quest of Jungle Island; but as the morningdawned there came with it a heavy gale from the west which raiseda sea into which the mate of the Kincaid dared not venture.All that day the ship lay within the shelter of the mouth of the river;for, though night witnessed a lessening of the wind, it was thoughtsafer to wait for daylight before attempting the navigation ofthe winding channel to the sea.

Upon the deck of the steamer the pack wandered withoutlet or hindrance by day, for they had soon learned throughTarzan and Mugambi that they must harm no one upon theKincaid; but at night they were confined below.

Tarzan's joy had been unbounded when he learned fromhis wife that the little child who had died in the village ofM'ganwazam was not their son. Who the baby could havebeen, or what had become of their own, they could not imagine,and as both Rokoff and Paulvitch were gone, there wasno way of discovering.

There was, however, a certain sense of relief in the knowledgethat they might yet hope. Until positive proof of the baby'sdeath reached them there was always that to buoy them up.

It seemed quite evident that their little Jack had not beenbrought aboard the Kincaid. Anderssen would have knownof it had such been the case, but he had assured Jane timeand time again that the little one he had brought to her cabinthe night he aided her to escape was the only one that hadbeen aboard the Kincaid since she lay at Dover.