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Goaded to frenzy the cat presently determined to come up after this disturber of

his peace; but when he essayed to leap to the branch that held Tarzan he found

the sharp spear point always in his face, and each time as he dropped back he

was prodded viciously in some tender part; but at length, rage having conquered

his better judgment, he leaped up the rough bole to the very branch upon which

Tarzan stood. Now the two faced each other upon even footing and Sheeta saw a

quick revenge and a supper all in one. The hairless ape-thing with the tiny fangs

and the puny talons would be helpless before him.

The heavy limb bent beneath the weight of the two beasts as Sheeta crept

cautiously out upon it and Tarzan backed slowly away, growling. The wind had

risen to the proportions of a gale so that even the greatest giants of the forest

swayed, groaning, to its force and the branch upon which the two faced each

other rose and fell like the deck of a storm-tossed ship. Goro was now entirely

obscured, but vivid flashes of lightning lit up the jungle at brief intervals,

revealing the grim tableau of primitive passion upon the swaying limb.

Tarzan backed away, drawing Sheeta farther from the stem of the tree and out

upon the tapering branch, where his footing became ever more precarious. The

cat, infuriated by the pain of spear wounds, was overstepping the bounds of

caution. Already he had reached a point where he could do little more than

maintain a secure footing, and it was this moment that Tarzan chose to charge.

With a roar that mingled with the booming thunder from above he leaped toward

the panther, who could only claw futilely with one huge paw while he clung to the

branch with the other; but the ape-man did not come within that parabola of

destruction. Instead he leaped above menacing claws and snapping fangs,

turning in mid-air and alighting upon Sheeta's back, and at the instant of impact

his knife struck deep into the tawny side. Then Sheeta, impelled by pain and hate

and rage and the first law of Nature, went mad. Screaming and clawing he

attempted to turn upon the ape-thing clinging to his back. For an instant he

toppled upon the now wildly gyrating limb, clutched frantically to save himself,

and then plunged downward into the darkness with Tarzan still clinging to him.

Crashing through splintering branches the two fell. Not for an instant did the

ape-man consider relinquishing his death-hold upon his adversary. He had

entered the lists in mortal combat and true to the primitive instincts of the wild--

the unwritten law of the jungle--one or both must die before the battle ended.

Sheeta, catlike, alighted upon four out-sprawled feet, the weight of the ape-man

crushing him to earth, the long knife again imbedded in his side. Once the

panther struggled to rise; but only to sink to earth again. Tarzan felt the giant

muscles relax beneath him. Sheeta was dead. Rising, the ape-man placed a foot

upon the body of his vanquished foe, raised his face toward the thundering

Tarzan the Untamed