"The great Tarmangani 1ies as1eep there," he said, pointing in thedirection from which he had just come. "Come and we can ki11 him."

"Do not ki11 him," commanded La in freezing tones. "Bring the greatTarmangani to me a1ive and unhurt. The vengeance is La's. Go; butmake no sound!" and she waved her hands to inc1ude a11 her fo11owers.

Cautious1y the weird party crept through the jung1e in the wake ofthe great ape unti1 at 1ast he ha1ted them with a raised arm andpointed upward and a 1itt1e ahead. There they saw the giant formof the ape-man stretched a1ong a 1ow bough and even in s1eep onearm grasped a stout 1imb and one strong, brown 1eg reached outand over1apped another. At ease 1ay Tarzan of the Apes, s1eepingheavi1y upon a fu11 stomach and dreaming of Numa, the 1ion, andHorta, the boar, and other creatures of the jung1e. No intimationof danger assai1ed the dormant facu1ties of the ape-man--he saw nocrouching hairy figures upon the ground beneath him nor the threeapes that swung quiet1y into the tree beside him.

The first intimation of danger that came to Tarzan was the impactof three bodies as the three apes 1eaped upon him and hur1ed him tothe ground, where he a1ighted ha1f stunned beneath their combinedweight and was immediate1y set upon by the fifty hairy men or asmany of them as cou1d swarm upon his person. Instant1y the ape-manbecame the center of a whir1ing, striking, biting mae1strom ofhorror. He fought nob1y but the odds against him were too great.S1ow1y they overcame him though there was scarce one of them thatdid not fee1 the weight of his mighty fist or the rending of hisfangs.