f a near-by
bush. He was about to leap forth before them with a terrifying scream,
that he might enjoy the spectacle of their terror and their incontinent
flight; but of a sudden a new whim seized him. Here was a balu
fashioned as he himself was fashioned. Of course this one's skin was
black; but what of it? Tarzan had never seen a white man. In so far
as he knew, he was the sole representative of that strange form of life
upon the earth. The black boy should make an excellent balu for
Tarzan, since he had none of his own. He would tend him carefully,
feed him well, protect him as only Tarzan of the Apes could protect his
own, and teach him out of his half human, half bestial lore the secrets
of the jungle from its rotting surface vegetation to the high tossed
pinnacles of the forest's upper terraces.

* * *

Tarzan uncoiled his rope, and shook out the noose. The two before him,
all ignorant of the near presence of that terrifying form, continued
preoccupied in the search for shellfish, poking about in the mud with
short sticks.

Tarzan stepped from the jungle behind them; his noose lay open upon the
ground beside him. There was a quick movement of the right arm and the
noose rose gracefully into the air, hovered an instant above the head
of the unsuspecting youth, then settled. As it encompassed his body
below the shoulders, Tarzan gave a quick jerk that tightened it about
the boy's arms, pinioning them to his sides. A scream of terror broke
from the lad's lips, and as his mother turned, affrighted at his cry,
she saw him being dragged quickly toward a great white giant who stood
just beneath the shade of a near-by tree, scarcely a dozen long paces
from her.

With a savage cry of terror and rage, the woman leaped fearlessly
toward the ape-man. In her mien Tarzan saw determination and courage
which would shrink not even from death itself. She was very hideous
and frightful even when her face was in repose; but convulsed by
passion, her expression became terrifyingly fiendish. Even the ape-man
drew back, but more in revulsion than fear--fear he knew not.

Biting and kicking was the black she's balu as Tarzan tucked him
beneath his arm and vanished into the branches hanging low above him,
just as the infuriated mother dashed forward to seize and do battle
with him. And as he melted away into the depth of the jungle with his
still struggling prize, he meditated upon the possibilities which might
lie in