acing that hideous charge.
In his right hand he grasped his hunting knife--a puny, futile thing
indeed by comparison with the great rows of mighty teeth which lined
Sheeta's powerful jaws, and the sharp talons encased within his padded
paws; yet the young Lord Greystoke faced it with the same courageous
resignation with which some fearless ancestor went down to defeat and
death on Senlac Hill by Hastings.

From safety points in the trees the great apes watched, screaming
hatred at Sheeta and advice at Tarzan, for the progenitors of man have,
naturally, many human traits. Teeka was frightened. She screamed at
the bulls to hasten to Tarzan's assistance; but the bulls were
otherwise engaged--principally in giving advice and making faces.
Anyway, Tarzan was not a real Mangani, so why should they risk their
lives in an effort to protect him?

And now Sheeta was almost upon the lithe, naked body, and--the body was
not there. Quick as was the great cat, the ape-boy was quicker. He
leaped to one side almost as the panther's talons were closing upon
him, and as Sheeta went hurtling to the ground beyond, Tarzan was
racing for the safety of the nearest tree.

The panther recovered himself almost immediately and, wheeling, tore
after his prey, the ape-boy's rope dragging along the ground behind
him. In doubling back after Tarzan, Sheeta had passed around a low
bush. It was a mere nothing in the path of any jungle creature of the
size and weight of Sheeta--provided it had no trailing rope dangling
behind. But Sheeta was handicapped by such a rope, and as he leaped
once again after Tarzan of the Apes the rope encircled the small bush,
became tangled in it and brought the panther to a sudden stop. An
instant later Tarzan was safe among the higher branches of a small tree
into which Sheeta could not follow him.

Here he perched, hurling twigs and epithets at the raging feline
beneath him. The other members of the tribe now took up the
bombardment, using such hard-shelled fruits and dead branches as came
within their reach, until Sheeta, goaded to frenzy and snapping at the
grass rope, finally succeeded in severing its strands. For a moment
the panther stood glaring first at one of his tormentors and then at
another, until, with a final scream of rage, he turned and slunk off
into the tangled mazes of the jungle.

A half hour later the tribe was again upon the ground, feeding as
though naught had occurred to interrupt th