of the jungle, grumbling and scolding as he went.

Tarzan, roaming the jungle in search of the trail of Taglat and the
she, traveled swiftly. In a little moonlit glade ahead of him the
great ape was bending over the prostrate form of the woman Tarzan
sought. The beast was tearing at the bonds that confined her ankles
and wrists, pulling and gnawing upon the cords.

The course the ape-man was taking would carry him but a short distance
to the right of them, and though he could not have seen them the wind
was bearing down from them to him, carrying their scent spoor strongly
toward him.

A moment more and Jane Clayton's safety might have been assured, even
though Numa, the lion, was already gathering himself in preparation for
a charge; but Fate, already all too cruel, now outdid herself--the wind
veered suddenly for a few moments, the scent spoor that would have led
the ape-man to the girl's side was wafted in the opposite direction;
Tarzan passed within fifty yards of the tragedy that was being enacted
in the glade, and the opportunity was gone beyond recall.

18

The Fight For the Treasure

It was morning before Tarzan could bring himself to a realization of
the possibility of failure of his quest, and even then he would only
admit that success was but delayed. He would eat and sleep, and then
set forth again. The jungle was wide; but wide too were the experience
and cunning of Tarzan. Taglat might travel far; but Tarzan would find
him in the end, though he had to search every tree in the mighty forest.

Soliloquizing thus, the ape-man followed the spoor of Bara, the deer,
the unfortunate upon which he had decided to satisfy his hunger. For
half an hour the trail led the ape-man toward the east along a
well-marked game path, when suddenly, to the stalker's astonishment,
the quarry broke into sight, racing madly back along the narrow way
straight toward the hunter.

Tarzan, who had been following along the trail, leaped so quickly to
the concealing verdure at the side that the deer was still unaware of
the presence of an enemy in this direction, and while the animal was
still some distance away, the ape-man swung into the lower branches of
the tree which overhung the trail. There he crouched, a savage beast
of prey, awaiting the coming of its victim.

What had frightened the deer into so frantic a retreat, Tarzan did not
know--Numa, the lion, perhaps, or Sheeta, the panther; but whatsoever
it