im by ape-men had come to pass.

Eight or ten of the creatures, left unmolested for a second by the
Serpent, halted in the mad run they were making for the sheltering
jungle, and while one pointed with hairy arm, the others let out
shrieks. Kirby gritted his teeth in something like despair. Then he
realized that the worst danger--Quetzalcoatl's blurred coils--was not
threatening him so far. And he went on, straight toward the ape-men.

He did not look where, how, or at whom he struck. All he knew was that
his rifle blazed, and as he clubbed at soft flesh with the butt, blood
spurted, and new screams filled the night. He felt and half saw big,
stinking bodies going down, and clawed his way forward, around them,
over them. Then he felt no more bodies, and knew that he was through. A
little farther he ran over the trampled earth, and stopped and looked
up.

The howls of the living, the shrieks of the dying deafened him. Renewed
shots from the rifles in the tree, made the Serpent lash about in a
dazzling white blur, smashing trees, apes, everything in its path. But
Kirby, finding himself still safe, scarcely heard or saw. His eyes,
turned upward, saw one thing only.

"Naida!"

* * * * *

She had snapped two of the withes of the cage and was leaning forward
through the opening. Her face was livid with horror and exhaustion, but
she was able to look at him with eyes that glowed.

"You--you came!" she gasped. "You came to me!"

In a flash Kirby jumped over to the poles and began to cast off one of
the lines which held the cage aloft.

"Get ready for a bump!" he shouted, as he lowered away, arms straining.

Paying out the one line left the cage suspended from the second, but let
it sweep from its position between the poles, down toward one pole. As
the thing struck the tall support, Kirby bounded over to stand beneath
it, only too sharply aware of the death waiting for him on every side,
but ignoring it. Naida still hung suspended a good twenty feet above
him, but there was no time to let go the other line. He braced himself
and held up his arms.

"Jump!" he yelled.

Then he saw the white gown sweeping down toward him, felt the crash of a
soft body against his, and staggered back. Recovered in a tenth of a
second, he drew a deep breath, and looked at Naida beside him, tall and
brave, unhurt.

"Are you able to run?" he snapped, and then, the moment she nodded,
motioned toward the j