Korak, returning from the hunt, heard the jabbering of theexcited monkeys. He knew that something was seriously amiss. Histah, the snake, had doubtless coiled his slimy folds aboutsome careless Manu. The youth hastened ahead. The monkeyswere Meriem's friends. He would help them if he could.He traveled rapidly along the middle terrace. In the treeby Meriem's shelter he deposited his trophies of the hunt andcalled aloud to her. There was no answer. He dropped quicklyto a lower level. She might be hiding from him.

Upon a great branch where Meriem often swung at indolentease he saw Geeka propped against the tree's great bole. What could it mean? Meriem had never left Geeka thus alone before.Korak picked up the doll and tucked it in his belt. He calledagain, more loudly; but no Meriem answered his summons. In thedistance the jabbering of the excited Manus was growingless distinct.

Could their excitement be in any way connected withMeriem's disappearance? The bare thought was enough. Without waiting for Akut who was coming slowly along somedistance in his rear, Korak swung rapidly in the directionof the chattering mob. But a few minutes sufficed to overtakethe rearmost. At sight of him they fell to screaming andpointing downward ahead of them, and a moment later Korakcame within sight of the cause of their rage.

The youth's heart stood still in terror as he saw the limp bodyof the girl across the hairy shoulders of a great ape. That shewas dead he did not doubt, and in that instant there arose withinhim a something which he did not try to interpret nor could havehade he tried; but all at once the whole world seemed centeredin that tender, graceful body, that frail little body, hanging sopitifully limp and helpless across the bulging shoulders of the brute.

He knew then that little Meriem was his world--his sun, hismoon, his stars--with her going had gone all light and warmthand happiness. A groan escaped his lips, and after that a seriesof hideous roars, more bestial than the beasts', as he droppedplummet-like in mad descent toward the perpetrator of this hideous crime.

The bull ape turned at the first note of this new and menacingvoice, and as he turned a new flame was added to the rage andhatred of The Killer, for he saw that the creature before him wasnone other than the king ape which had driven him away from thegreat anthropoids to whom he had looked for friendship and asylum.

Dropping the body of the girl to the ground the bull turned tobattle anew for possession of his expensive prize; but this timehe looked for an easy conquest. He too recognized Korak. Had henot chased him away from the amphitheater without even havingto lay a fang or paw upon him? With lowered head and bulgingshoulders he rushed headlong for the smooth-skinned creaturewho was daring to question his right to his prey.

They met head on like two charging bulls, to go down togethertearing and striking. Korak forgot his knife. Rage and bloodlustsuch as his could be satisfied only by the feel of hot fleshbetween rending fangs, by the gush of new life blood against hisbare skin, for, though he did not realize it, Korak, The Killer,was fighting for something more compelling than hate or revenge--he was a great male fighting another male for a she of his own kind.

So impetuous was the attack of the man-ape that he found hishold before the anthropoid could prevent him--a savage hold,with strong jaws closed upon a pulsing jugular, and there heclung, with closed eyes, while his fingers sought another holdupon the shaggy throat.

It was then that Meriem opened her eyes. At the sight beforeher they went wide.

"Korak!" she cried. "Korak! My Korak! I knew that youwould come. Kill him, Korak! Kill him!" And with flashingeyes and heaving bosom the girl, coming to her feet, ran toKorak's side to encourage him. Nearby lay The Killer's spear,where he had flung it as he charged the ape. The girl saw it andsnatched it up. No faintness overcame her in the face of thisbattle primeval at her feet. For her there was no hystericalreaction from the nerve strain of her own personal encounter withthe bull. She was excited; but cool and entirely unafraid. Her Korak was battling with another Mangani that would have stolenher; but she did not seek the safety of an overhanging boughthere to watch the battle from afar, as would a she Mangani.Instead she placed the point of Korak's spear against the bullape's side and plunged the sharp point deep into the savage heart. Korak had not needed her aid, for the great bull had been alreadyas good as dead, with the blood gushing from his torn jugular;but Korak rose smiling with a word of approbation for his helper.

How tall and fine she was! Had she changed suddenly withinthe few hours of his absence, or had his battle with the apeaffected his vision? He might have been looking at Meriemthrough new eyes for the many startling and wonderful surpriseshis gaze revealed. How long it had been since he had found herin her father's village, a little Arab girl, he did not know, fortime is of no import in the jungle and so he had kept no trackof the passing days. But he realized, as he looked upon her now,that she was no longer such a little girl as he had first seenplaying with Geeka beneath the great tree just within the palisade. The change must have been very gradual to have eluded his noticeuntil now. And what was it that had caused him to realize itso suddenly? His gaze wandered from the girl to the body ofthe dead bull. For the first time there flashed to hisunderstanding the explanation of the reason for the girl'sattempted abduction. Korak's eyes went wide and then they closedto narrow slits of rage as he stood glaring down upon the abysmalbrute at his feet. When next his glance rose to Meriem's facea slow flush suffused his own. Now, indeed, was he lookingupon her through new eyes--the eyes of a man looking upon a maid.

Akut had come up just as Meriem had speared Korak's antagonist. The exultation of the old ape was keen. He strutted, stiff-leggedand truculent about the body of the fallen enemy. He growledand upcurved his long, flexible lip. His hair bristled.He was paying no attention to Meriem and Korak. Back in theuttermost recesses of his little brain something was stirring--something which the sight and smell of the great bull had aroused. The outward manifestation of the germinating idea was one ofbestial rage; but the inner sensations were pleasurable inthe extreme. The scent of the great bull and the sight of his hugeand hairy figure had wakened in the heart of Akut a longing forthe companionship of his own kind. So Korak was not aloneundergoing a change.

And Meriem? She was a woman. It is woman's divine rightto love. Always she had loved Korak. He was her big brother.Meriem alone underwent no change. She was still happy in thecompanionship of her Korak. She still loved him--as a sisterloves an indulgent brother--and she was very, very proud of him. In all the jungle there was no other creature so strong, sohandsome, or so brave.

Korak came close to her. There was a new light in his eyesas she looked up into them; but she did not understand it. She did not realize how close they were to maturity, nor aught ofall the difference in their lives the look in Korak's eyes might mean.

"Meriem," he whispered and his voice was husky as he laida brown hand upon her bare shoulder. "Meriem!" Suddenly hecrushed her to him. She looked up into his face, laughing,and then he bent and kissed her full upon the mouth. Even thenshe did not understand. She did not recall ever having beenkissed before. It was very nice. Meriem liked it. She thoughtit was Korak's way of showing how glad he was that the great apehad not succeeded in running away with her. She was glad too,so she put her arms about The Killer's neck and kissed him againand again. Then, discovering the doll in his belt she transferredit to her own possession, kissing it as she had kissed Korak.

Korak wanted her to say something. He wanted to tell her howhe loved her; but the emotion of his love choked him and thevocabulary of the Mangani was limited.

There came a sudden interruption. It was from Akut--a sudden,low growl, no louder than those he had been giving vent to thewhile he pranced about the dead bull, nor half so loud in fact;but of a timbre that bore straight to the perceptive facultiesof the jungle beast ingrained in Korak. It was a warning. Koraklooked quickly up from the glorious vision of the sweet face soclose to his. Now his other faculties awoke. His ears, his nostrilswere on the alert. Something was coming!

The Killer moved to Akut's side. Meriem was just behind them. The three stood like carved statues gazing into the leafytangle of the jungle. The noise that had attracted their attentionincreased, and presently a great ape broke through the underbrusha few paces from where they stood. The beast halted at sightof them. He gave a warning grunt back over his shoulder,and a moment later coming cautiously another bull appeared.He was followed by others--both bulls and females with young,until two score hairy monsters stood glaring at the three. It wasthe tribe of the dead king ape. Akut was the first to speak. He pointed to the body of the dead bull.

"Korak, mighty fighter, has killed your king," he grunted."There is none greater in all the jungle than Korak, son of Tarzan.Now Korak is king. What bull is greater than Korak?" It was achallenge to any bull who might care to question Korak's right tothe kingship. The apes jabbered and chattered and growled amongthemselves for a time. At last a young bull came slowly forwardrocking upon his short legs, bristling, growling, terrible.

The beast was enormous, and in the full prime of his strength.He belonged to that almost extinct species for which white menhave long sought upon the information of the natives of the moreinaccessible jungles. Even the natives seldom see these great,hairy, primordial men.

Korak advanced to meet the monster. He, too, was growling.In his mind a plan was revolving. To close with this powerful,untired brute after having just passed through a terrific battlewith another of his kind would have been to tempt defeat. He mustfind an easier way to victory. Crouching, he prepared to meetthe charge which he knew would soon come, nor did he have longto wait. His antagonist paused only for sufficient time topermit him to recount for the edification of the audience and theconfounding of Korak a brief resume of his former victories, ofhis prowess, and of what he was about to do to this puny Tarmangani. Then he charged.

With clutching fingers and wide opened jaws he came downupon the waiting Korak with the speed of an express train. Korak did not move until the great arms swung to embrace him,then he dropped low beneath them, swung a terrific right to theside of the beast's jaw as he side-stepped his rushing body, andswinging quickly about stood ready over the fallen ape wherehe sprawled upon the ground.

It was a surprised anthropoid that attempted to scramble toits feet. Froth flecked its hideous lips. Red were the little eyes.Blood curdling roars tumbled from the deep chest. But it didnot reach its feet. The Killer stood waiting above it, and themoment that the hairy chin came upon the proper level anotherblow that would have felled an ox sent the ape over backward.

Again and again the beast struggled to arise, but each timethe mighty Tarmangani stood waiting with ready fist and piledriver blow to bowl him over. Weaker and weaker became theefforts of the bull. Blood smeared his face and breast. A redstream trickled from nose and mouth. The crowd that had cheeredhim on at first with savage yells, now jeered him--theirapprobation was for the Tarmangani.

"Kagoda?" inquired Korak, as he sent the bull down once more.

Again the stubborn bull essayed to scramble to his feet. Again The Killer struck him a terrific blow. Again he putthe question, kagoda--have you had enough?

For a moment the bull lay motionless. Then from betweenbattered lips came the single word: "Kagoda!"

"Then rise and go back among your people," said Korak. "I do not wish to be king among people who once drove mefrom them. Keep your own ways, and we will keep ours. When we meet we may be friends, but we shall not live together."

An old bull came slowly toward The Killer.

"You have killed our king," he said. "You have defeated himwho would have been king. You could have killed him hadyou wished. What shall we do for a king?"

Korak turned toward Akut.

"There is your king," he said. But Akut did not want to beseparated from Korak, although he was anxious enough to remainwith his own kind. He wanted Korak to remain, too. He said as much.

The youth was thinking of Meriem--of what would be best andsafest for her. If Akut went away with the apes there wouldbe but one to watch over and protect her. On the other handwere they to join the tribe he would never feel safe to leaveMeriem behind when he went out to hunt, for the passions ofthe ape-folk are not ever well controlled. Even a female mightdevelop an insane hatred for the slender white girl and kill herduring Korak's absence.

"We will live near you," he said, at last. "When you changeyour hunting ground we will change ours, Meriem and I, andso remain near you; but we shall not dwell among you."

Akut raised objections to this plan. He did not wish to beseparated from Korak. At first he refused to leave his humanfriend for the companionship of his own kind; but when he sawthe last of the tribe wandering off into the jungle again and hisglance rested upon the lithe figure of the dead king's young mateas she cast admiring glances at her lord's successor the call ofblood would not be denied. With a farewell glance toward hisbeloved Korak he turned and followed the she ape into thelabyrinthine mazes of the wood.

After Korak had left the village of the blacks following hislast thieving expedition, the screams of his victim and those ofthe other women and children had brought the warriors in fromthe forest and the river. Great was the excitement and hotwas the rage of the men when they learned that the white devilhad again entered their homes, frightened their women andstolen arrows and ornaments and food.

Even their superstitious fear of this weird creature who huntedwith a huge bull ape was overcome in their desire to wreakvengeance upon him and rid themselves for good and all of themenace of his presence in the jungle.

And so it was that a score of the fleetest and most doughtywarriors of the tribe set out in pursuit of Korak and Akut buta few minutes after they had left the scene of The Killer'smany depredations.

The youth and the ape had traveled slowly and with no precautionsagainst a successful pursuit. Nor was their attitude ofcareless indifference to the blacks at all remarkable. So manysimilar raids had gone unpunished that the two had come to lookupon the Negroes with contempt. The return journey led themstraight up wind. The result being that the scent of their pursuerswas borne away from them, so they proceeded upon their wayin total ignorance of the fact that tireless trackers butlittle less expert in the mysteries of woodcraft than themselveswere dogging their trail with savage insistence.

The little party of warriors was led by Kovudoo, the chief; amiddle-aged savage of exceptional cunning and bravery. It washe who first came within sight of the quarry which they hadfollowed for hours by the mysterious methods of their almostuncanny powers of observation, intuition, and even scent.

Kovudoo and his men came upon Korak, Akut and Meriem afterthe killing of the king ape, the noise of the combat havingled them at last straight to their quarry. The sight of theslender white girl had amazed the savage chief and held himgazing at the trio for a moment before ordering his warriors torush out upon their prey. In that moment it was that the greatapes came and again the blacks remained awestruck witnesses tothe palaver, and the battle between Korak and the young bull.

But now the apes had gone, and the white youth and the whitemaid stood alone in the jungle. One of Kovudoo's men leanedclose to the ear of his chief. "Look!" he whispered, and pointedto something that dangled at the girl's side. "When my brotherand I were slaves in the village of The Sheik my brother madethat thing for The Sheik's little daughter--she played with italways and called it after my brother, whose name is Geeka.Just before we escaped some one came and struck down TheSheik, stealing his daughter away. If this is she The Sheikwill pay you well for her return."

Korak's arm had again gone around the shoulders of Meriem.Love raced hot through his young veins. Civilization was buta half-remembered state--London as remote as ancient Rome. In all the world there were but they two--Korak, The Killer, andMeriem, his mate. Again he drew her close to him and coveredher willing lips with his hot kisses. And then from behind himbroke a hideous bedlam of savage war cries and a score ofshrieking blacks were upon them.

Korak turned to give battle. Meriem with her own light spearstood by his side. An avalanche of barbed missiles flewabout them. One pierced Korak's shoulder, another his leg,and he went down.

Meriem was unscathed for the blacks had intentionally spared her. Now they rushed forward to finish Korak and made good the girl'scapture; but as they came there came also from another point inthe jungle the great Akut and at his heels the huge bulls of hisnew kingdom.

Snarling and roaring they rushed upon the black warriors whenthey saw the mischief they had already wrought. Kovudoo, realizingthe danger of coming to close quarters with these mightyape-men, seized Meriem and called upon his warriors to retreat.For a time the apes followed them, and several of the blackswere badly mauled and one killed before they succeeded in escaping. Nor would they have gotten off thus easily had Akut notbeen more concerned with the condition of the wounded Korakthan with the fate of the girl upon whom he had always lookedas more or less of an interloper and an unquestioned burden.

Korak lay bleeding and unconscious when Akut reached his side. The great ape tore the heavy spears from his flesh, lickedthe wounds and then carried his friend to the lofty shelter thatKorak had constructed for Meriem. Further than this the brutecould do nothing. Nature must accomplish the rest unaided orKorak must die.

He did not die, however. For days he lay helpless with fever,while Akut and the apes hunted close by that they might protecthim from such birds and beasts as might reach his lofty retreat.Occasionally Akut brought him juicy fruits which helped to slakehis thirst and allay his fever, and little by little his powerfulconstitution overcame the effects of the spear thrusts. The woundshealed and his strength returned. All during his rationalmoments as he had lain upon the soft furs which lined Meriem'snest he had suffered more acutely from fears for Meriem thanfrom the pain of his own wounds. For her he must live. For herhe must regain his strength that he might set out in search of her. What had the blacks done to her? Did she still live, or hadthey sacrificed her to their lust for torture and human flesh?Korak almost trembled with terror as the most hideous possibilitiesof the girl's fate suggested themselves to him out of hisknowledge of the customs of Kovudoo's tribe.

The days dragged their weary lengths along, but at last he hadsufficiently regained his strength to crawl from the shelter andmake his way unaided to the ground. Now he lived more uponraw meat, for which he was entirely dependent on Akut's skilland generosity. With the meat diet his strength returned morerapidly, and at last he felt that he was fit to undertake thejourney to the village of the blacks.