id not Korak call out his customary greeting? The quietness was
ominous. It was followed presently by a very stealthy sound--one of
them was creeping upon her. Was Korak planning a joke upon his own
account? Well, she would fool him. Cautiously she opened her eyes the
tiniest bit, and as she did so her heart stood still. Creeping
silently toward her was a huge bull ape that she never before had seen.
Behind him was another like him.

With the agility of a squirrel Meriem was upon her feet and at the same
instant the great bull lunged for her. Leaping from limb to limb the
girl fled through the jungle while close behind her came the two great
apes. Above them raced a bevy of screaming, chattering monkeys,
hurling taunts and insults at the Mangani, and encouragement and advice
to the girl.

From tree to tree swung Meriem working ever upward toward the smaller
branches which would not bear the weight of her pursuers. Faster and
faster came the bull apes after her. The clutching fingers of the
foremost were almost upon her again and again, but she eluded them by
sudden bursts of speed or reckless chances as she threw herself across
dizzy spaces.

Slowly she was gaining her way to the greater heights where safety lay,
when, after a particularly daring leap, the swaying branch she grasped
bent low beneath her weight, nor whipped upward again as it should have
done. Even before the rending sound which followed Meriem knew that
she had misjudged the strength of the limb. It gave slowly at first.
Then there was a ripping as it parted from the trunk. Releasing her
hold Meriem dropped among the foliage beneath, clutching for a new
support. She found it a dozen feet below the broken limb. She had
fallen thus many times before, so that she had no particular terror of
a fall--it was the delay which appalled her most, and rightly, for
scarce had she scrambled to a place of safety than the body of the huge
ape dropped at her side and a great, hairy arm went about her waist.

Almost at once the other ape reached his companion's side. He made a
lunge at Meriem; but her captor swung her to one side, bared his
fighting fangs and growled ominously. Meriem struggled to escape. She
struck at the hairy breast and bearded cheek. She fastened her strong,
white teeth in one shaggy forearm. The ape cuffed her viciously across
the face, then he had to turn his attention to his fellow who quite
evidently desired the prize for