Sometimes lolling upon Tantor's back, sometimes roaming thejungle in solitude, Korak made his way slowly toward the Westand South. He made but a few miles a day, for he had a wholelifetime before him and no place in particular to go. Possibly hewould have moved more rapidly but for the thought which continuallyhaunted him that each mile he traversed carried him further andfurther away from Meriem--no longer his Meriem, as of yore, itis true! but still as dear to him as ever.

Thus he came upon the trail of The Sheik's band as it traveleddown river from the point where The Sheik had captured Meriemto his own stockaded village. Korak pretty well knew who it wasthat had passed, for there were few in the great jungle with whomhe was not familiar, though it had been years since he had comethis far north. He had no particular business, however, with theold Sheik and so he did not propose following him--the furtherfrom men he could stay the better pleased he would be--he wishedthat he might never see a human face again. Men always broughthim sorrow and misery.

The river suggested fishing and so he waddled upon its shores,catching fish after a fashion of his own devising and eatingthem raw. When night came he curled up in a great tree besidethe stream--the one from which he had been fishing during theafternoon--and was soon asleep. Numa, roaring beneath him,awoke him. He was about to call out in anger to his noisyneighbor when something else caught his attention. He listened. Was there something in the tree beside himself? Yes, he heardthe noise of something below him trying to clamber upward. Presently he heard the click of a crocodile's jaws in the watersbeneath, and then, low but distinct: "By George! The beggar nearlygot me." The voice was familiar.

Korak glanced downward toward the speaker. Outlined againstthe faint luminosity of the water he saw the figure of a manclinging to a lower branch of the tree. Silently and swiftly theape-man clambered downward. He felt a hand beneath his foot.He reached down and clutched the figure beneath him and draggedit up among the branches. It struggled weakly and struckat him; but Korak paid no more attention than Tantor to an ant.He lugged his burden to the higher safety and greater comfortof a broad crotch, and there he propped it in a sitting positionagainst the bole of the tree. Numa still was roaring beneaththem, doubtless in anger that he had been robbed of his prey.Korak shouted down at him, calling him, in the language of thegreat apes, "Old green-eyed eater of carrion," "Brother of Dango,"the hyena, and other choice appellations of jungle opprobrium.

The Hon. Morison Baynes, listening, felt assured that a gorillahad seized upon him. He felt for his revolver, and as he wasdrawing it stealthily from its holster a voice asked in perfectlygood English, "Who are you?"

Baynes started so that he nearly fell from the branch.

"My God!" he exclaimed. "Are you a man?"

"What did you think I was?" asked Korak.

"A gorilla," replied Baynes, honestly.

Korak laughed.

"Who are you?" he repeated.

"I'm an Englishman by the name of Baynes; but who the devilare you?" asked the Hon. Morison.

"They call me The Killer," replied Korak, giving the Englishtranslation of the name that Akut had given him. And then aftera pause during which the Hon. Morison attempted to pierce thedarkness and catch a glimpse of the features of the strange beinginto whose hands he had fallen, "You are the same whom I sawkissing the girl at the edge of the great plain to the East,that time that the lion charged you?"

"Yes," replied Baynes.

"What are you doing here?"

"The girl was stolen--I am trying to rescue her."

"Stolen!" The word was shot out like a bullet from a gun."Who stole her?"

"The Swede trader, Hanson," replied Baynes.

"Where is he?"

Baynes related to Korak all that had transpired since he hadcome upon Hanson's camp. Before he was done the first graydawn had relieved the darkness. Korak made the Englishmancomfortable in the tree. He filled his canteen from the riverand fetched him fruits to eat. Then he bid him good-bye.

"I am going to the Swede's camp," he announced. "I willbring the girl back to you here."

"I shall go, too, then," insisted Baynes. "It is my right andmy duty, for she was to have become my wife."

Korak winced. "You are wounded. You could not make the trip,"he said. "I can go much faster alone."

"Go, then," replied Baynes; "but I shall follow. It is myright and duty."

"As you will," replied Korak, with a shrug. If the man wantedto be killed it was none of his affair. He wanted to kill himhimself, but for Meriem's sake he would not. If she loved himthen he must do what he could to preserve him, but he couldnot prevent his following him, more than to advise him againstit, and this he did, earnestly.

And so Korak set out rapidly toward the North, and limpingslowly and painfully along, soon far to the rear, came the tiredand wounded Baynes. Korak had reached the river bank oppositeMalbihn's camp before Baynes had covered two miles. Late in theafternoon the Englishman was still plodding wearily along,forced to stop often for rest when he heard the sound of thegalloping feet of a horse behind him. Instinctively he drew intothe concealing foliage of the underbrush and a moment later awhite-robed Arab dashed by. Baynes did not hail the rider. He had heard of the nature of the Arabs who penetrate thus farto the South, and what he had heard had convinced him that asnake or a panther would as quickly befriend him as one of thesevillainous renegades from the Northland.

When Abdul Kamak had passed out of sight toward the North Baynesresumed his weary march. A half hour later he was again surprisedby the unmistakable sound of galloping horses. This time therewere many. Once more he sought a hiding place; but it chancedthat he was crossing a clearing which offered little opportunityfor concealment. He broke into a slow trot--the best that hecould do in his weakened condition; but it did not suffice tocarry him to safety and before he reached the opposite side ofthe clearing a band of white-robed horsemen dashed into viewbehind him.

At sight of him they shouted in Arabic, which, of course, hecould not understand, and then they closed about him, threateningand angry. Their questions were unintelligible to him, andno more could they interpret his English. At last, evidently outof patience, the leader ordered two of his men to seize him,which they lost no time in doing. They disarmed him and orderedhim to climb to the rump of one of the horses, and then the twowho had been detailed to guard him turned and rode back towardthe South, while the others continued their pursuit of Abdul Kamak.

As Korak came out upon the bank of the river across fromwhich he could see the camp of Malbihn he was at a loss as tohow he was to cross. He could see men moving about among thehuts inside the boma--evidently Hanson was still there. Korak did not know the true identity of Meriem's abductor.

How was he to cross. Not even he would dare the perils ofthe river--almost certain death. For a moment he thought, thenwheeled and sped away into the jungle, uttering a peculiar cry,shrill and piercing. Now and again he would halt to listen asthough for an answer to his weird call, then on again, deeperand deeper into the wood.

At last his listening ears were rewarded by the sound theycraved--the trumpeting of a bull elephant, and a few momentslater Korak broke through the trees into the presence of Tantor,standing with upraised trunk, waving his great ears.

"Quick, Tantor!" shouted the ape-man, and the beast swunghim to his head. "Hurry!" and the mighty pachyderm lumberedoff through the jungle, guided by kicking of naked heels againstthe sides of his head.

Toward the northwest Korak guided his huge mount, until theycame out upon the river a mile or more above the Swede's camp,at a point where Korak knew that there was an elephant ford. Never pausing the ape-man urged the beast into the river, and withtrunk held high Tantor forged steadily toward the opposite bank. Once an unwary crocodile attacked him but the sinuous trunk dovebeneath the surface and grasping the amphibian about the middledragged it to light and hurled it a hundred feet down stream. And so, in safety, they made the opposite shore, Korak perchedhigh and dry above the turgid flood.

Then back toward the South Tantor moved, steadily, relentlessly,and with a swinging gait which took no heed of any obstacle otherthan the larger jungle trees. At times Korak was forced toabandon the broad head and take to the trees above, so closethe branches raked the back of the elephant; but at last theycame to the edge of the clearing where lay the camp of therenegade Swede, nor even then did they hesitate or halt. The gate lay upon the east side of the camp, facing the river. Tantor and Korak approached from the north. There was no gatethere; but what cared Tantor or Korak for gates.

At a word from the ape man and raising his tender trunk highabove the thorns Tantor breasted the boma, walking through itas though it had not existed. A dozen blacks squatted beforetheir huts looked up at the noise of his approach. With suddenhowls of terror and amazement they leaped to their feet and fledfor the open gates. Tantor would have pursued. He hated man,and he thought that Korak had come to hunt these; but the apeman held him back, guiding him toward a large, canvas tent thatrose in the center of the clearing--there should be the girl andher abductor.

Malbihn lay in a hammock beneath canopy before his tent.His wounds were painful and he had lost much blood. He wasvery weak. He looked up in surprise as he heard the screams ofhis men and saw them running toward the gate. And then fromaround the corner of his tent loomed a huge bulk, and Tantor,the great tusker, towered above him. Malbihn's boy, feelingneither affection nor loyalty for his master, broke and ran at thefirst glimpse of the beast, and Malbihn was left alone and helpless.

The elephant stopped a couple of paces from the woundedman's hammock. Malbihn cowered, moaning. He was too weakto escape. He could only lie there with staring eyes gazing inhorror into the blood rimmed, angry little orbs fixed upon him,and await his death.

Then, to his astonishment, a man slid to the ground from theelephant's back. Almost at once Malbihn recognized the strangefigure as that of the creature who consorted with apes andbaboons--the white warrior of the jungle who had freed the kingbaboon and led the whole angry horde of hairy devils upon himand Jenssen. Malbihn cowered still lower.

"Where is the girl?" demanded Korak, in English.

"What girl?" asked Malbihn. "There is no girl here--onlythe women of my boys. Is it one of them you want?"

"The white girl," replied Korak. "Do not lie to me--youlured her from her friends. You have her. Where is she?"

"It was not I," cried Malbihn. "It was an Englishman who hiredme to steal her. He wished to take her to London with him. She was willing to go. His name is Baynes. Go to him, if youwant to know where the girl is."

"I have just come from him," said Korak. "He sent me to you. The girl is not with him. Now stop your lying and tell methe truth. Where is she?" Korak took a threatening step towardthe Swede.

Malbihn shrank from the anger in the other's face.

"I will tell you," he cried. "Do not harm me and I will tellyou all that I know. I had the girl here; but it was Baynes whopersuaded her to leave her friends--he had promised to marry her. He does not know who she is; but I do, and I know that there isa great reward for whoever takes her back to her people. It wasthe only reward I wanted. But she escaped and crossed the riverin one of my canoes. I followed her, but The Sheik was there,God knows how, and he captured her and attacked me and droveme back. Then came Baynes, angry because he had lost the girl,and shot me. If you want her, go to The Sheik and ask him forher--she has passed as his daughter since childhood."

"She is not The Sheik's daughter?" asked Korak.

"She is not," replied Malbihn.

"Who is she then?" asked Korak.

Here Malbihn saw his chance. Possibly he could make use of hisknowledge after all--it might even buy back his life for him.He was not so credulous as to believe that this savage ape-manwould have any compunctions about slaying him.

"When you find her I will tell you," he said, "if you willpromise to spare my life and divide the reward with me. If youkill me you will never know, for only The Sheik knows and hewill never tell. The girl herself is ignorant of her origin."

"If you have told me the truth I will spare you," said Korak."I shall go now to The Sheik's village and if the girl is not thereI shall return and slay you. As for the other information youhave, if the girl wants it when we have found her we will find away to purchase it from you."

The look in the Killer's eyes and his emphasis of the word "purchase"were none too reassuring to Malbihn. Evidently, unless he foundmeans to escape, this devil would have both his secret and hislife before he was done with him. He wished he would be goneand take his evil-eyed companion away with him. The swaying bulktowering high above him, and the ugly little eyes of the elephantwatching his every move made Malbihn nervous.

Korak stepped into the Swede's tent to assure himself thatMeriem was not hid there. As he disappeared from view Tantor,his eyes still fixed upon Malbihn, took a step nearer the man.An elephant's eyesight is none too good; but the great tuskerevidently had harbored suspicions of this yellow-bearded whiteman from the first. Now he advanced his snake-like trunk towardthe Swede, who shrank still deeper into his hammock.

The sensitive member felt and smelled back and forth alongthe body of the terrified Malbihn. Tantor uttered a low,rumbling sound. His little eyes blazed. At last he hadrecognized the creature who had killed his mate longyears before. Tantor, the elephant, never forgets andnever forgives. Malbihn saw in the demoniacal visage abovehim the murderous purpose of the beast. He shrieked aloudto Korak. "Help! Help! The devil is going to kill me!"

Korak ran from the tent just in time to see the enragedelephant's trunk encircle the beast's victim, and then hammock,canopy and man were swung high over Tantor's head. Korak leapedbefore the animal, commanding him to put down his prey unharmed;but as well might he have ordered the eternal river to reverseits course. Tantor wheeled around like a cat, hurled Malbihnto the earth and kneeled upon him with the quickness of a cat. Then he gored the prostrate thing through and through with hismighty tusks, trumpeting and roaring in his rage, and at last,convinced that no slightest spark of life remained in the crushedand lacerated flesh, he lifted the shapeless clay that had beenSven Malbihn far aloft and hurled the bloody mass, stillentangled in canopy and hammock, over the boma and out intothe jungle.

Korak stood looking sorrowfully on at the tragedy he gladlywould have averted. He had no love for the Swede, in fact onlyhatred; but he would have preserved the man for the sake of thesecret he possessed. Now that secret was gone forever unlessThe Sheik could be made to divulge it; but in that possibilityKorak placed little faith.

The ape-man, as unafraid of the mighty Tantor as though hehad not just witnessed his shocking murder of a human being,signalled the beast to approach and lift him to its head, andTantor came as he was bid, docile as a kitten, and hoisted TheKiller tenderly aloft.

From the safety of their hiding places in the jungle Malbihn'sboys had witnessed the killing of their master, and now, withwide, frightened eyes, they saw the strange white warrior,

mounted upon the head of his ferocious charger, disappear intothe jungle at the point from which he had emerged upon theirterrified vision.