constantly arose which only the king might settle
peaceably.

At last some of the older apes spoke to Tarzan on the subject, and for
a month thereafter he remained constantly with the tribe.

The duties of kingship among the anthropoids are not many or arduous.

In the afternoon comes Thaka, possibly, to complain that old Mungo has
stolen his new wife. Then must Tarzan summon all before him, and if he
finds that the wife prefers her new lord he commands that matters
remain as they are, or possibly that Mungo give Thaka one of his
daughters in exchange.

Whatever his decision, the apes accept it as final, and return to their
occupations satisfied.

Then comes Tana, shrieking and holding tight her side from which blood
is streaming. Gunto, her husband, has cruelly bitten her! And Gunto,
summoned, says that Tana is lazy and will not bring him nuts and
beetles, or scratch his back for him.

So Tarzan scolds them both and threatens Gunto with a taste of the
death-bearing slivers if he abuses Tana further, and Tana, for her
part, is compelled to promise better attention to her wifely duties.

And so it goes, little family differences for the most part, which, if
left unsettled would result finally in greater factional strife, and
the eventual dismemberment of the tribe.

But Tarzan tired of it, as he found that kingship meant the curtailment
of his liberty. He longed for the little cabin and the sun-kissed
sea--for the cool interior of the well-built house, and for the
never-ending wonders of the many books.

As he had grown older, he found that he had grown away from his people.
Their interests and his were far removed. They had not kept pace with
him, nor could they understand aught of the many strange and wonderful
dreams that passed through the active brain of their human king. So
limited was their vocabulary that Tarzan could not even talk with them
of the many new truths, and the great fields of thought that his
reading had opened up before his longing eyes, or make known ambitions
which stirred his soul.

Among the tribe he no longer had friends as of old. A little child may
find companionship in many strange and simple creatures, but to a grown
man there must be some semblance of equality in intellect as the basis
for agreeable association.

Had Kala lived, Tarzan would have sacrificed all else to remain near
her, but now that she was dead, and the playful friends of his
childhood grown into fierc