ghting in company with a panther and the huge fierce apes of
Akut, than because of their inability to overcome the relatively small
force that opposed them.

One prisoner fell into the hands of Tarzan, and him the ape-man
questioned in an effort to learn what had become of Rokoff and his
party. Promised his liberty in return for the information, the black
told all he knew concerning the movements of the Russian.

It seemed that early in the morning their chief had attempted to
prevail upon the whites to return with him to the village and with
their guns destroy the ferocious pack that had taken possession of it,
but Rokoff appeared to entertain even more fears of the giant white man
and his strange companions than even the blacks themselves.

Upon no conditions would he consent to returning even within sight of
the village. Instead, he took his party hurriedly to the river, where
they stole a number of canoes the blacks had hidden there. The last
that had been seen of them they had been paddling strongly up-stream,
their porters from Kaviri's village wielding the blades.

So once more Tarzan of the Apes with his hideous pack took up his
search for the ape-man's son and the pursuit of his abductor.

For weary days they followed through an almost uninhabited country,
only to learn at last that they were upon the wrong trail. The little
band had been reduced by three, for three of Akut's apes had fallen in
the fighting at the village. Now, with Akut, there were five great
apes, and Sheeta was there--and Mugambi and Tarzan.

The ape-man no longer heard rumors even of the three who had preceded
Rokoff--the white man and woman and the child. Who the man and woman
were he could not guess, but that the child was his was enough to keep
him hot upon the trail. He was sure that Rokoff would be following
this trio, and so he felt confident that so long as he could keep upon
the Russian's trail he would be winning so much nearer to the time he
might snatch his son from the dangers and horrors that menaced him.

In retracing their way after losing Rokoff's trail Tarzan picked it up
again at a point where the Russian had left the river and taken to the
brush in a northerly direction. He could only account for this change
on the ground that the child had been carried away from the river by
the two who now had possession of it.

Nowhere along the way, however, could he gain definite information that
might assure him pos