e and surly brutes he felt that he much
preferred the peace and solitude of his cabin to the irksome duties of
leadership amongst a horde of wild beasts.

The hatred and jealousy of Terkoz, son of Tublat, did much to
counteract the effect of Tarzan's desire to renounce his kingship among
the apes, for, stubborn young Englishman that he was, he could not
bring himself to retreat in the face of so malignant an enemy.

That Terkoz would be chosen leader in his stead he knew full well, for
time and again the ferocious brute had established his claim to
physical supremacy over the few bull apes who had dared resent his
savage bullying.

Tarzan would have liked to subdue the ugly beast without recourse to
knife or arrows. So much had his great strength and agility increased
in the period following his maturity that he had come to believe that
he might master the redoubtable Terkoz in a hand to hand fight were it
not for the terrible advantage the anthropoid's huge fighting fangs
gave him over the poorly armed Tarzan.

The entire matter was taken out of Tarzan's hands one day by force of
circumstances, and his future left open to him, so that he might go or
stay without any stain upon his savage escutcheon.

It happened thus:

The tribe was feeding quietly, spread over a considerable area, when a
great screaming arose some distance east of where Tarzan lay upon his
belly beside a limpid brook, attempting to catch an elusive fish in his
quick, brown hands.

With one accord the tribe swung rapidly toward the frightened cries,
and there found Terkoz holding an old female by the hair and beating
her unmercifully with his great hands.

As Tarzan approached he raised his hand aloft for Terkoz to desist, for
the female was not his, but belonged to a poor old ape whose fighting
days were long over, and who, therefore, could not protect his family.

Terkoz knew that it was against the laws of his kind to strike this
woman of another, but being a bully, he had taken advantage of the
weakness of the female's husband to chastise her because she had
refused to give up to him a tender young rodent she had captured.

When Terkoz saw Tarzan approaching without his arrows, he continued to
belabor the poor woman in a studied effort to affront his hated
chieftain.

Tarzan did not repeat his warning signal, but instead rushed bodily
upon the waiting Terkoz.

Never had the ape-man fought so terrible a battle since that long-gone
d