he uniform of his father's soldiers, he shrieked
forth an angry order, but at the second glance, which revealed the
face of the newcomer, the madman leaped from the prostrate form
of his victim and, apparently forgetful of the saber which he had
dropped upon the floor beside the couch as he leaped to grapple
with the girl, closed with bare hands upon his antagonist, his
sharp-filed teeth searching for the other's throat.

Metak, the son of Herog, was no weakling. Powerful by nature and
rendered still more so in the throes of one of his maniacal fits
of fury he was no mean antagonist, even for the mighty ape-man,
and to this a distinct advantage for him was added by the fact that
almost at the outset of their battle Tarzan, in stepping backward,
struck his heel against the corpse of the man whom Smith-Oldwick
had killed, and fell heavily backward to the floor with Metak upon
his breast.

With the quickness of a cat the maniac made an attempt to fasten
his teeth in Tarzan's jugular, but a quick movement of the latter
resulted in his finding a hold only upon the Tarmangani's shoulder.
Here he clung while his fingers sought Tarzan's throat, and it was
then that the ape-man, realizing the possibility of defeat, called
to Smith-Oldwick to take the girl and seek to escape.

The Englishman looked questioningly at Bertha Kircher, who had now
risen from the couch, shaking and trembling. She saw the question
in his eyes and with an effort she drew herself to her full height.
"No," she cried, "if he dies here I shall die with him. Go if you
wish to. You can do nothing here, but I--I cannot go."

Tarzan had now regained his feet, but the maniac still clung to
him tenaciously. The girl turned suddenly to Smith-Oldwick. "Your
pistol!" she cried. "Why don't you shoot him?"

The man drew the weapon from his pocket and approached the two
antagonists, but by this time they were moving so rapidly that there
was no opportunity for shooting one without the danger of hitting
the other. At the same time Bertha Kircher circled about them with
the prince's saber, but neither could she find an opening. Again
and again the two men fell to the floor, until presently Tarzan
found a hold upon the other's throat, against which contingency
Metak had been constantly battling, and slowly, as the giant fingers
closed, the other's mad eyes protruded from his livid face, his jaws
gaped and released their hold upon Tarzan's shoulder, and then in
a s