ing the great
Tarmangani to me alive and unhurt. The vengeance is La's. Go; but
make no sound!" and she waved her hands to include all her followers.

Cautiously the weird party crept through the jungle in the wake of the
great ape until at last he halted them with a raised hand and pointed
upward and a little ahead. There they saw the giant form of the
ape-man stretched along a low bough and even in sleep one hand grasped
a stout limb and one strong, brown leg reached out and overlapped
another. At ease lay Tarzan of the Apes, sleeping heavily upon a full
stomach and dreaming of Numa, the lion, and Horta, the boar, and other
creatures of the jungle. No intimation of danger assailed the dormant
faculties of the ape-man--he saw no crouching hairy figures upon the
ground beneath him nor the three apes that swung quietly into the tree
beside him.

The first intimation of danger that came to Tarzan was the impact of
three bodies as the three apes leaped upon him and hurled him to the
ground, where he alighted half stunned beneath their combined weight
and was immediately set upon by the fifty hairy men or as many of them
as could swarm upon his person. Instantly the ape-man became the
center of a whirling, striking, biting maelstrom of horror. He fought
nobly but the odds against him were too great. Slowly they overcame
him though there was scarce one of them that did not feel the weight of
his mighty fist or the rending of his fangs.

13

Condemned To Torture and Death

La had followed her company and when she saw them clawing and biting at
Tarzan, she raised her voice and cautioned them not to kill him. She
saw that he was weakening and that soon the greater numbers would
prevail over him, nor had she long to wait before the mighty jungle
creature lay helpless and bound at her feet.

"Bring him to the place at which we stopped," she commanded and they
carried Tarzan back to the little clearing and threw him down beneath a
tree.

"Build me a shelter!" ordered La. "We shall stop here tonight and
tomorrow in the face of the Flaming God, La will offer up the heart of
this defiler of the temple. Where is the sacred knife? Who took it
from him?"

But no one had seen it and each was positive in his assurance that the
sacrificial weapon had not been upon Tarzan's person when they captured
him. The ape-man looked upon the menacing creatures which surrounded
him and snarled his defiance. He looked