f.

He wheeled his horse away from the edge and Dan hurried to him.

"Hurt, Dick?"

"Not a scratch, Dan!"

"That's lucky. Lucky for you and all of us. We would be lost without
you."

"We may be, anyhow. Dan, how can we fight off those raiders? They are
armed with guns, old style single-shot, Arab guns, to be sure, but at
that, they are more than a match for stone hatchets and spears."

"Or even bows and arrows," agreed Dan. "Looks as though we were up
against it."

"Well, there's one thing we can do. Defend the cliffs and keep them
from coming any farther."

"Yes, we can roll rocks down on them if they start to climb, and if any
get to the top, we can fight them off before they get a foothold."

Raal and Kulki approached followed by the old chief of the Gorols,
Wabiti. Evidently they wanted a council and Dick asked them to say
what was on their minds.

"Advise me, O mighty warriors!" he said.

Raal spoke first. "I say, do not wait. We are many and we are brave.
Let us sweep down upon them from the cliff and destroy them."

"Yes, but you forget the sticks that speak like thunder and carry
death," said Wabiti.

Kulki spoke out: "No matter, some of us must perish, but the rest will
fight on. I say, wait until it is dark, then my Gorol braves will slip
up on them and kill. We Gorols are dark-skinned and cannot be seen in
the night like the pale Taharans."

"That is good advice," said Dick.

But the old Chief Wabiti spoke up, shaking his gray head dolefully:

"Our enemies use strong magic. Their thunder sticks hurl death and
they ride on fire-breathing monsters that travel like the wind. We can
do nothing against them without even stronger magic."

"That's all bunk," snorted Dan.

But Wabiti went on, "Nothing but magic will save us. If only the Great
Gorol, the Ape-god had not been destroyed, he would save us."

"I like Kulki's advice better," said Dick. "And I like Raal's valiant
words. We will gather the strong warriors among the Taharans and the
Gorols and tonight when it is dark we will attack the Arab camp with
arrows and spears. If we fight like men we can drive them off. No
other magic is needed."

"Tahara, hal!" cried Kulki. "Tahara, good!"

"We fight and win," shouted Raal.

"Attaboy!" Dan cried.

Only Wabiti was not satisfied. He went away, shaking his head in
gloomy thought and wandered in the forest, muttering invocations to the
Ape-god of his fathers. Among the