was mattered little to Tarzan of the Apes--he was ready and willing
to defend his kill against any other denizen of the jungle. If he were
unable to do it by means of physical prowess, he had at his command
another and a greater power--his shrewd intelligence.

And so, on came the running deer, straight into the jaws of death. The
ape-man turned so that his back was toward the approaching animal. He
poised with bent knees upon the gently swaying limb above the trail,
timing with keen ears the nearing hoof beats of frightened Bara.

In a moment the victim flashed beneath the limb and at the same instant
the ape-man above sprang out and down upon its back. The weight of the
man's body carried the deer to the ground. It stumbled forward once in
a futile effort to rise, and then mighty muscles dragged its head far
back, gave the neck a vicious wrench, and Bara was dead.

Quick had been the killing, and equally quick were the ape-man's
subsequent actions, for who might know what manner of killer pursued
Bara, or how close at hand he might be? Scarce had the neck of the
victim snapped than the carcass was hanging over one of Tarzan's broad
shoulders, and an instant later the ape-man was perched once more among
the lower branches of a tree above the trail, his keen, gray eyes
scanning the pathway down which the deer had fled.

Nor was it long before the cause of Bara's fright became evident to
Tarzan, for presently came the unmistakable sounds of approaching
horsemen. Dragging his kill after him the ape-man ascended to the
middle terrace, and settling himself comfortably in the crotch of a
tree where he could still view the trail beneath, cut a juicy steak
from the deer's loin, and burying his strong, white teeth in the hot
flesh proceeded to enjoy the fruits of his prowess and his cunning.

Nor did he neglect the trail beneath while he satisfied his hunger.
His sharp eyes saw the muzzle of the leading horse as it came into view
around a bend in the tortuous trail, and one by one they scrutinized
the riders as they passed beneath him in single file.

Among them came one whom Tarzan recognized, but so schooled was the
ape-man in the control of his emotions that no slightest change of
expression, much less any hysterical demonstration that might have
revealed his presence, betrayed the fact of his inward excitement.

Beneath him, as unconscious of his presence as were the Abyssinians
before and behind him, rode Albe