ful loops from branch to branch.

At times the ape-man had difficulty in commanding obedience upon the
part of his unruly beast, but always in the end its fear of the
relatively puny goad urged it on to obedience. Late in the afternoon as
they approached the confluence of the stream they were skirting and
another which appeared to come from the direction of Kor-ul-ja the
ape-man, emerging from one of the jungle patches, discovered a
considerable party of Ho-don upon the opposite bank. Simultaneously
they saw him and the mighty creature he bestrode. For a moment they
stood in wide-eyed amazement and then, in answer to the command of
their leader, they turned and bolted for the shelter of the nearby wood.

The ape-man had but a brief glimpse of them but it was sufficient
indication that there were Waz-don with them, doubtless prisoners taken
in one of the raids upon the Waz-don villages of which Ta-den and Om-at
had told him.

At the sound of their voices the gryf had bellowed terrifically and
started in pursuit even though a river intervened, but by dint of much
prodding and beating, Tarzan had succeeded in heading the animal back
into the path though thereafter for a long time it was sullen and more
intractable than ever.

As the sun dropped nearer the summit of the western hills Tarzan became
aware that his plan to enter A-lur upon the back of a gryf was likely
doomed to failure, since the stubbornness of the great beast was
increasing momentarily, doubtless due to the fact that its huge belly
was crying out for food. The ape-man wondered if the Tor-o-dons had any
means of picketing their beasts for the night, but as he did not know
and as no plan suggested itself, he determined that he should have to
trust to the chance of finding it again in the morning.

There now arose in his mind a question as to what would be their
relationship when Tarzan had dismounted. Would it again revert to that
of hunter and quarry or would fear of the goad continue to hold its
supremacy over the natural instinct of the hunting flesh-eater? Tarzan
wondered but as he could not remain upon the gryf forever, and as he
preferred dismounting and putting the matter to a final test while it
was still light, he decided to act at once.

How to stop the creature he did not know, as up to this time his sole
desire had been to urge it forward. By experimenting with his staff,
however, he found that he could bring it to a halt by reaching forward