tter. Chet saw him showing his detonite
pistol in a half-threatening motion, and the ape-men cringed away in
fear.

"Not so well trained an army, Max, that I am general of, but if we find
that man, Harkness, and his pilot and that traitor Kreiss, we will let
these soldiers of mine tear them to little bits. Now, we go!"

Max's call had brought the other two men of Schwartzmann's party, and
the black horde of ape-men broke into a wild run across the grass toward
the place where Chet and Towahg lay. The two slipped hurriedly into the
concealment of denser growth, then ran at top speed down a jungle trail
that led off to one side.

* * * * *

They were bedded down for the night on the edge of the white forest; no
persuasion of Schwartzmann's would have driven the ape-men into the
darkness of the black trees and their flashing, luminous worm-beasts.
Chet and Towahg came within hearing of their encampment just at dusk,
and a late-rising moon broke through the gaps in the leafy roof to make
splotched islands of gold in the velvet dark where Chet and Towahg
fought the jungle so they might swing around and past the camp.
Occasional grunts and scufflings showed that the ape-men were restless,
and the two knew that every step must be taken in silence and every
obstructing leaf moved with no rasping friction on other leaves or
branches. But they came again to the trail, and now they were ahead of
the pack, as the first gray light of dawn was stealing through the
ghostly white of the trees.

Towahg would have curled himself into a sleepy ball a score of times had
Chet not driven him on, and now the pilot only allowed a few minutes for
food, where ripe purple fruit hung in clusters on the end of stems that
were like ropes.

No use to explain to Towahg. Perhaps the ape-man thought they were
hurrying to get through the black forest; he might even have thought the
matter through to see the necessity for reaching their own valley and
warning the others. Certainly he had no idea of any plans other than
these, and he must have been puzzled some several hours later when Chet
halted where the trail had crossed a barren expanse of rock.

Towahg had stopped there on the way down. Then he had sniffed the air,
dropped his head low and circled about, motioning Chet to follow, from
across the clearing where he had picked up the trail. Chet knew the
ape-men would do the same unless they were diverted, and he h