THE DAY WAS perfect. A cool breeze tempered the heatof the equatorial sun. Peace had reigned within the tribefor weeks and no alien enemy had trespassed upon itspreserves from without. To the ape-mind all this wassufficient evidence that the future would be identicalwith the immediate past--that Utopia would persist.

The sentinels, now from habit become a fixed tribal custom,either relaxed their vigilance or entirely desertedtheir posts, as the whim seized them. The tribe wasfar scattered in search of food. Thus may peace andprosperity undermine the safety of the most primitivecommunity even as it does that of the most cultured.

Even the individuals became less watchful and alert,so that one might have thought Numa and Sabor and Sheetaentirely deleted from the scheme of things. The shesand the balus roamed unguarded through the sullen jungle,while the greedy males foraged far afield, and thus itwas that Teeka and Gazan, her balu, hunted upon the extremesouthern edge of the tribe with no great male near them.

Still farther south there moved through the foresta sinister figure--a huge bull ape, maddened by solitudeand defeat. A week before he had contended for thekingship of a tribe far distant, and now battered,and still sore, he roamed the wilderness an outcast. Later he might return to his own tribe and submit to thewill of the hairy brute he had attempted to dethrone;but for the time being he dared not do so, since hehad sought not only the crown but the wives, as well,of his lord and master. It would require an entire moonat least to bring forgetfulness to him he had wronged,and so Toog wandered a strange jungle, grim, terrible,hate-filled.

It was in this mental state that Toog came unexpectedly upona young she feeding alone in the jungle--a stranger she,lithe and strong and beautiful beyond compare. Toog caught his breath and slunk quickly to one sideof the trail where the dense foliage of the tropicalunderbrush concealed him from Teeka while permittinghim to feast his eyes upon her loveliness.

But not alone were they concerned with Teeka--they rovedthe surrounding jungle in search of the bulls and cowsand balus of her tribe, though principally for the bulls. When one covets a she of an alien tribe one must takeinto consideration the great, fierce, hairy guardianswho seldom wander far from their wards and who willfight a stranger to the death in protection of the mateor offspring of a fellow, precisely as they would fightfor their own.

Toog could see no sign of any ape other than the strangeshe and a young balu playing near by. His wicked,blood-shot eyes half closed as they rested upon the charmsof the former--as for the balu, one snap of those greatjaws upon the back of its little neck would preventit from raising any unnecessary alarm.

Toog was a fine, big male, resembling in many waysTeeka's mate, Taug. Each was in his prime, and each waswonderfully muscled, perfectly fanged and as horrifyinglyferocious as the most exacting and particular she could wish. Had Toog been of her own tribe, Teeka might as readily haveyielded to him as to Taug when her mating time arrived;but now she was Taug's and no other male could claimher without first defeating Taug in personal combat. And even then Teeka retained some rights in the matter. If she did not favor a correspondent, she could enterthe lists with her rightful mate and do her part towarddiscouraging his advances, a part, too, which would proveno mean assistance to her lord and master, for Teeka,even though her fangs were smaller than a male's, could usethem to excellent effect.

Just now Teeka was occupied in a fascinating searchfor beetles, to the exclusion of all else. She did notrealize how far she and Gazan had become separated fromthe balance of the tribe, nor were her defensive senses uponthe alert as they should have been. Months of immunity fromdanger under the protecting watchfulness of the sentries,which Tarzan had taught the tribe to post, had lulled themall into a sense of peaceful security based on that fallacywhich has wrecked many enlightened communities in the pastand will continue to wreck others in the future--thatbecause they have not been attacked they never will be.

Toog, having satisfied himself that only the she and her baluwere in the immediate vicinity, crept stealthily forward. Teeka's back was toward him when he finally rushed upon her;but her senses were at last awakened to the presenceof danger and she wheeled to face the strange bull justbefore he reached her. Toog halted a few paces from her. His anger had fled before the seductive feminine charmsof the stranger. He made conciliatory noises--a speciesof clucking sound with his broad, flat lips--that were,too, not greatly dissimilar to that which might be producedin an osculatory solo.

But Teeka only bared her fangs and growled. Little Gazanstarted to run toward his mother, but she warned him awaywith a quick "Kreeg-ah!" telling him to run high intoa tall tree. Evidently Teeka was not favorably impressedby her new suitor. Toog realized this and alteredhis methods accordingly. He swelled his giant chest,beat upon it with his calloused knuckles and swaggeredto and fro before her.

"I am Toog," he boasted. "Look at my fighting fangs. Look at my great arms and my mighty legs. With one bite Ican slay your biggest bull. Alone have I slain Sheeta. I am Toog. Toog wants you." Then he waited for the effect,nor did he have long to wait. Teeka turned with aswiftness which belied her great weight and boltedin the opposite direction. Toog, with an angry growl,leaped in pursuit; but the smaller, lighter female was toofleet for him. He chased her for a few yards and then,foaming and barking, he halted and beat upon the groundwith his hard fists.

From the tree above him little Gazan looked down andwitnessed the stranger bull's discomfiture. Being young,and thinking himself safe above the reach of the heavy male,Gazan screamed an ill-timed insult at their tormentor. Toog looked up. Teeka had halted at a little distance--shewould not go far from her balu; that Toog quickly realizedand as quickly determined to take advantage of. He sawthat the tree in which the young ape squatted was isolatedand that Gazan could not reach another without comingto earth. He would obtain the mother through her lovefor her young.

He swung himself into the lower branches of the tree. Little Gazan ceased to insult him; his expression ofdeviltry changed to one of apprehension, which was quicklyfollowed by fear as Toog commenced to ascend toward him. Teeka screamed to Gazan to climb higher, and the littlefellow scampered upward among the tiny branches which wouldnot support the weight of the great bull; but neverthelessToog kept on climbing. Teeka was not fearful. She knewthat he could not ascend far enough to reach Gazan,so she sat at a little distance from the tree and appliedjungle opprobrium to him. Being a female, she was a pastmaster of the art.

But she did not know the malevolent cunning of Toog'slittle brain. She took it for granted that the bullwould climb as high as he could toward Gazan and then,finding that he could not reach him, resume his pursuitof her, which she knew would prove equally fruitless. So sure was she of the safety of her balu and her own abilityto take care of herself that she did not voice the cryfor help which would soon have brought the other membersof the tribe flocking to her side.

Toog slowly reached the limit to which he dared riskhis great weight to the slender branches. Gazan wasstill fifteen feet above him. The bull braced himselfand seized the main branch in his powerful hands, then hecommenced shaking it vigorously. Teeka was appalled. Instantly she realized what the bull purposed. Gazan clung far out upon a swaying limb. At the firstshake he lost his balance, though he did not quite fall,clinging still with his four hands; but Toog redoubledhis efforts; the shaking produced a violent snappingof the limb to which the young ape clung. Teeka sawall too plainly what the outcome must be and forgettingher own danger in the depth of her mother love,rushed forward to ascend the tree and give battle to thefearsome creature that menaced the life of her little one.

But before ever she reached the bole, Toog had succeeded,by violent shaking of the branch, to loosen Gazan's hold. With a cry the little fellow plunged down through the foliage,clutching futilely for a new hold, and alighted witha sickening thud at his mother's feet, where he laysilent and motionless. Moaning, Teeka stooped to liftthe still form in her arms; but at the same instant Toogwas upon her.

Struggling and biting she fought to free herself; but the giantmuscles of the great bull were too much for her lesser strength. Toog struck and choked her repeatedly until finally,half unconscious, she lapsed into quasi submission. Then the bull lifted her to his shoulder and turnedback to the trail toward the south from whence he had come.

Upon the ground lay the quiet form of little Gazan. He did not moan. He did not move. The sun rose slowlytoward meridian. A mangy thing, lifting its nose toscent the jungle breeze, crept through the underbrush. It was Dango, the hyena. Presently its ugly muzzle brokethrough some near-by foliage and its cruel eyes fastenedupon Gazan.

Early that morning, Tarzan of the Apes had gone tothe cabin by the sea, where he passed many an hour atsuch times as the tribe was ranging in the vicinity. On the floor lay the skeleton of a man--all that remainedof the former Lord Greystoke--lay as it had fallensome twenty years before when Kerchak, the great ape,had thrown it, lifeless, there. Long since had thetermites and the small rodents picked clean the sturdyEnglish bones. For years Tarzan had seen it lying there,giving it no more attention than he gave the countlessthousand bones that strewed his jungle haunts. On the bed another, smaller, skeleton reposed and theyouth ignored it as he ignored the other. How could heknow that the one had been his father, the other hismother? The little pile of bones in the rude cradle,fashioned with such loving care by the former Lord Greystoke,meant nothing to him-- that one day that little skullwas to help prove his right to a proud title was as farbeyond his ken as the satellites of the suns of Orion. To Tarzan they were bones--just bones. He did notneed them, for there was no meat left upon them, and theywere not in his way, for he knew no necessity for a bed,and the skeleton upon the floor he easily could step over.

Today he was restless. He turned the pages first of onebook and then of another. He glanced at pictures which heknew by heart, and tossed the books aside. He rummagedfor the thousandth time in the cupboard. He took out a bagwhich contained several small, round pieces of metal. He had played with them many times in the years gone by;but always he replaced them carefully in the bag,and the bag in the cupboard, upon the very shelf wherefirst he had discovered it. In strange ways did hereditymanifest itself in the ape-man. Come of an orderly race,he himself was orderly without knowing why. The apesdropped things wherever their interest in them waned--inthe tall grass or from the high-flung branches of the trees. What they dropped they sometimes found again, by accident;but not so the ways of Tarzan. For his few belongingshe had a place and scrupulously he returned eachthing to its proper place when he was done with it. The round pieces of metal in the little bag alwaysinterested him. Raised pictures were upon either side,the meaning of which he did not quite understand. The pieces were bright and shiny. It amused him to arrangethem in various figures upon the table. Hundreds of timeshad he played thus. Today, while so engaged, he droppeda lovely yellow piece-- an English sovereign--which rolledbeneath the bed where lay all that was mortal of the oncebeautiful Lady Alice.

True to form, Tarzan at once dropped to his hands and kneesand searched beneath the bed for the lost gold piece. Strange as it might appear, he had never before lookedbeneath the bed. He found the gold piece, and somethingelse he found, too--a small wooden box with a loose cover. Bringing them both out he returned the sovereign toits bag and the bag to its shelf within the cupboard;then he investigated the box. It contained a quantityof cylindrical bits of metal, cone-shaped at oneend and flat at the other, with a projecting rim. They were all quite green and dull, coated with yearsof verdigris.

Tarzan removed a handful of them from the box and examined them. He rubbed one upon another and discovered that the greencame off, leaving a shiny surface for two-thirds oftheir length and a dull gray over the cone-shaped end. Finding a bit of wood he rubbed one of the cylinders rapidlyand was rewarded by a lustrous sheen which pleased him.

At his side hung a pocket pouch taken from the bodyof one of the numerous black warriors he had slain. Into this pouch he put a handful of the new playthings,thinking to polish them at his leisure; then he replacedthe box beneath the bed, and finding nothing more toamuse him, left the cabin and started back in the directionof the tribe.

Shortly before he reached them he heard a great commotionahead of him--the loud screams of shes and balus,the savage, angry barking and growling of the great bulls. Instantly he increased his speed, for the "Kreeg-ahs"that came to his ears warned him that something was amisswith his fellows.

While Tarzan had been occupied with his own devicesin the cabin of his dead sire, Taug, Teeka's mighty mate,had been hunting a mile to the north of the tribe. At last, his belly filled, he had turned lazily back towardthe clearing where he had last seen the tribe and presentlycommenced passing its members scattered alone or in twosor threes. Nowhere did he see Teeka or Gazan, and soonhe began inquiring of the other apes where they might be;but none had seen them recently.

Now the lower orders are not highly imaginative. They do not, as you and I, paint vivid mental picturesof things which might have occurred, and so Taug didnot now apprehend that any misfortune had overtakenhis mate and their off-spring-- he merely knew that hewished to find Teeka that he might lie down in the shadeand have her scratch his back while his breakfast digested;but though he called to her and searched for her andasked each whom he met, he could find no trace of Teeka,nor of Gazan either.

He was beginning to become peeved and had about made uphis mind to chastise Teeka for wandering so far afieldwhen he wanted her. He was moving south along a game trail,his calloused soles and knuckles giving forth no sound,when he came upon Dango at the opposite side of asmall clearing. The eater of carrion did not see Taug,for all his eyes were for something which lay in the grassbeneath a tree--something upon which he was sneakingwith the cautious stealth of his breed.

Taug, always cautious himself, as it behooves one to bewho fares up and down the jungle and desires to survive,swung noiselessly into a tree, where he could havea better view of the clearing. He did not fear Dango;but he wanted to see what it was that Dango stalked. In a way, possibly, he was actuated as much by curiosityas by caution.

And when Taug reached a place in the branches fromwhich he could have an unobstructed view of the clearinghe saw Dango already sniffing at something directlybeneath him-- something which Taug instantly recognizedas the lifeless form of his little Gazan.

With a cry so frightful, so bestial, that it momentarilyparalyzed the startled Dango, the great ape launched hismighty bulk upon the surprised hyena. With a cry and a snarl,Dango, crushed to earth, turned to tear at his assailant;but as effectively might a sparrow turn upon a hawk. Taug's great, gnarled fingers closed upon the hyena'sthroat and back, his jaws snapped once on the mangy neck,crushing the vertebrae, and then he hurled the dead bodycontemptuously aside.

Again he raised his voice in the call of the bull apeto its mate, but there was no reply; then he leaned down tosniff at the body of Gazan. In the breast of this savage,hideous beast there beat a heart which was moved,however slightly, by the same emotions of paternal lovewhich affect us. Even had we no actual evidence of this,we must know it still, since only thus might be explainedthe survival of the human race in which the jealousyand selfishness of the bulls would, in the earlieststages of the race, have wiped out the young as rapidlyas they were brought into the world had not God implantedin the savage bosom that paternal love which evidencesitself most strongly in the protective instinct of the male.

In Taug the protective instinct was not alone highly developed;but affection for his offspring as well, for Taug was anunusually intelligent specimen of these great, manlike apeswhich the natives of the Gobi speak of in whispers;but which no white man ever had seen, or, if seeing,lived to tell of until Tarzan of the Apes came among them.

And so Taug felt sorrow as any other father might feelsorrow at the loss of a little child. To you littleGazan might have seemed a hideous and repulsive creature,but to Taug and Teeka he was as beautiful and as cuteas is your little Mary or Johnnie or Elizabeth Ann to you,and he was their firstborn, their only balu, and a he--threethings which might make a young ape the apple of any fondfather's eye.

For a moment Taug sniffed at the quiet little form. With his muzzle and his tongue he smoothed and caressedthe rumpled coat. From his savage lips broke a low moan;but quickly upon the heels of sorrow came the overmasteringdesire for revenge.

Leaping to his feet he screamed out a volley of "Kreegahs,"punctuated from time to time by the blood-freezingcry of an angry, challenging bull--a rage-mad bullwith the blood lust strong upon him.

Answering his cries came the cries of the tribe as they swungthrough the trees toward him. It was these that Tarzanheard on his return from his cabin, and in reply to them heraised his own voice and hurried forward with increased speeduntil he fairly flew through the middle terraces of the forest.

When at last he came upon the tribe he saw their membersgathered about Taug and something which lay quietly uponthe ground. Dropping among them, Tarzan approachedthe center of the group. Taug was stiff roaringout his challenges; but when he saw Tarzan he ceasedand stooping picked up Gazan in his arms and held himout for Tarzan to see. Of all the bulls of the tribe,Taug held affection for Tarzan only. Tarzan he trustedand looked up to as one wiser and more cunning. To Tarzan he came now--to the playmate of his balu days,the companion of innumerable battles of his maturity.

When Tarzan saw the still form in Taug's arms, a low growlbroke from his lips, for he too loved Teeka's little balu.

"Who did it?" he asked. "Where is Teeka?"

"I do not know," replied Taug. "I found him lying herewith Dango about to feed upon him; but it was not Dangothat did it--there are no fang marks upon him."

Tarzan came closer and placed an ear against Gazan's breast. "He is not dead," he said. "Maybe he will not die."He pressed through the crowd of apes and circled onceabout them, examining the ground step by step. Suddenly hestopped and placing his nose close to the earth sniffed. Then he sprang to his feet, giving a peculiar cry. Taug and the others pressed forward, for the sound told themthat the hunter had found the spoor of his quarry.

"A stranger bull has been here," said Tarzan. "It was hethat hurt Gazan. He has carried off Teeka."

Taug and the other bulls commenced to roar and threaten;but they did nothing. Had the stranger bull been withinsight they would have torn him to pieces; but it did notoccur to them to follow him.

"If the three bulls had been watching around the tribethis would not have happened," said Tarzan. "Such thingswill happen as long as you do not keep the three bullswatching for an enemy. The jungle is full of enemies,and yet you let your shes and your balus feed where they will,alone and unprotected. Tarzan goes now--he goes to findTeeka and bring her back to the tribe."

The idea appealed to the other bulls. "We will all go,"they cried.

"No," said Tarzan, "you will not all go. We cannottake shes and balus when we go out to hunt and fight. You must remain to guard them or you will lose them all."

They scratched their heads. The wisdom of his advicewas dawning upon them, but at first they had been carriedaway by the new idea--the idea of following up an enemyoffender to wrest his prize from him and punish him. The community instinct was ingrained in their charactersthrough ages of custom. They did not know why they had notthought to pursue and punish the offender--they could not knowthat it was because they had as yet not reached a mentalplane which would permit them to work as individuals. In times of stress, the community instinct sent themhuddling into a compact herd where the great bulls,by the weight of their combined strength and ferocity,could best protect them from an enemy. The idea of separatingto do battle with a foe had not yet occurred to them--it wastoo foreign to custom, too inimical to community interests;but to Tarzan it was the first and most natural thought. His senses told him that there was but a single bullconnected with the attack upon Teeka and Gazan. A singleenemy did not require the entire tribe for his punishment. Two swift bulls could quickly overhaul him and rescue Teeka.

In the past no one ever had thought to go forth in searchof the shes that were occasionally stolen from the tribe. If Numa, Sabor, Sheeta or a wandering bull ape from anothertribe chanced to carry off a maid or a matron while noone was looking, that was the end of it--she was gone,that was all. The bereaved husband, if the victim chancedto have been mated, growled around for a day or two and then,if he were strong enough, took another mate within the tribe,and if not, wandered far into the jungle on the chanceof stealing one from another community.

In the past Tarzan of the Apes had condoned thispractice for the reason that he had had no interestin those who had been stolen; but Teeka had beenhis first love and Teeka's balu held a place in hisheart such as a balu of his own would have held. Just once before had Tarzan wished to follow and revenge. That had been years before when Kulonga, the son of Mbonga,the chief, had slain Kala. Then, single-handed, Tarzanhad pursued and avenged. Now, though to a lesser degree,he was moved by the same passion.

He turned toward Taug. "Leave Gazan with Mumga," he said. "She is old and her fangs are broken and she is no good;but she can take care of Gazan until we return with Teeka,and if Gazan is dead when we come back," he turned toaddress Mumga, "I will kill you, too."

"Where are we going?" asked Taug.

"We are going to get Teeka," replied the ape-man, "andkill the bull who has stolen her. Come!"

He turned again to the spoor of the stranger bull,which showed plainly to his trained senses, nor did heglance back to note if Taug followed. The latter laidGazan in Mumga's arms with a parting: "If he dies Tarzanwill kill you," and he followed after the brown-skinnedfigure that already was moving at a slow trot alongthe jungle trail.

No other bull of the tribe of Kerchak was so good atrailer as Tarzan, for his trained senses were aidedby a high order of intelligence. His judgment told himthe natural trail for a quarry to follow, so that heneed but note the most apparent marks upon the way,and today the trail of Toog was as plain to him as typeupon a printed page to you or me.

Following close behind the lithe figure of the ape-man camethe huge and shaggy bull ape. No words passed between them. They moved as silently as two shadows among the myriadshadows of the forest. Alert as his eyes and ears,was Tarzan's patrician nose. The spoor was fresh, and nowthat they had passed from the range of the strong ape odorof the tribe he had little difficulty in following Toogand Teeka by scent alone. Teeka's familiar scent spoortold both Tarzan and Taug that they were upon her trail,and soon the scent of Toog became as familiar as the other.

They were progressing rapidly when suddenly denseclouds overcast the sun. Tarzan accelerated his pace. Now he fairly flew along the jungle trail, or, where Tooghad taken to the trees, followed nimbly as a squirrel alongthe bending, undulating pathway of the foliage branches,swinging from tree to tree as Toog had swung before them;but more rapidly because they were not handicapped by aburden such as Toog's.

Tarzan felt that they must be almost upon the quarry,for the scent spoor was becoming stronger and stronger,when the jungle was suddenly shot by livid lightning,and a deafening roar of thunder reverberated through theheavens and the forest until the earth trembled and shook. Then came the rain--not as it comes to us of thetemperate zones, but as a mighty avalanche of water--adeluge which spills tons instead of drops upon the bendingforest giants and the terrified creatures which haunttheir shade.

And the rain did what Tarzan knew that it would do-- itwiped the spoor of the quarry from the face of the earth. For a half hour the torrents fell--then the sun burst forth,jeweling the forest with a million scintillant gems;but today the ape-man, usually alert to the changing wondersof the jungle, saw them not. Only the fact that the spoorof Teeka and her abductor was obliterated found lodgmentin his thoughts.

Even among the branches of the trees there are well-worn trails,just as there are trails upon the surface of the ground;but in the trees they branch and cross more often,since the way is more open than among the dense undergrowthat the surface. Along one of these well-marked trailsTarzan and Taug continued after the rain had ceased,because the ape-man knew that this was the most logicalpath for the thief to follow; but when they came to a fork,they were at a loss. Here they halted, while Tarzanexamined every branch and leaf which might have beentouched by the fleeing ape.

He sniffed the bole of the tree, and with his keen eyeshe sought to find upon the bark some sign of the waythe quarry had taken. It was slow work and all the time,Tarzan knew, the bull of the alien tribe was forgingsteadily away from them--gaining precious minutes that mightcarry him to safety before they could catch up with him.

First along one fork he went, and then another, applying everytest that his wonderful junglecraft was cognizant of;but again and again he was baffled, for the scent had beenwashed away by the heavy downpour, in every exposed place. For a half hour Tarzan and Taug searched, until at last,upon the bottom of a broad leaf, Tarzan's keen nose caughtthe faint trace of the scent spoor of Toog, where the leafhad brushed a hairy shoulder as the great ape passedthrough the foliage.

Once again the two took up the trail, but it was slowwork now and there were many discouraging delays whenthe spoor seemed lost beyond recovery. To you or methere would have been no spoor, even before the comingof the rain, except, possibly, where Toog had cometo earth and followed a game trail. In such placesthe imprint of a huge handlike foot and the knucklesof one great hand were sometimes plain enough for anordinary mortal to read. Tarzan knew from these andother indications that the ape was yet carrying Teeka. The depth of the imprint of his feet indicated a much greaterweight than that of any of the larger bulls, for theywere made under the combined weight of Toog and Teeka,while the fact that the knuckles of but one hand touchedthe ground at any time showed that the other hand wasoccupied in some other business--the business of holdingthe prisoner to a hairy shoulder. Tarzan could follow,in sheltered places, the changing of the burden from oneshoulder to another, as indicated by the deepening of thefoot imprint upon the side of the load, and the changingof the knuckle imprints from one side of the trail to the other.

There were stretches along the surface paths where the ape hadgone for considerable distances entirely erect upon his hindfeet--walking as a man walks; but the same might have beentrue of any of the great anthropoids of the same species,for, unlike the chimpanzee and the gorilla, they walkwithout the aid of their hands quite as readily as with. It was such things, however, which helped to identifyto Tarzan and to Taug the appearance of the abductor,and with his individual scent characteristic alreadyindelibly impressed upon their memories, they were in afar better position to know him when they came upon him,even should he have disposed of Teeka before, than is a modernsleuth with his photographs and Bertillon measurements,equipped to recognize a fugitive from civilized justice.

But with all their high-strung and delicately attunedperceptive faculties the two bulls of the tribe of Kerchakwere often sore pressed to follow the trail at all,and at best were so delayed that in the afternoon of thesecond day, they still had not overhauled the fugitive. The scent was now strong, for it had been made since the rain,and Tarzan knew that it would not be long before theycame upon the thief and his loot. Above them, as theycrept stealthily forward, chattered Manu, the monkey,and his thousand fellows; squawked and screamed thebrazen-throated birds of plumage; buzzed and hummed thecountless insects amid the rustling of the forest leaves,and, as they passed, a little gray-beard, squeaking andscolding upon a swaying branch, looked down and saw them. Instantly the scolding and squeaking ceased, and offtore the long-tailed mite as though Sheeta, the panther,had been endowed with wings and was in close pursuit of him. To all appearances he was only a very much frightenedlittle monkey, fleeing for his life--there seemed nothingsinister about him.

And what of Teeka during all this time? Was she at lastresigned to her fate and accompanying her new matein the proper humility of a loving and tractable spouse?A single glance at the pair would have answered thesequestions to the utter satisfaction of the most captious. She was torn and bleeding from many wounds, inflicted by thesullen Toog in his vain efforts to subdue her to his will,and Toog too was disfigured and mutilated; but withstubborn ferocity, he still clung to his now useless prize.

On through the jungle he forced his way in the directionof the stamping ground of his tribe. He hoped that hisking would have forgotten his treason; but if not hewas still resigned to his fate--any fate would be betterthan suffering longer the sole companionship of thisfrightful she, and then, too, he wished to exhibithis captive to his fellows. Maybe he could wish heron the king--it is possible that such a thought urged him on.

At last they came upon two bulls feeding in a parklikegrove--a beautiful grove dotted with huge boulders halfembedded in the rich loam--mute monuments, possibly, to aforgotten age when mighty glaciers rolled their slow coursewhere now a torrid sun beats down upon a tropic jungle.

The two bulls looked up, baring long fighting fangs,as Toog appeared in the distance. The latter recognizedthe two as friends. "It is Toog," he growled. "Toog hascome back with a new she."

The apes waited his nearer approach. Teeka turned a snarling,fanged face toward them. She was not pretty to look upon,yet through the blood and hatred upon her countenancethey realized that she was beautiful, and they enviedToog--alas! they did not know Teeka.

As they squatted looking at one another there raced throughthe trees toward them a long-tailed little monkey withgray whiskers. He was a very excited little monkey when hecame to a halt upon the limb of a tree directly overhead. "Two strange bulls come," he cried. One is a Mangani,the other a hideous ape without hair upon his body. They follow the spoor of Toog. I saw them."

The four apes turned their eyes backward along the trailToog had just come; then they looked at one another fora minute. "Come," said the larger of Toog's two friends,"we will wait for the strangers in the thick bushes beyondthe clearing."

He turned and waddled away across the open place,the others following him. The little monkey danced about,all excitement. His chief diversion in life was to bringabout bloody encounters between the larger denizens ofthe forest, that he might sit in the safety of the treesand witness the spectacles. He was a glutton for gore,was this little, whiskered, gray monkey, so long as it wasthe gore of others-- a typical fight fan was the graybeard.

The apes hid themselves in the shrubbery beside thetrail along which the two stranger bulls would pass. Teeka trembled with excitement. She had heard the wordsof Manu, and she knew that the hairless ape must be Tarzan,while the other was, doubtless, Taug. Never, in herwildest hopes, had she expected succor of this sort. Her one thought had been to escape and find her way backto the tribe of Kerchak; but even this had appeared to herpractically impossible, so closely did Toog watch her.

As Taug and Tarzan reached the grove where Toog had comeupon his friends, the ape scent became so strong thatboth knew the quarry was but a short distance ahead. And so they went even more cautiously, for they wishedto come upon the thief from behind if they couldand charge him before he was aware of their presence. That a little gray-whiskered monkey had forestalled themthey did not know, nor that three pairs of savage eyeswere already watching their every move and waiting for themto come within reach of itching paws and slavering jowls.

On they came across the grove, and as they enteredthe path leading into the dense jungle beyond, a sudden"Kreeg-ah!" shrilled out close before them--a "Kreeg-ah"in the familiar voice of Teeka. The small brainsof Toog and his companions had not been able to foreseethat Teeka might betray them, and now that she had,they went wild with rage. Toog struck the she a mightyblow that felled her, and then the three rushed forthto do battle with Tarzan and Taug. The little monkeydanced upon his perch and screamed with delight.

And indeed he might well be delighted, for it was alovely fight. There were no preliminaries, no formalities,no introductions-- the five bulls merely charged and clinched. They rolled in the narrow trail and into the thickverdure beside it. They bit and clawed and scratchedand struck, and all the while they kept up the mostfrightful chorus of growlings and barkings and roarings. In five minutes they were torn and bleeding, and the littlegraybeard leaped high, shrilling his primitive bravos;but always his attitude was "thumbs down." He wantedto see something killed. He did not care whether itwere friend or foe. It was blood he wanted--blood and death.

Taug had been set upon by Toog and another of the apes,while Tarzan had the third--a huge brute with the strengthof a buffalo. Never before had Tarzan's assailant beheldso strange a creature as this slippery, hairless bull withwhich he battled. Sweat and blood covered Tarzan's sleek,brown hide. Again and again he slipped from the clutchesof the great bull, and all the while he struggled to freehis hunting knife from the scabbard in which it had stuck.

At length he succeeded--a brown hand shot out and clutcheda hairy throat, another flew upward clutching the sharp blade. Three swift, powerful strokes and the bull relaxedwith a groan, falling limp beneath his antagonist. Instantly Tarzan broke from the clutches of the dying bulland sprang to Taug's assistance. Toog saw him comingand wheeled to meet him. In the impact of the charge,Tarzan's knife was wrenched from his hand and then Toogclosed with him. Now was the battle even--two againsttwo--while on the verge, Teeka, now recovered from the blowthat had felled her, slunk waiting for an opportunityto aid. She saw Tarzan's knife and picked it up. She never had used it, but knew how Tarzan used it. Always had she been afraid of the thing which dealt deathto the mightiest of the jungle people with the ease thatTantor's great tusks deal death to Tantor's enemies.

She saw Tarzan's pocket pouch torn from his side,and with the curiosity of an ape, that even danger andexcitement cannot entirely dispel, she picked this up, too.

Now the bulls were standing--the clinches had been broken. Blood streamed down their sides--their faces were crimsonedwith it. Little graybeard was so fascinated that at lasthe had even forgotten to scream and dance; but sat rigidwith delight in the enjoyment of the spectacle.

Back across the grove Tarzan and Taug forced their adversaries. Teeka followed slowly. She scarce knew what to do. She was lame and sore and exhausted from the frightfulordeal through which she had passed, and she hadthe confidence of her sex in the prowess of her mateand the other bull of her tribe--they would not needthe help of a she in their battle with these two strangers.

The roars and screams of the fighters reverberated throughthe jungle, awakening the echoes in the distant hills. From the throat of Tarzan's antagonist had come a scoreof "Kreeg-ahs!" and now from behind came the reply hehad awaited. Into the grove, barking and growling,came a score of huge bull apes--the fighting men ofToog's tribe.

Teeka saw them first and screamed a warning to Tarzan and Taug. Then she fled past the fighters toward the oppositeside of the clearing, fear for a moment claiming her. Nor can one censure her after the frightful ordeal fromwhich she was still suffering.

Down upon them came the great apes. In a moment Tarzanand Taug would be torn to shreds that would later formthe PIECE DE RESISTANCE of the savage orgy of a Dum-Dum.Teeka turned to glance back. She saw the impendingfate of her defenders and there sprung to life in hersavage bosom the spark of martyrdom, that some commonforbear had transmitted alike to Teeka, the wild ape,and the glorious women of a higher order who have inviteddeath for their men. With a shrill scream she ran towardthe battlers who were rolling in a great mass at the footof one of the huge boulders which dotted the grove;but what could she do? The knife she held she couldnot use to advantage because of her lesser strength. She had seen Tarzan throw missiles, and she had learnedthis with many other things from her childhood playmate. She sought for something to throw and at last her fingerstouched upon the hard objects in the pouch that had beentorn from the ape-man. Tearing the receptacle open,she gathered a handful of shiny cylinders--heavy fortheir size, they seemed to her, and good missiles. With all her strength she hurled them at the apes battlingin front of the granite boulder.

The result surprised Teeka quite as much as it did the apes. There was a loud explosion, which deafened the fighters,and a puff of acrid smoke. Never before had one thereheard such a frightful noise. Screaming with terror,the stranger bulls leaped to their feet and fled backtoward the stamping ground of their tribe, while Taugand Tarzan slowly gathered themselves together and arose,lame and bleeding, to their feet. They, too, would havefled had they not seen Teeka standing there before them,the knife and the pocket pouch in her hands.

"What was it?" asked Tarzan.

Teeka shook her head. "I hurled these at the stranger bulls,"and she held forth another handful of the shiny metalcylinders with the dull gray, cone-shaped ends.

Tarzan looked at them and scratched his head.

"What are they?" asked Taug.

"I do not know," said Tarzan. "I found them."

The little monkey with the gray beard halted among the treesa mile away and huddled, terrified, against a branch. He did not know that the dead father of Tarzan of the Apes,reaching back out of the past across a span of twenty years,had saved his son's life.

Nor did Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, know it either.