t if they traveled
at her slow rate they might be too late to render assistance to the
Tarmangani, and so without more ado, the giant anthropoid picked
Bertha Kircher bodily from the ground and swung her to his back.
Her arms were about his neck and in this position he seized her
wrists in one great paw so that she could not fall off and started
at a rapid rate to join his companions.

Dressed as she was in riding breeches with no entangling skirts to
hinder or catch upon passing shrubbery, she soon found that she
could cling tightly to the back of the mighty bull and when a moment
later he took to the lower branches of the trees, she closed her
eyes and clung to him in terror lest she be precipitated to the
ground below.

That journey through the primeval forest with the nine great apes
will live in the memory of Bertha Kircher for the balance of her
life, as clearly delineated as at the moment of its enactment.

The first overwhelming wave of fear having passed, she was at last
able to open her eyes and view her surroundings with increased
interest and presently the sensation of terror slowly left her to
be replaced by one of comparative security when she saw the ease
and surety with which these great beasts traveled through the trees;
and later her admiration for the young bull increased as it became
evident that even burdened with her additional weight, he moved more
rapidly and with no greater signs of fatigue than his unburdened
fellows.

Not once did Zu-tag pause until he came to a stop among the branches
of a tree no great distance from the native village. They could
hear the noises of the life within the palisade, the laughing and
shouting of the Negroes, and the barking of dogs, and through the
foliage the girl caught glimpses of the village from which she had
so recently escaped. She shuddered to think of the possibility of
having to return to it and of possible recapture, and she wondered
why Zu-tag had brought her here.

Now the apes advanced slowly once more and with great caution,
moving as noiselessly through the trees as the squirrels themselves
until they had reached a point where they could easily overlook
the palisade and the village street below.

Zu-tag squatted upon a great branch close to the bole of the tree
and by loosening the girl's arms from about his neck, indicated
that she was to find a footing for herself and when she had done
so, he turned toward her and pointed repeatedly at