black men received from these friends of their king, but when they
learned that he might sail away from them upon the great canoe that lay
at anchor a mile off shore they became very sad.

As yet the newcomers had seen nothing of Lord Tennington and Monsieur
Thuran. They had gone out for fresh meat early in the day, and had not
yet returned.

"How surprised this man, whose name you say is Rokoff, will be to see
you," said Jane Porter to Tarzan.

"His surprise will be short-lived," replied the ape-man grimly, and
there was that in his tone that made her look up into his face in
alarm. What she read there evidently confirmed her fears, for she put
her hand upon his arm, and pleaded with him to leave the Russian to the
laws of France.

"In the heart of the jungle, dear," she said, "with no other form of
right or justice to appeal to other than your own mighty muscles, you
would be warranted in executing upon this man the sentence he deserves;
but with the strong arm of a civilized government at your disposal it
would be murder to kill him now. Even your friends would have to
submit to your arrest, or if you resisted it would plunge us all into
misery and unhappiness again. I cannot bear to lose you again, my
Tarzan. Promise me that you will but turn him over to Captain
Dufranne, and let the law take its course--the beast is not worth
risking our happiness for."

He saw the wisdom of her appeal, and promised. A half hour later
Rokoff and Tennington emerged from the jungle. They were walking side
by side. Tennington was the first to note the presence of strangers in
the camp. He saw the black warriors palavering with the sailors from
the cruiser, and then he saw a lithe, brown giant talking with
Lieutenant D'Arnot and Captain Dufranne.

"Who is that, I wonder," said Tennington to Rokoff, and as the Russian
raised his eyes and met those of the ape-man full upon him, he
staggered and went white.

"SAPRISTI!" he cried, and before Tennington realized what he intended
he had thrown his gun to his shoulder, and aiming point-blank at Tarzan
pulled the trigger. But the Englishman was close to him--so close that
his hand reached the leveled barrel a fraction of a second before the
hammer fell upon the cartridge, and the bullet that was intended for
Tarzan's heart whirred harmlessly above his head.

Before the Russian could fire again the ape-man was upon him and had
wrested the firearm from his grasp. Captain Duf