a broad, tree-arched
trail, pausing occasionally to pluck a tender branch, or strip the
edible bark from an adjacent tree. Tarzan sprawled face downward upon
the beast's head and back, his legs hanging on either side, his head
supported by his open palms, his elbows resting on the broad cranium.
And thus they made their leisurely way toward the gathering place of
the tribe.

Just before they arrived at the clearing from the north there reached
it from the south another figure--that of a well-knit black warrior,
who stepped cautiously through the jungle, every sense upon the alert
against the many dangers which might lurk anywhere along the way. Yet
he passed beneath the southernmost sentry that was posted in a great
tree commanding the trail from the south. The ape permitted the
Gomangani to pass unmolested, for he saw that he was alone; but the
moment that the warrior had entered the clearing a loud "Kreeg-ah!"
rang out from behind him, immediately followed by a chorus of replies
from different directions, as the great bulls crashed through the trees
in answer to the summons of their fellow.

The black man halted at the first cry and looked about him. He could
see nothing, but he knew the voice of the hairy tree men whom he and
his kind feared, not alone because of the strength and ferocity of the
savage beings, but as well through a superstitious terror engendered by
the manlike appearance of the apes.

But Bulabantu was no coward. He heard the apes all about him; he knew
that escape was probably impossible, so he stood his ground, his spear
ready in his hand and a war cry trembling on his lips. He would sell
his life dearly, would Bulabantu, under-chief of the village of Mbonga,
the chief.

Tarzan and Tantor were but a short distance away when the first cry of
the sentry rang out through the quiet jungle. Like a flash the ape-man
leaped from the elephant's back to a near-by tree and was swinging
rapidly in the direction of the clearing before the echoes of the first
"Kreeg-ah" had died away. When he arrived he saw a dozen bulls
circling a single Gomangani. With a blood-curdling scream Tarzan
sprang to the attack. He hated the blacks even more than did the apes,
and here was an opportunity for a kill in the open. What had the
Gomangani done? Had he slain one of the tribe?

Tarzan asked the nearest ape. No, the Gomangani had harmed none.
Gozan, being on watch, had seen him coming through the forest a