had been the
intention of the young bull; but scarcely had they gone down, growling
and snapping, than the ape-man's fingers found the throat of his
antagonist.

Presently the young bull ceased to struggle, and lay quite still. Then
Tarzan released his hold and arose--he did not wish to kill, only to
teach the young ape, and others who might be watching, that Tarzan of
the Apes was still master.

The lesson served its purpose--the young apes kept out of his way, as
young apes should when their betters were about, and the old bulls made
no attempt to encroach upon his prerogatives. For several days the
she-apes with young remained suspicious of him, and when he ventured
too near rushed upon him with wide mouths and hideous roars. Then
Tarzan discreetly skipped out of harm's way, for that also is a custom
among the apes--only mad bulls will attack a mother. But after a while
even they became accustomed to him.

He hunted with them as in days gone by, and when they found that his
superior reason guided him to the best food sources, and that his
cunning rope ensnared toothsome game that they seldom if ever tasted,
they came again to look up to him as they had in the past after he had
become their king. And so it was that before they left the
amphitheater to return to their wanderings they had once more chosen
him as their leader.

The ape-man felt quite contented with his new lot. He was not
happy--that he never could be again, but he was at least as far from
everything that might remind him of his past misery as he could be.
Long since he had given up every intention of returning to
civilization, and now he had decided to see no more his black friends
of the Waziri. He had foresworn humanity forever. He had started life
an ape--as an ape he would die.

He could not, however, erase from his memory the fact that the woman he
loved was within a short journey of the stamping-ground of his tribe;
nor could he banish the haunting fear that she might be constantly in
danger. That she was illy protected he had seen in the brief instant
that had witnessed Clayton's inefficiency. The more Tarzan thought of
it, the more keenly his conscience pricked him.

Finally he came to loathe himself for permitting his own selfish sorrow
and jealousy to stand between Jane Porter and safety. As the days
passed the thing preyed more and more upon his mind, and he had about
determined to return to the coast and place himself on g