The little British army in East Africa, after suffering severereverses at the hands of a numerically much superiorforce, was at last coming into its own. The German offen-sive had been broken and the Huns were now slowly and dog-gedly retreating along the railway to Tanga. The break in theGerman lines had followed the clearing of a section of theirleft-flank trenches of native soldiers by Tarzan and Numa,the lion, upon that memorable night that the ape-man hadloosed a famishing man-eater among the superstitious andterror-stricken blacks. The Second Rhodesian Regiment hadimmediately taken possession of the abandoned trench andfrom this position their flanking fire had raked contiguous sec-tions of the German line, the diversion rendering possible asuccessful night attack on the part of the balance of theBritish forces.

Weeks had elapsed. The Germans were contesting stub-bornly every mile of waterless, thorn-covered ground andclinging desperately to their positions along the railway. Theofficers of the Second Rhodesians had seen nothing more ofTarzan of the Apes since he had slain Underlieutenant vonGoss and disappeared toward the very heart of the Germanposition, and there were those among them who believed thathe had been killed within the enemy lines.

"They may have killed him," assented Colonel Capell; "butI fancy they never captured the beggar alive."

Nor had they, nor killed him either. Tarzan had spent thoseintervening weeks pleasantly and profitably. He hadamassed a considerable fund of knowledge concerning thedisposition and strength of German troops, their methods ofwarfare, and the various ways in which a lone Tarmanganimight annoy an army and lower its morale.

At present he was prompted by a specific desire. There wasa certain German spy whom he wished to capture alive andtake back to the British When he had made his first visitto German headquarters, he had seen a young woman delivera paper to the German general, and later he had seen thatsame young woman within the British lines in the uniform of aBritish officer. The conclusions were obvious -- she was a spy.

And so Tarzan haunted German headquarters upon manynights hoping to see her again or to pick up some clew as toher whereabouts, and at the same time he utilized many anartifice whereby he might bring terror to the hearts of theGermans. That he was successful was often demonstrated bythe snatches of conversation he overheard as he prowledthrough the German camps. One night as he lay concealedin the bushes close beside a regimental headquarters helistened to the conversation of several Boche officers. One ofthe men reverted to the stories told by the native troops inconnection with their rout by a lion several weeks before andthe simultaneous appearance in their trenches of a naked,white giant whom they were perfectly assured was somedemon of the jungle.

"The fellow must have been the same as he who leapedinto the general's headquarters and carried off Schneider,"asserted one. "I wonder how he happened to single out thepoor major. They say the creature seemed interested in noone but Schneider. He had von Kelter in his grasp, and hemight easily have taken the general himself; but he ignoredthem all except Schneider. Him he pursued about the room,seized and carried off into the night. Gott knows what hisfate was."

"Captain Fritz Schneider has some sort of theory," saidanother. "He told me only a week or two ago that he thinkshe knows why his brother was taken -- that it was a case ofmistaken identity. He was not so sure about it until von Gosswas killed, apparently by the same creature, the night thelion entered the trenches. Von Goss was attached to Schneid-er's company. One of Schneider's men was found with hisneck wrung the same night that the major was carried off andSchneider thinks that this devil is after him and his command-- that it came for him that night and got his brother bymistake. He says Kraut told him that in presenting the majorto Fraulein Kircher the former's name was no sooner spokenthan this wild man leaped through the window and made forhim."

Suddenly the little group became rigid -- listening. "Whatwas that?" snapped one, eyeing the bushes from which asmothered snarl had issued as Tarzan of the Apes realizedthat through his mistake the perpetrator of the horrid crime athis bungalow still lived -- that the murderer of his wife wentyet unpunished.

For a long minute the officers stood with tensed nerves,every eye rivetted upon the bushes from whence the ominoussound had issued. Each recalled recent mysterious disap-pearances from the heart of camps as well as from lonelyout-guards. Each thought of the silent dead he had seen,slain almost within sight of their fellows by some unseencreature. They thought of the marks upon dead throats --made by talons or by giant fingers, they could not tell which-- and those upon shoulders and jugulars where powerfulteeth had fastened and they waited with drawn pistols.

Once the bushes moved almost imperceptibly and an instantlater one of the officers, without warning, fired into them; butTarzan of the Apes was not there. In the interval betweenthe moving of the bushes and the firing of the shot he hadmelted into the night. Ten minutes later he was hovering onthe outskirts of that part of camp where were bivouacked forthe night the black soldiers of a native company commandedby one Hauptmann Fritz Schneider. The men were stretchedupon the ground without tents; but there were tents pitchedfor the officers. Toward these Tarzan crept. It was slowand perilous work, as the Germans were now upon the alertfor the uncanny foe that crept into their camps to take his tollby night, yet the ape-man passed their sentinels, eluded thevigilance of the interior guard, and crept at last to the rear ofthe officers' line.

Here he flattened himself against the ground close behindthe nearest tent and listened. From within came the regularbreathing of a sleeping man -- one only. Tarzan was satisfied.With his knife he cut the tie strings of the rear flap andentered. He made no noise. The shadow of a falling leaf,floating gently to earth upon a still day, could have been nomore soundless. He moved to the side of the sleeping manand bent low over him. He could not know, of course,whether it was Schneider or another, as he had never seenSchneider; but he meant to know and to know even more.Gently he shook the man by the shoulder. The fellow turnedheavily and grunted in a thick guttural.

"Silence!" admonished the ape-man in a low whisper. "Si-lence -- I kill."

The Hun opened his eyes. In the dim light he saw a giantfigure bending over him. Now a mighty hand grasped hisshoulder and another closed lightly about his throat.

"Make no outcry," commanded Tarzan; "but answer in awhisper my questions. What is your name?"

"Luberg," replied the officer. He was trembling. The weirdpresence of this naked giant filled him with dread. He, too,recalled the men mysteriously murdered in the still watches ofthe night camps. "What do you want?"

"Where is Hauptmann Fritz Schneider?" asked Tarzan,"Which is his tent?"

"He is not here," replied Luberg. "He was sent to Wil-helmstal yesterday."

"I shall not kill you -- now," said the ape-man. "First Ishall go and learn if you have lied to me and if you haveyour death shall be the more terrible. Do you know howMajor Schneider died?"

Luberg shook his head negatively.

"I do," continued Tarzan, "and it was not a nice way to die-even for an accursed German. Turn over with your facedown and cover your eyes. Do not move or make any sound."

The man did as he was bid and the instant that his eyeswere turned away, Tarzan slipped from the tent. An hourlater he was outside the German camp and headed for thelittle hill town of Wilhelmstal, the summer seat of govern-ment of German East Africa.

Fraulein Bertha Kircher was lost. She was humiliated andangry -- it was long before she would admit it, that she, whoprided herself upon her woodcraft, was lost in this little patchof country between the Pangani and the Tanga railway.She knew that Wilhelmstal lay southeast of her about fifty miles;but, through a combination of untoward circumstances, shefound herself unable to determine which was southeast.

In the first place she had set out from German headquarterson a well-marked road that was being traveled by troops andwith every reason to believe that she would follow that roadto Wilhelmstal. Later she had been warned from this roadby word that a strong British patrol had come down the westbank of the Pangani, effected a crossing south of her, andwas even then marching on the railway at Tonda.

After leaving the road she found herself in thick bush andas the sky was heavily overcast she presently had recourse toher compass and it was not until then that she discovered toher dismay that she did not have it with her. So sure was sheof her woodcraft, however, that she continued on in thedirection she thought west until she had covered sufficientdistance to warrant her in feeling assured that, by now turningsouth, she could pass safely in rear of the British patrol.

Nor did she commence to feel any doubts until long aftershe had again turned toward the east well south, as shethought, of the patrol. It was late afternoon -- she shouldlong since have struck the road again south of Tonda; but shehad found no road and now she began to feel real anxiety.

Her horse had traveled all day without food or water,night was approaching and with it a realization that she washopelessly lost in a wild and trackless country notorious princi-pally for its tsetse flies and savage beasts. It was maddeningto know that she had absolutely no knowledge of the directionshe was traveling -- that she might be forging steadily furtherfrom the railway, deeper into the gloomy and forbiddingcountry toward the Pangani; yet it was impossible to stop --she must go on.

Bertha Kircher was no coward, whatever else she may havebeen, but as night began to close down around her she couldnot shut out from her mind entirely contemplation of theterrors of the long hours ahead before the rising sun shoulddissipate the Stygian gloom -- the horrid jungle night -- thatlures forth all the prowling, preying creatures of destruction.

She found, just before dark, an open meadow-like break inthe almost interminable bush. There was a small clump oftrees near the center and here she decided to camp. Thegrass was high and thick, affording feed for her horse and abed for herself, and there was more than enough dead woodlying about the trees to furnish a good fire well through thenight. Removing the saddle and bridle from her mount sheplaced them at the foot of a tree and then picketed the animalclose by. Then she busied herself collecting firewood and bythe time darkness had fallen she had a good fire and enoughwood to last until morning.

From her saddlebags she took cold food and from hercanteen a swallow of water. She could not afford more thana small swallow for she could not know how long a time itmight be before she should find more. It filled her with sor-row that her poor horse must go waterless, for even Germanspies may have hearts and this one was very young and veryfeminine.

It was now dark. There was neither moon nor stars andthe light from her fire only accentuated the blackness beyond.She could see the grass about her and the boles of the treeswhich stood out in brilliant relief against the solid backgroundof impenetrable night, and beyond the firelight there wasnothing.

The jungle seemed ominously quiet. Far away in the dis-tance she heard faintly the boom of big guns; but she couldnot locate their direction. She strained her ears until hernerves were on the point of breaking; but she could not tellfrom whence the sound came. And it meant so much to her toknow, for the battle-lines were north of her and if she couldbut locate the direction of the firing she would know whichway to go in the morning.

In the morning! Would she live to see another morning?She squared her shoulders and shook herself together. Suchthoughts must be banished -- they would never do. Bravelyshe hummed an air as she arranged her saddle near the fireand pulled a quantity of long grass to make a comfortableseat over which she spread her saddle blanket. Then sheunstrapped a heavy, military coat from the cantle of her saddleand donned it, for the air was already chill.

Seating herself where she could lean against the saddleshe prepared to maintain a sleepless vigil throughout thenight. For an hour the silence was broken only by the distantbooming of the guns and the low noises of the feeding horseand then, from possibly a mile away, came the rumblingthunder of a lion's roar. The girl started and laid her handupon the rifle at her side. A little shudder ran through herslight frame and she could feel the goose flesh rise upon herbody.

Again and again was the awful sound repeated and eachtime she was certain that it came nearer. She could locatethe direction of this sound although she could not that of theguns, for the origin of the former was much closer. The lionwas up wind and so could not have caught her scent as yet,though he might be approaching to investigate the light ofthe fire which could doubtless be seen for a considerabledistance.

For another fear-filled hour the girl sat straining her eyesand ears out into the black void beyond her little island oflight. During all that time the lion did not roar again; butthere was constantly the sensation that it was creeping uponher. Again and again she would start and turn to peer intothe blackness beyond the trees behind her as her overwroughtnerves conjured the stealthy fall of padded feet. She held therifle across her knees at the ready now and she was tremblingfrom head to foot.

Suddenly her horse raised his head and snorted, and witha little cry of terror the girl sprang to her feet. The animalturned and trotted back toward her until the picket ropebrought him to a stand, and then he wheeled about and withears up-pricked gazed out into the night; but the girl couldneither see nor hear aught.

Still another hour of terror passed during which the horseoften raised his head to peer long and searchingly into thedark. The girl replenished the fire from time to time. Shefound herself becoming very sleepy. Her heavy lids persistedin drooping; but she dared not sleep. Fearful lest she mightbe overcome by the drowsiness that was stealing through hershe rose and walked briskly to and fro, then she threw somemore wood on the fire, walked over and stroked her horse'smuzzle and returned to her seat.

Leaning against the saddle she tried to occupy her mindwith plans for the morrow; but she must have dozed. Witha start she awoke. It was broad daylight. The hideous nightwith its indescribable terrors was gone.

She could scarce believe the testimony of her senses. Shehad slept for hours, the fire was out and yet she and the horsewere safe and alive, nor was there sign of savage beast about.And, best of all, the sun was shining, pointing the straightroad to the east. Hastily she ate a few mouthfuls of her preci-ous rations, which with a swallow of water constituted herbreakfast. Then she saddled her horse and mounted. Alreadyshe felt that she was as good as safe in Wilhelmstal.

Possibly, however, she might have revised her conclusionscould she have seen the two pairs of eyes watching her everymove intently from different points in the bush.

Light-hearted and unsuspecting, the girl rode across theclearing toward the bush while directly before her two yellow-green eyes glared round and terrible, a tawny tail twitchednervously and great, padded paws gathered beneath a sleek barrelfor a mighty spring. The horse was almost at the edgeof the bush when Numa, the lion, launched himself throughthe air. He struck the animal's right shoulder at the instantthat it reared, terrified, to wheel in flight. The force of theimpact hurled the horse backward to the ground and soquickly that the girl had no opportunity to extricate herself;but fell to the earth with her mount, her left leg pinned be-neath its body.

Horror-stricken, she saw the king of beasts open his mightyjaws and seize the screaming creature by the back of its neck.The great jaws closed, there was an instant's struggle as Numashook his prey. She could hear the vertebrae crack as themighty fangs crunched through them, and then the musclesof her faithful friend relaxed in death.

Numa crouched upon his kill. His terrifying eyes rivettedthemselves upon the girl's face -- she could feel his hot breathupon her cheek and the odor of the fetid vapor nauseated her.For what seemed an eternity to the girl the two lay staring ateach other and then the lion uttered a menacing growl.

Never before had Bertha Kircher been so terrified -- neverbefore had she had such cause for terror. At her hip was apistol -- a formidable weapon with which to face a man; buta puny thing indeed with which to menace the great beastbefore her. She knew that at best it could but enrage himand yet she meant to sell her life dearly, for she felt that shemust die. No human succor could have availed her even hadit been there to offer itself. For a moment she tore her gazefrom the hypnotic fascination of that awful face and breatheda last prayer to her God. She did not ask for aid, for she feltthat she was beyond even divine succor -- she only asked thatthe end might come quickly and with as little pain as possible.

No one can prophesy what a lion will do in any givenemergency. This one glared and growled at the girl for amoment and then fell to feeding upon the dead horse. FrauleinKircher wondered for an instant and then attempted todraw her leg cautiously from beneath the body of her mount;but she could not budge it. She increased the force of herefforts and Numa looked up from his feeding to growl again.The girl desisted. She hoped that he might satisfy his hungerand then depart to lie up, but she could not believe that hewould leave her there alive. Doubtless he would drag theremains of his kill into the bush for hiding and, as there couldbe no doubt that he considered her part of his prey, he wouldcertainly come back for her, or possibly drag her in first andkill her.

Again Numa fell to feeding. The girl's nerves were at thebreaking point. She wondered that she had not fainted underthe strain of terror and shock. She recalled that she often hadwished she might see a lion, close to, make a kill and feedupon it. God! how realistically her wish had been granted.

Again she bethought herself of her pistol. As she hadfallen, the holster had slipped around so that the weapon nowlay beneath her. Very slowly she reached for it; but in sodoing she was forced to raise her body from the ground.Instantly the lion was aroused. With the swiftness of a cathe reached across the carcass of the horse and placed a heavy,taloned paw upon her breast, crushing her back to earth, andall the time he growled and snarled horribly. His face was apicture of frightful rage incarnate. For a moment neithermoved and then from behind her the girl heard a humanvoice uttering bestial sounds.

Numa suddenly looked up from the girl's face at the thingbeyond her. His growls increased to roars as he drew back,ripping the front of the girl's waist almost from her body withhis long talons, exposing her white bosom, which throughsome miracle of chance the great claws did not touch.

Tarzan of the Apes had witnessed the entire encounterfrom the moment that Numa had leaped upon his prey. Forsome time before, he had been watching the girl, and after thelion attacked her he had at first been minded to let Numa havehis way with her. What was she but a hated German and aspy besides? He had seen her at General Kraut's headquarters,in conference with the German staff and again he had seen herwithin the British lines masquerading as a British officer. Itwas the latter thought that prompted him to interfere. Doubt-less General Jan Smuts would be glad to meet and questionher. She might be forced to divulge information of value tothe British commander before Smuts had her shot.

Tarzan had recognized not only the girl, but the lion as well.All lions may look alike to you and me; but not so to theirintimates of the jungle. Each has his individual characteristicsof face and form and gait as well defined as those that dif-ferentiate members of the human family, and besides thesethe creatures of the jungle have a still more positive test --that of scent. Each of us, man or beast, has his own peculiarodor, and it is mostly by this that the beasts of the jungle,endowed with miraculous powers of scent, recognize indi-viduals.

It is the final proof. You have seen it demonstrated a thou-sand times -- a dog recognizes your voice and looks at you.He knows your face and figure. Good, there can be no doubtin his mind but that it is you; but is he satisfied? No, sir --hemust come up and smell of you. All his other senses may befallible, but not his sense of smell, and so he makes assurancepositive by the final test.

Tarzan recognized Numa as he whom he had muzzled withthe hide of Horta, the boar -- as he whom he handled by arope for two days and finally loosed in a German front-linetrench, and he knew that Numa would recognize him -- thathe would remember the sharp spear that had goaded himinto submission and obedience and Tarzan hoped that thelesson he had learned still remained with the lion.

Now he came forward calling to Numa in the language ofthe great apes -- warning him away from the girl. It is opento question that Numa, the lion, understood him; but he didunderstand the menace of the heavy spear that the Tarman-gani carried so ready in his brown, right hand, and so he drewback, growling, trying to decide in his little brain whetherto charge or flee.

On came the ape-man with never a pause, straight for thelion. "Go away, Numa," he cried, "or Tarzan will tie you upagain and lead you through the jungle without food. SeeArad, my spear! Do you recall how his point stuck into youand how with his haft I beat you over the head? Go, Numa!I am Tarzan of the Apes!"

Numa wrinkled the skin of his face into great folds, untilhis eyes almost disappeared and he growled and roared andsnarled and growled again, and when the spear point cameat last quite close to him he struck at it viciously with hisarmed paw; but he drew back. Tarzan stepped over thedead horse and the girl lying behind him gazed in wide-eyedastonishment at the handsome figure driving an angry liondeliberately from its kill.

When Numa had retreated a few yards, the ape-man calledback to the girl in perfect German, "Are you badly hurt?"

"I think not," she replied; "but I cannot extricate my footfrom beneath my horse."

"Try again," commanded Tarzan. "I do not know how longI can hold Numa thus."

The girl struggled frantically; but at last she sank backupon an elbow.

"It is impossible," she called to him.

He backed slowly until he was again beside the horse, whenhe reached down and grasped the cinch, which was still intact.Then with one hand he raised the carcass from the ground.The girl freed herself and rose to her feet.

"You can walk?" asked Tarzan.

"Yes," she said; "my leg is numb; but it does not seem to beinjured."

"Good," commented the ape-man. "Back slowly away be-hind me -- make no sudden movements. I think he will notcharge."

With utmost deliberation the two backed toward the bush.Numa stood for a moment, growling, then he followed them,slowly. Tarzan wondered if he would come beyond his killor if he would stop there. If he followed them beyond, thenthey could look for a charge, and if Numa charged it wasvery likely that he would get one of them. When the lionreached the carcass of the horse Tarzan stopped and so didNuma, as Tarzan had thought that he would and the ape-manwaited to see what the lion would do next. He eyed them fora moment, snarled angrily and then looked down at the tempt-ing meat. Presently he crouched upon his kill and resumedfeeding.

The girl breathed a deep sigh of relief as she and the ape-man resumed their slow retreat with only an occasional glancefrom the lion, and when at last they reached the bush and hadturned and entered it, she felt a sudden giddiness overwhelmher so that she staggered and would have fallen had Tarzannot caught her. It was only a moment before she regainedcontrol of herself.

"I could not help it," she said, in half apology. "I was soclose to death -- such a horrible death -- it unnerved me for aninstant; but I am all right now. How can I ever thank you?It was so wonderful -- you did not seem to fear the frightfulcreature in the least; yet he was afraid of you. Who are you?"

"He knows me," replied Tarzan, grimly -- "that is why hefears me."

He was standing facing the girl now and for the first timehe had a chance to look at her squarely and closely. She wasvery beautiful -- that was undeniable; but Tarzan realized herbeauty only in a subconscious way. It was superficial -- it didnot color her soul which must be black as sin. She was Ger-man -- a German spy. He hated her and desired only tocompass her destruction; but he would choose the manner sothat it would work most grievously against the enemy cause.

He saw her naked breasts where Numa had torn her clothingfrom her and dangling there against the soft, white flesh hesaw that which brought a sudden scowl of surprise and angerto his face -- the diamond-studded, golden locket of his youth-- the love token that had been stolen from the breast of hismate by Schneider, the Hun. The girl saw the scowl but didnot interpret it correctly. Tarzan grasped her roughly by thearm.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded, as he tore thebauble from her.

The girl drew herself to her full height. "Take your handfrom me," she demanded, but the ape-man paid no attentionto her words, only seizing her more forcibly.

"Answer me!" he snapped. "Where did you get this?"

"What is it to you?" she countered.

"It is mine," he replied. "Tell me who gave it to you or Iwill throw you back to Numa."

"You would do that?" she asked.

"Why not?" he queried. "You are a spy and spies must dieif they are caught."

"You were going to kill me, then?"

"I was going to take you to headquarters. They woulddispose of you there; but Numa can do it quite as effectively.Which do you prefer?"

"Hauptmann Fritz Schneider gave it to me," she said.

"Headquarters it will be then," said Tarzan. "Come!"The girl moved at his side through the bush and all thetime her mind worked quickly. They were moving east, whichsuited her, and as long as they continued to move east she wasglad to have the protection of the great, white savage. Shespeculated much upon the fact that her pistol still swung at herhip. The man must be mad not to take it from her.

"What makes you think I am a spy?" she asked after a longsilence.

"I saw you at German headquarters," he replied, "and thenagain inside the British lines."

She could not let him take her back to them. She mustreach Wilhelmstal at once and she was determined to do soeven if she must have recourse to her pistol. She cast a sideglance at the tall figure. What a magnificent creature! Butyet he was a brute who would kill her or have her killed if shedid not slay him. And the locket! She must have that back-- it must not fail to reach Wilhelmstal. Tarzan was now afoot or two ahead of her as the path was very narrow. Cau-tiously she drew her pistol. A single shot would suffice andhe was so close that she could not miss. As she figured it allout her eyes rested on the brown skin with the gracefulmuscles rolling beneath it and the perfect limbs and headand the carriage that a proud king of old might have envied.A wave of revulsion for her contemplated act surged throughher. No, she could not do it -- yet, she must be free and shemust regain possession of the locket. And then, almost blindly,she swung the weapon up and struck Tarzan heavily upon theback of the head with its butt. Like a felled ox he dropped inhis tracks.