nting, sniffing. Korak spoke to him.

"I am Korak," he said. "I opened the cage that held you. I saved you
from the Tarmangani. I am Korak, The Killer. I am your friend."

"Huh," grunted the king. "Yes, you are Korak. My ears told me that
you were Korak. My eyes told you that you were Korak. Now my nose
tells me that you are Korak. My nose is never wrong. I am your
friend. Come, we shall hunt together."

"Korak cannot hunt now," replied the ape-man. "The Gomangani have
stolen Meriem. They have tied her in their village. They will not let
her go. Korak, alone, was unable to set her free. Korak set you free.
Now will you bring your people and set Korak's Meriem free?"

"The Gomangani have many sharp sticks which they throw. They pierce
the bodies of my people. They kill us. The gomangani are bad people.
They will kill us all if we enter their village."

"The Tarmangani have sticks that make a loud noise and kill at a great
distance," replied Korak. "They had these when Korak set you free from
their trap. If Korak had run away from them you would now be a
prisoner among the Tarmangani."

The baboon scratched his head. In a rough circle about him and the
ape-man squatted the bulls of his herd. They blinked their eyes,
shouldered one another about for more advantageous positions, scratched
in the rotting vegetation upon the chance of unearthing a toothsome
worm, or sat listlessly eyeing their king and the strange Mangani, who
called himself thus but who more closely resembled the hated
Tarmangani. The king looked at some of the older of his subjects, as
though inviting suggestion.

"We are too few," grunted one.

"There are the baboons of the hill country," suggested another. "They
are as many as the leaves of the forest. They, too, hate the
Gomangani. They love to fight. They are very savage. Let us ask them
to accompany us. Then can we kill all the Gomangani in the jungle." He
rose and growled horribly, bristling his stiff hair.

"That is the way to talk," cried The Killer, "but we do not need the
baboons of the hill country. We are enough. It will take a long time
to fetch them. Meriem may be dead and eaten before we could free her.
Let us set out at once for the village of the Gomangani. If we travel
very fast it will not take long to reach it. Then, all at the same
time, we can charge into the village, growling and barking. The
Gomangani will be very frightened and will run