hairy,
with the eyes of a weasel and the heart of a bull buffalo, went
darting and gliding soundlessly through the undergrowth a few paces to
the left, guarding against the approach of any attack from the
jungle-depths. While A-ya, whose quickness and precision with the bow,
her darling weapon, were nothing less than a miracle to all the tribe,
covered the rear, lest any prowling monster should be following on
their trail.

It chanced that A-ya dropped back some paces further, without saying
anything to Grom. She had marked a slim shaft of a seedling which
looked suitable for an arrow; and in case the discovery should prove a
good one, she wanted the credit of it to herself. She stooped to pull
the seedling up by the roots, since it seemed too tough to break. It
was obstinate. In the effort her naked side and shoulder leaned fully
against the trunk of a small tree of which she had taken no notice. In
a second it seemed to her as if the tree trunk were made of red-hot
coals. The stinging fire of it ran like lightning all over her arms
and body. With a piercing scream she sprang away from the tree, and
began tearing and beating frantically at her body with both hands. She
was covered with furious ants--the great, red, stinging ants whose
venom is like drops of liquid flame.

At the sound of her scream, Grom was back at her side in two leaps,
his hair and beard bristling stiffly, his eyes blazing with rage. But
there was no assailant in sight on whom to hurl himself. For a second
or two he glared about him wildly, with Loob crouched beside him,
snarling for vengeance. Then, perceiving the woman's plight, he flung
himself upon her, trying to envelop her in one sweeping embrace that
should crush all the virulent pests at once. In this he failed
signally; and in an instant the liquid fire was running over his own
body. The torture of it, however, was a small thing to him compared
with the torture of seeing them sting the woman, and feeling himself
impotent to effect her instant succor. He slapped and beat at her with
his great hands, while she covered her face with her own hands to
protect it from disfigurement.

Loob came to help, but Grom, his brain keen in every emergency,
stopped him.

"Keep off!" he ordered. "Keep off! and keep watch!"

Then he seized A-ya by one arm, rushed her to the edge of the bank,
and dragged her with him into the water.

At this point the water was not much more than three feet deep. They