rows and ornaments and food.

Even their superstitious fear of this weird creature who hunted with a
huge bull ape was overcome in their desire to wreak vengeance upon him
and rid themselves for good and all of the menace of his presence in
the jungle.

And so it was that a score of the fleetest and most doughty warriors of
the tribe set out in pursuit of Korak and Akut but a few minutes after
they had left the scene of The Killer's many depredations.

The youth and the ape had traveled slowly and with no precautions
against a successful pursuit. Nor was their attitude of careless
indifference to the blacks at all remarkable. So many similar raids
had gone unpunished that the two had come to look upon the Negroes with
contempt. The return journey led them straight up wind. The result
being that the scent of their pursuers was borne away from them, so
they proceeded upon their way in total ignorance of the fact that
tireless trackers but little less expert in the mysteries of woodcraft
than themselves were dogging their trail with savage insistence.

The little party of warriors was led by Kovudoo, the chief; a
middle-aged savage of exceptional cunning and bravery. It was he who
first came within sight of the quarry which they had followed for hours
by the mysterious methods of their almost uncanny powers of
observation, intuition, and even scent.

Kovudoo and his men came upon Korak, Akut and Meriem after the killing
of the king ape, the noise of the combat having led them at last
straight to their quarry. The sight of the slender white girl had
amazed the savage chief and held him gazing at the trio for a moment
before ordering his warriors to rush out upon their prey. In that
moment it was that the great apes came and again the blacks remained
awestruck witnesses to the palaver, and the battle between Korak and
the young bull.

But now the apes had gone, and the white youth and the white maid stood
alone in the jungle. One of Kovudoo's men leaned close to the ear of
his chief. "Look!" he whispered, and pointed to something that dangled
at the girl's side. "When my brother and I were slaves in the village
of The Sheik my brother made that thing for The Sheik's little
daughter--she played with it always and called it after my brother,
whose name is Geeka. Just before we escaped some one came and struck
down The Sheik, stealing his daughter away. If this is she The Sheik
will pay you well for her retur