at last, the baboons of the hill country came
in view the ape-man was staggered at the reality that broke upon his
vision.

What appeared a solid wall of huge baboons rose from the ground through
the branches of the trees to the loftiest terrace to which they dared
entrust their weight. Slowly they were approaching, voicing their
weird, plaintive call, and behind them, as far as Korak's eyes could
pierce the verdure, rose solid walls of their fellows treading close
upon their heels. There were thousands of them. The ape-man could not
but think of the fate of his little party should some untoward incident
arouse even momentarily the rage of fear of a single one of all these
thousands.

But nothing such befell. The two kings approached one another, as was
their custom, with much sniffing and bristling. They satisfied
themselves of each other's identity. Then each scratched the other's
back. After a moment they spoke together. Korak's friend explained
the nature of their visit, and for the first time Korak showed himself.
He had been hiding behind a bush. The excitement among the hill
baboons was intense at sight of him. For a moment Korak feared that he
should be torn to pieces; but his fear was for Meriem. Should he die
there would be none to succor her.

The two kings, however, managed to quiet the multitude, and Korak was
permitted to approach. Slowly the hill baboons came closer to him.
They sniffed at him from every angle. When he spoke to them in their
own tongue they were filled with wonder and delight. They talked to
him and listened while he spoke. He told them of Meriem, and of their
life in the jungle where they were the friends of all the ape folk from
little Manu to Mangani, the great ape.

"The Gomangani, who are keeping Meriem from me, are no friends of
yours," he said. "They kill you. The baboons of the low country are
too few to go against them. They tell me that you are very many and
very brave--that your numbers are as the numbers of the grasses upon
the plains or the leaves within the forest, and that even Tantor, the
elephant, fears you, so brave you are. They told me that you would be
happy to accompany us to the village of the Gomangani and punish these
bad people while I, Korak, The Killer, carry away my Meriem."

The king ape puffed out his chest and strutted about very stiff-legged
indeed. So also did many of the other great bulls of his nation. They
were pleased and f