As Metak bore Bertha Kircher toward the edge of thepool, the girl at first had no conception of the deed hecontemplated but when, as they approached the edge,he did not lessen his speed she guessed the frightful truth. Ashe leaped head foremost with her into the water, she closedher eyes and breathed a silent prayer, for she was confidentthat the maniac had no other purpose than to drown himselfand her. And yet, so potent is the first law of nature that evenin the face of certain death, as she surely believed herself, sheclung tenaciously to life, and while she struggled to free her-self from the powerful clutches of the madman, she held herbreath against the final moment when the asphyxiating watersmust inevitably flood her lungs.

Through the frightful ordeal she maintained absolute con-trol of her senses so that, after the first plunge, she was awarethat the man was swimming with her beneath the surface. Hetook perhaps not more than a dozen strokes directly towardthe end wall of the pool and then he arose; and once again sheknew that her head was above the surface. She opened hereyes to see that they were in a corridor dimly lighted by grat-ings set in its roof -- a winding corridor, water filled fromwallto wall.

Along this the man was swimming with easy powerfulstrokes, at the same time holding her chin above the water.For ten minutes he swam thus without stopping and the girlheard him speak to her, though she could not understand whathe said, as he evidently immediately realized, for, halffloating,he shifted his hold upon her so that he could touch her noseand mouth with the fingers of one hand. She grasped what hemeant and immediately took a deep breath, whereat he dovequickly beneath the surface pulling her down with him andagain for a dozen strokes or more he swam thus whollysubmerged.

When they again came to the surface, Bertha Kircher sawthat they were in a large lagoon and that the bright stars wereshining high above them, while on either hand domed andminareted buildings were silhouetted sharply against the star-lit sky. Metak swam swiftly to the north side of the lagoonwhere, by means of a ladder, the two climbed out upon theembankment. There were others in the plaza but they paid butlittle if any attention to the two bedraggled figures. As Metakwalked quickly across the pavement with the girl at his side,Bertha Kircher could only guess at the man's intentions. Shecould see no way in which to escape and so she went docilelywith him, hoping against hope that some fortuitous circum-stance might eventually arise that would give her the covetedchance for freedom and life.

Metak led her toward a building which, as she entered, sherecognized as the same to which she and Lieutenant Smith-Oldwick had been led when they were brought into the city.There was no man sitting behind the carved desk now, butabout the room were a dozen or more warriors in the tunicsof the house to which they were attached, in this case whitewith a small lion in the form of a crest or badge upon thebreast and back of each.

As Metak entered and the men recognized him they arose,and in answer to a query he put, they pointed to an archeddoorway at the rear of the room. Toward this Metak led thegirl, and then, as though filled with a sudden suspicion, hiseyesnarrowed cunningly and turning toward the soldiery he issuedan order which resulted in their all preceding him through thesmall doorway and up a flight of stairs a short distance beyond.

The stairway and the corridor above were lighted by smallflares which revealed several doors in the walls of the upperpassageway. To one of these the men led the prince. BerthaKircher saw them knock upon the door and heard a voice replyfaintly through the thick door to the summons. The effectupon those about her was electrical. Instantly excitementreigned, and in response to orders from the king's son thesoldiers commenced to beat heavily upon the door, to throwtheir bodies against it and to attempt to hew away the panelswith their sabers. The girl wondered at the cause of the evidentexcitement of her captors.

She saw the door giving to each renewed assault, but whatshe did not see just before it crashed inward was the figures ofthe two men who alone, in all the world, might have savedher, pass between the heavy hangings in an adjoining alcoveand disappear into a dark corridor.

As the door gave and the warriors rushed into the apartmentfollowed by the prince, the latter became immediately filledwith baffled rage, for the rooms were deserted except for thedead body of the owner of the palace, and the still form of theblack slave, Otobu, where they lay stretched upon the floor ofthe alcove.

The prince rushed to the windows and looked out, but asthe suite overlooked the barred den of lions from which, theprince thought, there could be no escape, his puzzlement wasonly increased. Though he searched about the room for someclue to the whereabouts of its former occupants he did not dis-cover the niche behind the hangings. With the fickleness ofinsanity he quickly tired of the search, and, turning to thesoldiers who had accompanied him from the floor below,dismissed them.

After setting up the broken door as best they could, the menleft the apartment and when they were again alone Metakturned toward the girl. As he approached her, his face dis-torted by a hideous leer, his features worked rapidly in spas-modic twitches. The girl, who was standing at the entrance ofthe alcove, shrank back, her horror reflected in her face. Stepby step she backed across the room, while the crouchingmaniac crept stealthily after her with clawlike fingers poisedin anticipation of the moment they should leap forth andseize her.

As she passed the body of the Negro, her foot touched someobstacle at her side, and glancing down she saw the spear withwhich Otobu had been supposed to hold the prisoners. In-stantly she leaned forward and snatched it from the floorwith its sharp point directed at the body of the madman. Theeffect upon Metak was electrical. From stealthy silence hebroke into harsh peals of laughter, and drawing his saberdanced to and fro before the girl, but whichever way he wentthe point of the spear still threatened him.

Gradually the girl noticed a change in the tone of the crea-ture's screams that was also reflected in the changing expres-sion upon his hideous countenance. His hysterical laughterwas slowly changing into cries of rage while the silly leer uponhis face was supplanted by a ferocious scowl and upcurledlips, which revealed the sharpened fangs beneath.

He now ran rapidly in almost to the spear's point, only tojump away, run a few steps to one side and again attempt tomake an entrance, the while he slashed and hewed at thespear with such violence that it was with difficulty the girlmaintained her guard, and all the time was forced to giveground step by step. She had reached the point where she wasstanding squarely against the couch at the side of the roomwhen, with an incredibly swift movement, Metak stooped andgrasping a low stool hurled it directly at her head.

She raised the spear to fend off the heavy missile, but shewas not entirely successful, and the impact of the blow carriedher backward upon the couch, and instantly Metak was upon her.

Tarzan and Smith-Oldwick gave little thought as to whathad become of the other two occupants of the room. Theywere gone, and so far as these two were concerned they mightnever return. Tarzan's one desire was to reach the streetagain, where, now that both of them were in some sort ofdisguise, they should be able to proceed with comparativesafety to the palace and continue their search for the girl.

Smith-Oldwick preceded Tarzan along the corridor and asthey reached the ladder he climbed aloft to remove the trap.He worked for a moment and then, turning, addressed Tarzan.

"Did we replace the cover on this trap when we came down?I don't recall that we did."

"No," said Tarzan, "it was left open."

"So I thought," said Smith-Oldwick, "but it's closed nowand locked. I cannot move it. Possibly you can," and hedescended the ladder.

Even Tarzan's immense strength, however, had no effectother than to break one of the rungs of the ladder againstwhich he was pushing, nearly precipitating him to the floorbelow. After the rung broke he rested for a moment beforerenewing his efforts, and as he stood with his head near thecover of the trap, he distinctly heard voices on the roof abovehim.

Dropping down to Oldwick's side he told him what he hadheard. "We had better find some other way out," he said, andthe two started to retrace their steps toward the alcove. Tarzanwas again in the lead, and as he opened the door in the backof the niche, he was suddenly startled to hear, in tones ofterror and in a woman's voice, the words: "O God, be merci-ful" from just beyond the hangings.

Here was no time for cautious investigation and, not evenwaiting to find the aperture and part the hangings, but withone sweep of a brawny hand dragging them from their sup-port, the ape-man leaped from the niche into the alcove.

At the sound of his entry the maniac looked up, and as hesaw at first only a man in the uniform of his father's soldiers,he shrieked forth an angry order, but at the second glance,which revealed the face of the newcomer, the madman leapedfrom the prostrate form of his victim and, apparently for-getful of the saber which he had dropped upon the floor besidethe couch as he leaped to grapple with the girl, closed withbare hands upon his antagonist, his sharp-filed teeth searchingfor the other's throat.

Metak, the son of Herog, was no weakling. Powerful bynature and rendered still more so in the throes of one of hismaniacal fits of fury he was no mean antagonist, even for themighty ape-man, and to this a distinct advantage for him wasadded by the fact that almost at the outset of their battleTarzan, in stepping backward, struck his heel against thecorpse of the man whom Smith-Oldwick had killed, and fellheavily backward to the floor with Metak upon his breast.

With the quickness of a cat the maniac made an attempt tofasten his teeth in Tarzan's jugular, but a quick movement ofthe latter resulted in his finding a hold only upon the Tar-mangani's shoulder. Here he clung while his fingers soughtTarzan's throat, and it was then that the ape-man, realizingthe possibility of defeat, called to Smith-Oldwick to take thegirl and seek to escape.

The Englishman looked questioningly at Bertha Kircher,who had now risen from the couch, shaking and trembling.She saw the question in his eyes and with an effort she drewherself to her full height. "No," she cried, "if he dies here Ishall die with him. Go if you wish to. You can do nothinghere, but I -- I cannot go."

Tarzan had now regained his feet, but the maniac still clungto him tenaciously. The girl turned suddenly to Smith-Oldwick."Your pistol!" she cried. "Why don't you shoot him?"

The man drew the weapon from his pocket and approachedthe two antagonists, but by this time they were moving sorapidly that there was no opportunity for shooting one withoutthe danger of hitting the other. At the same time BerthaKircher circled about them with the prince's saber, but neithercould she find an opening. Again and again the two men fellto the floor, until presently Tarzan found a hold upon theother's throat, against which contingency Metak had beenconstantly battling, and slowly, as the giant fingers closed, theother's mad eyes protruded from his livid face, his jaws gapedand released their hold upon Tarzan's shoulder, and then in asudden excess of disgust and rage the ape-man lifted the bodyof the prince high above his head and with all the strength ofhis great arms hurled it across the room and through thewindow where it fell with a sickening thud into the pit of lionsbeneath.

As Tarzan turned again toward his companions, the girl wasstanding with the saber still in her hand and an expressionupon her face that he never had seen there before. Her eyeswere wide and misty with unshed tears, while her sensitive lipstrembled as though she were upon the point of giving way tosome pent emotion which her rapidly rising and falling bosomplainly indicated she was fighting to control.

"If we are going to get out of here," said the ape-man, "wecan't lose any time. We are together at last and nothing canbe gained by delay. The question now is the safest way. Thecouple who escaped us evidently departed through the pas-sageway to the roof and secured the trap against us so thatwe are cut off in that direction. What chance have we below?You came that way," and he turned toward the girl.

"At the foot of the stairs," she said, "is a room full of armedmen. I doubt if we could pass that way."

It was then that Otobu raised himself to a sitting posture."So you are not dead after all," exclaimed the ape-man."Come, how badly are you hurt?"

The Negro rose gingerly to his feet, moved his arms andlegs and felt of his head.

"Otobu does not seem to be hurt at all, Bwana," he replied,"only for a great ache in his head."

"Good," said the ape-man. "You want to return to theWamabo country?"

"Yes, Bwana."

"Then lead us from the city by the safest way."

"There is no safe way," replied the black, "and even if wereach the gates we shall have to fight. I can lead you from thisbuilding to a side street with little danger of meeting anyoneon the way. Beyond that we must take our chance of discov-ery. You are all dressed as are the people of this wicked city soperhaps we may pass unnoticed, but at the gate it will be a dif-ferent matter, for none is permitted to leave the city at night."

"Very well," replied the ape-man, "let us be on our way."

Otobu led them through the broken door of the outer room,and part way down the corridor he turned into another apart-ment at the right. This they crossed to a passageway beyond,and, finally, traversing several rooms and corridors, he ledthem down a flight of steps to a door which opened directlyupon a side street in rear of the palace.

Two men, a woman, and a black slave were not so extraordi-nary a sight upon the streets of the city as to arouse comment.When passing beneath the flares the three Europeans werecareful to choose a moment when no chance pedestrian mighthappen to get a view of their features, but in the shadow ofthe arcades there seemed little danger of detection. They hadcovered a good portion of the distance to the gate without mis-hap when there came to their ears from the central portionof the city sounds of a great commotion.

"What does that mean?" Tarzan asked of Otobu, who wasnow trembling violently.

"Master," he replied, "they have discovered that which hashappened in the palace of Veza, mayor of the city. His son andthe girl escaped and summoned soldiers who have now doubt-less discovered the body of Veza."

"I wonder," said Tarzan, "if they have discovered the partyI threw through the window."

Bertha Kircher, who understood enough of the dialect tofollow their conversation, asked Tarzan if he knew that theman he had thrown from the window was the king's son. Theape-man laughed. "No," he said, "I did not. That rathercomplicates matters -- at least if they have found him."

Suddenly there broke above the turmoil behind them theclear strains of a bugle. Otobu increased his pace. "Hurry,Master," he cried, "it is worse than I had thought."

"What do you mean?" asked Tarzan.

"For some reason the king's guard and the king's lions arebeing called out. I fear, O Bwana, that we cannot escape them.But why they should be called out for us I do not know."

But if Otobu did not know, Tarzan at least guessed that theyhad found the body of the king's son. Once again the notes ofthe bugle rose high and clear upon the night air. "Calling morelions?" asked Tarzan.

"No, Master," replied Otobu. "It is the parrots they arecalling."

They moved on rapidly in silence for a few minutes whentheir attention was attracted by the flapping of the wings of abird above them. They looked up to discover a parrot circlingabout over their heads.

"Here are the parrots, Otobu," said Tarzan with a grin."Do they expect to kill us with parrots?"

The Negro moaned as the bird darted suddenly ahead ofthem toward the city wall. "Now indeed are we lost, Master,"cried the black. "The bird that found us has flown to the gateto warn the guard."

"Come, Otobu, what are you talking about?" exclaimedTarzan irritably. "Have you lived among these lunatics solong that you are yourself mad?"

"No, Master," replied Otobu. "I am not mad. You do notknow them. These terrible birds are like human beings with-out hearts or souls. They speak the language of the people ofthis city of Xuja. They are demons, Master, and when insufficient numbers they might even attack and kill us."

"How far are we from the gate?" asked Tarzan.

"We are not very far," replied the Negro. "Beyond this nextturn we will see it a few paces ahead of us. But the bird hasreached it before us and by now they are summoning theguard," the truth of which statement was almost immediatelyindicated by sounds of many voices raised evidently in com-mands just ahead of them, while from behind came increasedevidence of approaching pursuit -- loud screams and the roarsof lions.

A few steps ahead a narrow alley opened from the east intothe thoroughfare they were following and as they approachedit there emerged from its dark shadows the figure of a mightylion. Otobu halted in his tracks and shrank back againstTarzan. "Look, Master," he whimpered, "a great black lionof the forest!"

Tarzan drew the saber which still hung at his side. "Wecannot go back," he said. "Lions, parrots, or men, it must beall the same," and he moved steadily forward in the directionof the gate. What wind was stirring in the city street movedfrom Tarzan toward the lion and when the ape-man had ap-proached to within a few yards of the beast, who had stoodsilently eyeing them up to this time, instead of the expectedroar, a whine broke from the beast's throat. The ape-man wasconscious of a very decided feeling of relief. "It's Numa ofthe pit," he called back to his companions, and to Otobu, "Donot fear, this lion will not harm us."

Numa moved forward to the ape-man's side and thenturning, paced beside him along the narrow street. At the nextturn they came in sight of the gate, where, beneath severalflares, they saw a group of at least twenty warriors preparedto seize them, while from the opposite direction the roars ofthe pursuing lions sounded close upon them, mingling with thescreams of numerous parrots which now circled about theirheads. Tarzan halted and turned to the young aviator. "Howmany rounds of ammunition have you left?" he asked.

"I have seven in the pistol," replied Smith-Oldwick, "andperhaps a dozen more cartridges in my blouse pocket."

"I'm going to rush them," said Tarzan. "Otobu, you stay atthe side of the woman. Oldwick, you and I will go ahead, youupon my left. I think we need not try to tell Numa what todo," for even then the great lion was baring his fangs andgrowling ferociously at the guardsmen, who appeared uneasyin the face of this creature which, above all others, theyfeared.

"As we advance, Oldwick," said the ape-man, "fire one shot.It may frighten them, and after that fire only when necessary.All ready? Let's go!" and he moved forward toward the gate.At the same time, Smith-Oldwick discharged his weapon and ayellow-coated warrior screamed and crumpled forward uponhis face. For a minute the others showed symptoms of panicbut one, who seemed to be an officer, rallied them. "Now,"said Tarzan, "all together!" and he started at a run for thegate. Simultaneously the lion, evidently scenting the purposeof the Tarmangani, broke into a full charge toward the guard.

Shaken by the report of the unfamiliar weapon, the ranksof the guardsmen broke before the furious assault of the greatbeast. The officer screamed forth a volley of commands in amad fury of uncontrolled rage but the guardsmen, obeying thefirst law of nature as well as actuated by their inherent fear ofthe black denizen of the forest scattered to right and left toelude the monster. With ferocious growls Numa wheeled tothe right, and with raking talons struck right and left among alittle handful of terrified guardsmen who were endeavoringto elude him, and then Tarzan and Smith-Oldwick closed withthe others.

For a moment their most formidable antagonist was theofficer in command. He wielded his curved saber as only anadept might as he faced Tarzan, to whom the similar weaponin his own hand was most unfamiliar. Smith-Oldwick couldnot fire for fear of hitting the ape-man when suddenly to hisdismay he saw Tarzan's weapon fly from his grasp as theXujan warrior neatly disarmed his opponent. With a screamthe fellow raised his saber for the final cut that would termi-nate the earthly career of Tarzan of the Apes when, to theastonishment of both the ape-man and Smith-Oldwick, thefellow stiffened rigidly, his weapon dropped from the nerve-less fingers of his upraised hand, his mad eyes rolled upwardand foam flecked his bared lip. Gasping as though in thethroes of strangulation the fellow pitched forward at Tarzan'sfeet.

Tarzan stooped and picked up the dead man's weapon, asmile upon his face as he turned and glanced toward theyoung Englishman.

"The fellow is an epileptic," said Smith-Oldwick. "I sup-pose many of them are. Their nervous condition is not with-out its good points -- a normal man would have gotten you."

The other guardsmen seemed utterly demoralized at theloss of their leader. They were huddled upon the oppositeside of the street at the left of the gate, screaming at the topsof their voices and looking in the direction from which soundsof reinforcements were coming, as though urging on the menand lions that were already too close for the comfort of thefugitives. Six guardsmen still stood with their backs againstthe gate, their weapons flashing in the light of the flares andtheir parchment-like faces distorted in horrid grimaces of rageand terror.

Numa had pursued two fleeing warriors down the streetwhich paralleled the wall for a short distance at this point.The ape-man turned to Smith-Oldwick. "You will have touse your pistol now," he said, "and we must get by thesefellows at once;" and as the young Englishman fired, Tarzanrushed in to close quarters as though he had not already dis-covered that with the saber he was no match for these trainedswordsmen. Two men fell to Smith-Oldwick's first two shotsand then he missed, while the four remaining divided, twoleaping for the aviator and two for Tarzan.

The ape-man rushed in in an effort to close with one of hisantagonists where the other's saber would be comparativelyuseless. Smith-Oldwick dropped one of his assailants with abullet through the chest and pulled his trigger on the second,only to have the hammer fall futilely upon an empty chamber.The cartridges in his weapon were exhausted and the warriorwith his razor-edged, gleaming saber was upon him.

Tarzan raised his own weapon but once and that to divert avicious cut for his head. Then he was upon one of his assail-ants and before the fellow could regain his equilibrium andleap back after delivering his cut, the ape-man had seized himby the neck and crotch. Tarzan's other antagonist was edgingaround to one side where he might use his weapon, and as heraised the blade to strike at the back of the Tarmangani's neck,the latter swung the body of his comrade upward so that itreceived the full force of the blow. The blade sank deep intothe body of the warrior, eliciting a single frightful scream, andthen Tarzan hurled the dying man in the face of his finaladversary.

Smith-Oldwick, hard pressed and now utterly defenseless,had given up all hope in the instant that he realized hisweapon was empty, when, from his left, a living bolt of black-maned ferocity shot past him to the breast of his opponent.Down went the Xujan, his face bitten away by one snap of thepowerful jaws of Numa of the pit.

In the few seconds that had been required for the consum-mation of these rapidly ensuing events, Otobu had draggedBertha Kircher to the gate which he had unbarred and thrownopen, and with the vanquishing of the last of the active guards-men, the party passed out of the maniac city of Xuja into theouter darkness beyond. At the same moment a half dozenlions rounded the last turn in the road leading back toward theplaza, and at sight of them Numa of the pit wheeled andcharged. For a moment the lions of the city stood theirground, but only for a moment, and then before the blackbeast was upon them, they turned and fled, while Tarzan andhis party moved rapidly toward the blackness of the forestbeyond the garden.

"Will they follow us out of the city?" Tarzan asked Otobu.

"Not at night," replied the black. "I have been a slave herefor five years but never have I known these people to leavethe city by night. If they go beyond the forest in the daytimethey usually wait until the dawn of another day before theyreturn, as they fear to pass through the country of the blacklions after dark. No, I think, Master, that they will not followus tonight, but tomorrow they will come, and, O Bwana, thenwill they surely get us, or those that are left of us, for atleastone among us must be the toll of the black lions as we passthrough their forest."

As they crossed the garden, Smith-Oldwick refilled themagazine of his pistol and inserted a cartridge in the chamber.The girl moved silently at Tarzan's left, between him and theaviator. Suddenly the ape-man stopped and turned towardthe city, his mighty frame, clothed in the yellow tunic ofHerog's soldiery, plainly visible to the others beneath the lightof the stars. They saw him raise his head and they heardbreak from his lips the plaintive note of a lion calling to hisfellows. Smith-Oldwick felt a distinct shudder pass throughhis frame, while Otobu, rolling the whites of his eyes in ter-rified surprise, sank tremblingly to his knees. But the girlthrilled and she felt her heart beat in a strange exultation, andthen she drew nearer to the beast-man until her shouldertouched his arm. The act was involuntary and for a momentshe scarce realized what she had done, and then she steppedsilently back, thankful that the light of the stars was notsufficient to reveal to the eyes of her companions the flushwhich she felt mantling her cheek. Yet she was not ashamedof the impulse that had prompted her, but rather of the actitself which she knew, had Tarzan noticed it, would have beenrepulsive to him.

From the open gate of the city of maniacs came the answer-ing cry of a lion. The little group waited where they stooduntil presently they saw the majestic proportions of the blacklion as he approached them along the trail. When he hadrejoined them Tarzan fastened the fingers of one hand in theblack mane and started on once more toward the forest. Be-hind them, from the city, rose a bedlam of horrid sounds, theroaring of lions mingling with the raucous voices of thescreaming parrots and the mad shrieks of the maniacs. Asthey entered the Stygian darkness of the forest the girl onceagain involuntarily shrank closer to the ape-man, and this timeTarzan was aware of the contact.

Himself without fear, he yet instinctively appreciated howterrified the girl must be. Actuated by a sudden kindly im-pulse he found her hand and took it in his own and thus theycontinued upon their way, groping through the blackness ofthe trail. Twice they were approached by forest lions, butupon both occasions the deep growls of Numa of the pit droveoff their assailants. Several times they were compelled to rest,for Smith-Oldwick was constantly upon the verge of exhaus-tion, and toward morning Tarzan was forced to carry him onthe steep ascent from the bed of the valley.