TEEKA HAD BECOME a mother. Tarzan of the Apes wasintensely interested, much more so, in fact, than Taug,the father. Tarzan was very fond of Teeka. Even the caresof prospective motherhood had not entirely quenched the firesof carefree youth, and Teeka had remained a good-naturedplaymate even at an age when other shes of the tribeof Kerchak had assumed the sullen dignity of maturity. She yet retained her childish delight in the primitivegames of tag and hide-and-go-seek which Tarzan's fertileman-mind had evolved.

To play tag through the tree tops is an excitingand inspiring pastime. Tarzan delighted in it,but the bulls of his childhood had long since abandonedsuch childish practices. Teeka, though, had been keenfor it always until shortly before the baby came;but with the advent of her first-born, even Teeka changed.

The evidence of the change surprised and hurt Tarzanimmeasurably. One morning he saw Teeka squatted upon a low branch huggingsomething very close to her hairy breast-- a wee somethingwhich squirmed and wriggled. Tarzan approached filledwith the curiosity which is common to all creatures endowedwith brains which have progressed beyond the microscopic stage.

Teeka rolled her eyes in his direction and strained thesquirming mite still closer to her. Tarzan came nearer. Teeka drew away and bared her fangs. Tarzan was nonplussed. In all his experiences with Teeka, never before had shebared fangs at him other than in play; but today she didnot look playful. Tarzan ran his brown fingers throughhis thick, black hair, cocked his head upon one side,and stared. Then he edged a bit nearer, craning his neckto have a better look at the thing which Teeka cuddled.

Again Teeka drew back her upper lip in a warning snarl. Tarzan reached forth a hand, cautiously, to touch thething which Teeka held, and Teeka, with a hideous growl,turned suddenly upon him. Her teeth sank into theflesh of his forearm before the ape-man could snatchit away, and she pursued him for a short distanceas he retreated incontinently through the trees;but Teeka, carrying her baby, could not overtake him. At a safe distance Tarzan stopped and turned to regardhis erstwhile play-fellow in unconcealed astonishment. What had happened to so alter the gentle Teeka? She hadso covered the thing in her arms that Tarzan had not yetbeen able to recognize it for what it was; but now, as sheturned from the pursuit of him, he saw it. Through hispain and chagrin he smiled, for Tarzan had seen young apemothers before. In a few days she would be less suspicious. Still Tarzan was hurt; it was not right that Teeka,of all others, should fear him. Why, not for the worldwould he harm her, or her balu, which is the ape wordfor baby.

And now, above the pain of his injured arm and the hurtto his pride, rose a still stronger desire to come closeand inspect the new-born son of Taug. Possibly you willwonder that Tarzan of the Apes, mighty fighter that he was,should have fled before the irritable attack of a she,or that he should hesitate to return for the satisfactionof his curiosity when with ease he might have vanquishedthe weakened mother of the new-born cub; but you neednot wonder. Were you an ape, you would know that onlya bull in the throes of madness will turn upon a femaleother than to gently chastise her, with the occasionalexception of the individual whom we find exemplified amongour own kind, and who delights in beating up his betterhalf because she happens to be smaller and weaker than he.

Tarzan again came toward the young mother--warilyand with his line of retreat safely open. Again Teekagrowled ferociously. Tarzan expostulated.

"Tarzan of the Apes will not harm Teeka's balu," he said. "Let me see it."

"Go away!" commanded Teeka. "Go away, or I will kill you."

"Let me see it," urged Tarzan.

"Go away," reiterated the she-ape. "Here comes Taug. He will make you go away. Taug will kill you. This isTaug's balu."

A savage growl close behind him apprised Tarzan of thenearness of Taug, and the fact that the bull had heard thewarnings and threats of his mate and was coming to her succor.

Now Taug, as well as Teeka, had been Tarzan's play-fellowwhile the bull was still young enough to wish to play. Once Tarzan had saved Taug's life; but the memoryof an ape is not overlong, nor would gratitude riseabove the parental instinct. Tarzan and Taug had oncemeasured strength, and Tarzan had been victorious. That fact Taug could be depended upon still to remember;but even so, he might readily face another defeat for hisfirst-born--if he chanced to be in the proper mood.

From his hideous growls, which now rose in strengthand volume, he seemed to be in quite the mood. Now Tarzanfelt no fear of Taug, nor did the unwritten law of the jungledemand that he should flee from battle with any male,unless he cared to from purely personal reasons. But Tarzan liked Taug. He had no grudge against him,and his man-mind told him what the mind of an ape wouldnever have deduced-- that Taug's attitude in no senseindicated hatred. It was but the instinctive urgeof the male to protect its offspring and its mate.

Tarzan had no desire to battle with Taug, nor did the bloodof his English ancestors relish the thought of flight,yet when the bull charged, Tarzan leaped nimbly to one side,and thus encouraged, Taug wheeled and rushed again madlyto the attack. Perhaps the memory of a past defeat atTarzan's hands goaded him. Perhaps the fact that Teeka satthere watching him aroused a desire to vanquish the ape-manbefore her eyes, for in the breast of every jungle male lurksa vast egotism which finds expression in the performanceof deeds of derring-do before an audience of the opposite sex.

At the ape-man's side swung his long grass rope--theplay-thing of yesterday, the weapon of today--andas Taug charged the second time, Tarzan slipped thecoils over his head and deftly shook out the slidingnoose as he again nimbly eluded the ungainly beast. Before the ape could turn again, Tarzan had fledfar aloft among the branches of the upper terrace.

Taug, now wrought to a frenzy of real rage, followed him. Teeka peered upward at them. It was difficult to saywhether she was interested. Taug could not climb asrapidly as Tarzan, so the latter reached the high levelsto which the heavy ape dared not follow before the formerovertook him. There he halted and looked down uponhis pursuer, making faces at him and calling him suchchoice names as occurred to the fertile man-brain. Then,when he had worked Taug to such a pitch of foaming ragethat the great bull fairly danced upon the bending limbbeneath him, Tarzan's hand shot suddenly outward, a wideningnoose dropped swiftly through the air, there was a quickjerk as it settled about Taug, falling to his knees,a jerk that tightened it securely about the hairy legsof the anthropoid.

Taug, slow of wit, realized too late the intention ofhis tormentor. He scrambled to escape, but the ape-mangave the rope a tremendous jerk that pulled Taug fromhis perch, and a moment later, growling hideously,the ape hung head downward thirty feet above the ground.

Tarzan secured the rope to a stout limb and descendedto a point close to Taug.

"Taug," he said, "you are as stupid as Buto, the rhinoceros. Now you may hang here until you get a little sensein your thick head. You may hang here and watch while Igo and talk with Teeka."

Taug blustered and threatened, but Tarzan only grinnedat him as he dropped lightly to the lower levels. Here heagain approached Teeka only to be again greeted with baredfangs and menacing growls. He sought to placate her;he urged his friendly intentions, and craned his neck tohave a look at Teeka's balu; but the she-ape was not to bepersuaded that he meant other than harm to her little one. Her motherhood was still so new that reason was yetsubservient to instinct.

Realizing the futility of attempting to catchand chastise Tarzan, Teeka sought to escape him. She dropped to the ground and lumbered across the littleclearing about which the apes of the tribe were disposedin rest or in the search of food, and presently Tarzanabandoned his attempts to persuade her to permit a closeexamination of the balu. The ape-man would have likedto handle the tiny thing. The very sight of it awakenedin his breast a strange yearning. He wished to cuddleand fondle the grotesque little ape-thing. It was Teeka'sbalu and Tarzan had once lavished his young affections uponTeeka.

But now his attention was diverted by the voice of Taug. The threats that had filled the ape's mouth had turnedto pleas. The tightening noose was stopping the circulationof the blood in his legs--he was beginning to suffer. Several apes sat near him highly interested in his predicament. They made uncomplimentary remarks about him, for each ofthem had felt the weight of Taug's mighty hands and thestrength of his great jaws. They were enjoying revenge.

Teeka, seeing that Tarzan had turned back towardthe trees, had halted in the center of the clearing,and there she sat hugging her balu and casting suspiciousglances here and there. With the coming of the balu,Teeka's care-free world had suddenly become peopledwith innumerable enemies. She saw an implacable foein Tarzan, always heretofore her best friend. Even poorold Mumga, half blind and almost entirely toothless,searching patiently for grubworms beneath a fallen log,represented to her a malignant spirit thirsting for theblood of little balus.

And while Teeka guarded suspiciously against harm,where there was no harm, she failed to note two baleful,yellow-green eyes staring fixedly at her from behinda clump of bushes at the opposite side of the clearing.

Hollow from hunger, Sheeta, the panther, glared greedilyat the tempting meat so close at hand, but the sightof the great bulls beyond gave him pause.

Ah, if the she-ape with her balu would but come just atrifle nearer! A quick spring and he would be upon themand away again with his meat before the bulls could prevent.

The tip of his tawny tail moved in spasmodic little jerks;his lower jaw hung low, exposing a red tongue andyellow fangs. But all this Teeka did not see, nor did anyother of the apes who were feeding or resting about her. Nor did Tarzan or the apes in the trees.

Hearing the abuse which the bulls were pouring uponthe helpless Taug, Tarzan clambered quickly among them. One was edging closer and leaning far out in an effortto reach the dangling ape. He had worked himself intoquite a fury through recollection of the last occasionupon which Taug had mauled him, and now he was bentupon revenge. Once he had grasped the swinging ape,he would quickly have drawn him within reach of his jaws. Tarzan saw and was wroth. He loved a fair fight,but the thing which this ape contemplated revolted him. Already a hairy hand had clutched the helpless Taug when,with an angry growl of protest, Tarzan leaped to the branchat the attacking ape's side, and with a single mighty cuff,swept him from his perch.

Surprised and enraged, the bull clutched madly forsupport as he toppled sidewise, and then with an agilemovement succeeded in projecting himself toward anotherlimb a few feet below. Here he found a hand-hold,quickly righted himself, and as quickly clamberedupward to be revenged upon Tarzan, but the ape-man wasotherwise engaged and did not wish to be interrupted. He was explaining again to Taug the depths of the latter'sabysmal ignorance, and pointing out how much greaterand mightier was Tarzan of the Apes than Taug or any other ape.

In the end he would release Taug, but not until Taugwas fully acquainted with his own inferiority. And thenthe maddened bull came from beneath, and instantly Tarzanwas transformed from a good-natured, teasing youth intoa snarling, savage beast. Along his scalp the hairbristled: his upper lip drew back that his fighting fangsmight be uncovered and ready. He did not wait for the bullto reach him, for something in the appearance or the voiceof the attacker aroused within the ape-man a feelingof belligerent antagonism that would not be denied. With a scream that carried no human note, Tarzan leapedstraight at the throat of the attacker.

The impetuosity of this act and the weight and momentumof his body carried the bull backward, clutching and clawingfor support, down through the leafy branches of the tree. For fifteen feet the two fell, Tarzan's teeth buried inthe jugular of his opponent, when a stout branch stoppedtheir descent. The bull struck full upon the small of his backacross the limb, hung there for a moment with the ape-manstill upon his breast, and then toppled over toward the ground.

Tarzan had felt the instantaneous relaxation of the bodybeneath him after the heavy impact with the tree limb,and as the other turned completely over and started againupon its fall toward the ground, he reached forth a handand caught the branch in time to stay his own descent,while the ape dropped like a plummet to the foot ofthe tree.

Tarzan looked downward for a moment upon the still formof his late antagonist, then he rose to his full height,swelled his deep chest, smote upon it with his clenchedfist and roared out the uncanny challenge of the victoriousbull ape.

Even Sheeta, the panther, crouched for a spring at the edgeof the little clearing, moved uneasily as the mighty voicesent its weird cry reverberating through the jungle. To right and left, nervously, glanced Sheeta, as thoughassuring himself that the way of escape lay ready at hand.

"I am Tarzan of the Apes," boasted the ape-man;"mighty hunter, mighty fighter! None in all the jungleso great as Tarzan."

Then he made his way back in the direction of Taug. Teeka had watched the happenings in the tree. She hadeven placed her precious balu upon the soft grasses andcome a little nearer that she might better witness allthat was passing in the branches above her. In her heartof hearts did she still esteem the smooth-skinned Tarzan?Did her savage breast swell with pride as she witnessedhis victory over the ape? You will have to ask Teeka.

And Sheeta, the panther, saw that the she-ape had lefther cub alone among the grasses. He moved his tail again,as though this closest approximation of lashing in which hedared indulge might stimulate his momentarily waned courage. The cry of the victorious ape-man still held his nervesbeneath its spell. It would be several minutes before heagain could bring himself to the point of charging intoview of the giant anthropoids.

And as he regathered his forces, Tarzan reached Taug's side,and then clambering higher up to the point where the endof the grass rope was made fast, he unloosed it andlowered the ape slowly downward, swinging him in untilthe clutching hands fastened upon a limb.

Quickly Taug drew himself to a position of safety and shookoff the noose. In his rage-maddened heart was no roomfor gratitude to the ape-man. He recalled only the factthat Tarzan had laid this painful indignity upon him. He would be revenged, but just at present his legs wereso numb and his head so dizzy that he must postponethe gratification of his vengeance.

Tarzan was coiling his rope the while he lecturedTaug on the futility of pitting his poor powers,physical and intellectual, against those of his betters. Teeka had come close beneath the tree and was peering upward. Sheeta was worming his way stealthily forward, his bellyclose to the ground. In another moment he would be clearof the underbrush and ready for the rapid charge and the quickretreat that would end the brief existence of Teeka's balu.

Then Tarzan chanced to look up and across the clearing. Instantly his attitude of good-natured bantering and pompousboastfulness dropped from him. Silently and swiftly heshot downward toward the ground. Teeka, seeing him coming,and thinking that he was after her or her balu, bristled andprepared to fight. But Tarzan sped by her, and as he went,her eyes followed him and she saw the cause of his suddendescent and his rapid charge across the clearing. There in full sight now was Sheeta, the panther,stalking slowly toward the tiny, wriggling balu which layamong the grasses many yards away.

Teeka gave voice to a shrill scream of terror and of warningas she dashed after the ape-man. Sheeta saw Tarzan coming. He saw the she-ape's cub before him, and he thoughtthat this other was bent upon robbing him of his prey. With an angry growl, he charged.

Taug, warned by Teeka's cry, came lumbering down toher assistance. Several other bulls, growling and barking,closed in toward the clearing, but they were all much fartherfrom the balu and the panther than was Tarzan of the Apes,so it was that Sheeta and the ape-man reached Teeka'slittle one almost simultaneously; and there they stood,one upon either side of it, baring their fangs and snarlingat each other over the little creature.

Sheeta was afraid to seize the balu, for thus he wouldgive the ape-man an opening for attack; and for the samereason Tarzan hesitated to snatch the panther's preyout of harm's way, for had he stooped to accomplish this,the great beast would have been upon him in an instant. Thus they stood while Teeka came across the clearing,going more slowly as she neared the panther, for even hermother love could scarce overcome her instinctive terrorof this natural enemy of her kind.

Behind her came Taug, warily and with many pauses andmuch bluster, and still behind him came other bulls,snarling ferociously and uttering their uncanny challenges. Sheeta's yellow-green eyes glared terribly at Tarzan,and past Tarzan they shot brief glances at the apesof Kerchak advancing upon him. Discretion prompted himto turn and flee, but hunger and the close proximityof the tempting morsel in the grass before him urged himto remain. He reached forth a paw toward Teeka's balu,and as he did so, with a savage guttural, Tarzan of the Apeswas upon him.

The panther reared to meet the ape-man's attack. He swung a frightful raking blow for Tarzan that would havewiped his face away had it landed, but it did not land,for Tarzan ducked beneath it and closed, his long knifeready in one strong hand--the knife of his dead father,of the father he never had known.

Instantly the balu was forgotten by Sheeta, the panther. He now thought only of tearing to ribbons with his powerfultalons the flesh of his antagonist, of burying his long,yellow fangs in the soft, smooth hide of the ape-man, butTarzan had fought before with clawed creatures of the jungle. Before now he had battled with fanged monsters, nor alwayshad he come away unscathed. He knew the risk that he ran,but Tarzan of the Apes, inured to the sight of sufferingand death, shrank from neither, for he feared neither.

The instant that he dodged beneath Sheeta's blow, he leapedto the beast's rear and then full upon the tawny back,burying his teeth in Sheeta's neck and the fingers of onehand in the fur at the throat, and with the other handhe drove his blade into Sheeta's side.

Over and over upon the grass rolled Sheeta, growling andscreaming,clawing and biting, in a mad effort to dislodge his antagonistor get some portion of his body within range of teeth or talons.

As Tarzan leaped to close quarters with the panther,Teeka had run quickly in and snatched up her balu. Now she sat upon a high branch, safe out of harm's way,cuddling the little thing close to her hairy breast,the while her savage little eyes bored down upon thecontestants in the clearing, and her ferocious voice urgedTaug and the other bulls to leap into the melee.

Thus goaded the bulls came closer, redoubling theirhideous clamor; but Sheeta was already sufficiently engaged--he did not even hear them. Once he succeeded in partiallydislodging the ape-man from his back, so that Tarzan swungfor an instant in front of those awful talons, and in thebrief instant before he could regain his former hold,a raking blow from a hind paw laid open one leg from hip to knee.

It was the sight and smell of this blood, possibly,which wrought upon the encircling apes; but itwas Taug who really was responsible for the thing they did.

Taug, but a moment before filled with rage towardTarzan of the Apes, stood close to the battling pair,his red-rimmed, wicked little eyes glaring at them. What was passing in his savage brain? Did he gloat overthe unenviable position of his recent tormentor? Didhe long to see Sheeta's great fangs sink into the softthroat of the ape-man? Or did he realize the courageousunselfishness that had prompted Tarzan to rush to therescue and imperil his life for Teeka's balu--for Taug'slittle balu? Is gratitude a possession of man only,or do the lower orders know it also?

With the spilling of Tarzan's blood, Taug answeredthese questions. With all the weight of his great bodyhe leaped, hideously growling, upon Sheeta. His longfighting fangs buried themselves in the white throat. His powerful arms beat and clawed at the soft fur until itflew upward in the jungle breeze.

And with Taug's example before them the other bulls charged,burying Sheeta beneath rending fangs and filling allthe forest with the wild din of their battle cries.

Ah! but it was a wondrous and inspiring sight--this battleof the primordial apes and the great, white ape-manwith their ancestral foe, Sheeta, the panther.

In frenzied excitement, Teeka fairly danced uponthe limb which swayed beneath her great weight as sheurged on the males of her people, and Thaka, and Mumga,and Kamma, with the other shes of the tribe of Kerchak,added their shrill cries or fierce barkings to thepandemonium which now reigned within the jungle.

Bitten and biting, tearing and torn, Sheeta battledfor his life; but the odds were against him. Even Numa,the lion, would have hesitated to have attacked an equalnumber of the great bulls of the tribe of Kerchak, and now,a half mile away, hearing the sounds of the terrific battle,the king of beasts rose uneasily from his midday slumberand slunk off farther into the jungle.

Presently Sheeta's torn and bloody body ceased itstitanic struggles. It stiffened spasmodically, twitched andwas still, yet the bulls continued to lacerate it untilthe beautiful coat was torn to shreds. At last they desistedfrom sheer physical weariness, and then from the tangleof bloody bodies rose a crimson giant, straight as an arrow.

He placed a foot upon the dead body of the panther,and lifting his blood-stained face to the blue of theequatorial heavens, gave voice to the horrid victorycry of the bull ape.

One by one his hairy fellows of the tribe of Kerchakfollowed his example. The shes came down from their perchesof safety and struck and reviled the dead body of Sheeta. The young apes refought the battle in mimicry of theirmighty elders.

Teeka was quite close to Tarzan. He turned and saw herwith the balu hugged close to her hairy breast, and putout his hands to take the little one, expecting that Teekawould bare her fangs and spring upon him; but insteadshe placed the balu in his arms, and coming nearer,licked his frightful wounds.

And presently Taug, who had escaped with only a few scratches,came and squatted beside Tarzan and watched him as heplayed with the little balu, and at last he too leanedover and helped Teeka with the cleansing and the healingof the ape-man's hurts.