and
scrutinized he dropped back upon the bed with dilated eyes that saw
nothing in the present--only a grim tableau of the future in which two
forms swung silently from the limb of a great tree.

How long he sat thus he did not know; but finally he was aroused by a
noise coming from the floor below. Springing quickly to his feet he
blew out the lamp, and crossing the floor silently locked the door.
Then he turned toward the ape, his mind made up.

Last evening he had been determined to start for home at the first
opportunity, to beg the forgiveness of his parents for this mad
adventure. Now he knew that he might never return to them. The blood
of a fellow man was upon his hands--in his morbid reflections he had
long since ceased to attribute the death of Condon to the ape. The
hysteria of panic had fastened the guilt upon himself. With money he
might have bought justice; but penniless!--ah, what hope could there be
for strangers without money here?

But what had become of the money? He tried to recall when last he had
seen it. He could not, nor, could he, would he have been able to
account for its disappearance, for he had been entirely unconscious of
the falling of the little package from his pocket into the sea as he
clambered over the ship's side into the waiting canoe that bore him to
shore.

Now he turned toward Akut. "Come!" he said, in the language of the
great apes.

Forgetful of the fact that he wore only a thin pajama suit he led the
way to the open window. Thrusting his head out he listened
attentively. A single tree grew a few feet from the window. Nimbly
the lad sprang to its bole, clinging cat-like for an instant before he
clambered quietly to the ground below. Close behind him came the great
ape. Two hundred yards away a spur of the jungle ran close to the
straggling town. Toward this the lad led the way. None saw them, and
a moment later the jungle swallowed them, and John Clayton, future Lord
Greystoke, passed from the eyes and the knowledge of men.

It was late the following morning that a native houseman knocked upon
the door of the room that had been assigned to Mrs. Billings and her
grandson. Receiving no response he inserted his pass key in the lock,
only to discover that another key was already there, but from the
inside. He reported the fact to Herr Skopf, the proprietor, who at
once made his way to the second floor where he, too, pounded vigorously
upon the door. Receiv