strange
creature fell to its knees and raised its hands in supplication.

"By George!" exclaimed the lad as he stood with lowered weapon.
"What kind of a thing is this? I wonder if it can talk?"

Then as he took a step toward it: "I'm not going to hurt you.
Come here."

The creature arose to its feet and came slowly toward him. As it
did so Billie noticed that blood was running from a wound in its
scalp.

"Poor thing," he said. "That must have been where the bullet hit
him. It was a close shave."

"Can you talk?" he finally asked.

The strange creature turned its head to one side and eyed him
closely, but no sound came from its lips.

"It must be an ape of some sort," mused the boy; "but how did it
become so tame?"

He slowly returned his automatic to its holster, thinking in the
meantime how he could dress the creature's wound; but no sooner
had his hand left his weapon than the ape sprang at him with the
utmost fury. It landed on his shoulder, wound its legs about his
neck, and with its long arms made a wild grab for the revolver.

Then began a strange and terrible struggle for the possession of
the weapon. Even as he fought the beast, Billie realized that in
some manner the ape had learned to fear firearms, but whether it
had ever learned to use them he could not venture a guess. He
felt certain if he could draw the weapon and point it at the ape,
it would at once cringe in fear. What might happen if the ape
should get possession of it, he could only imagine.

For a youth of eighteen, there were few whom Billie met that were
his match physically, but this diminutive man-animal held him as
in a vise. Billie exerted every ounce of his strength to free
himself from the terrible hold, while the ape fought even more
fiercely to retain its grip and to gain possession of the weapon.

It was a weird and fearful struggle waged there in the stillness
of the tropical woodland--a stillness broken only by the
occasional wild scream of the ape, or the hoarse breathing of the
boy as he fought to free himself from that horrible grasp.

The struggle must have lasted for two or three minutes--to Billie
it seemed hours--when by a sudden wrench the lad managed to free
his left arm sufficiently to get the beast by the throat. For an
instant it loosed its hold on his right arm and that act decided
the battle.

Finding his right arm free, Billie seized his revolver and
without drawing it from the holster pulled the trigg