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"No," replied the ape. "We did not see them go. We do not know why they left."

Tarzan swung quickly through the trees toward the clearing. The hut and boma

were as he had left them, but there was no sign of either the man or the woman.

Crossing the clearing, he entered the boma and then the hut. Both were empty,

and his trained nostrils told him that they had been gone for at least two days. As

he was about to leave the hut he saw a paper pinned upon the wall with a sliver

of wood and taking it down, he read:

After what you told me about Miss Kircher, and knowing that you dislike her, I

feel that it is not fair to her and to you that we should impose longer upon you. I

know that our presence is keeping you from continuing your journey to the west

coast, and so I have decided that it is better for us to try and reach the white

settlements immediately without imposing further upon you. We both thank you

for your kindness and protection. If there was any way that I might repay the

obligation I feel, I should be only too glad to do so.

It was signed by Lieutenant Harold Percy Smith-Oldwick.

Tarzan shrugged his shoulders, crumpled the note in his hand and tossed it

aside. He felt a certain sense of relief from responsibility and was glad that they

had taken the matter out of his hands. They were gone and would forget, but

somehow he could not forget. He walked out across the boma and into the

clearing. He felt uneasy and restless. Once he started toward the north in

response to a sudden determination to continue his way to the west coast. He

would follow the winding river toward the north a few miles where its course

turned to the west and then on toward its source across a wooded plateau and up

into the foothills and the mountains. Upon the other side of the range he would

search for a stream running downward toward the west coast, and thus following

the rivers he would be sure of game and water in plenty.

But he did not go far. A dozen steps, perhaps, and he came to a sudden stop. "He

is an Englishman," he muttered, "and the other is a woman. They can never

reach the settlements without my help. I could not kill her with my own hands

when I tried, and if I let them go on alone, I will have killed her just as surely as

though I had run my knife into her heart. No," and again he shook his head.

"Tarzan of the Apes is a fool and a weak, old woman," and he turned back toward

the south.

Manu, the monkey, had seen the two Tarmangani pass two days before.

Chattering and scolding, he told Tarzan all about it. They had gone in the

direction of the village of the Gomangani, that much had Manu seen with his own

eyes, so the ape-man swung on through the jungle in a southerly direction and

130

Tarzan the Untamed