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though with no concentrated effort to follow the spoor of those he trailed, he

passed numerous evidences that they had gone this way--faint suggestions of

their scent spoor clung lightly to leaf or branch or bole that one or the other had

touched, or in the earth of the trail their feet had trod, and where the way wound

through the gloomy depth of dank forest, the impress of their shoes still showed

occasionally in the damp mass of decaying vegetation that floored the way.

An inexplicable urge spurred Tarzan to increasing, speed. The same still, small

voice that chided him for having neglected them seemed constantly whispering

that they were in dire need of him now. Tarzan's conscience was troubling him,

which accounted for the fact that he compared himself to a weak, old woman, for

the ape-man, reared in savagery and inured to hardships and cruelty, disliked to

admit any of the gentler traits that in reality were his birthright.

The trail made a detour to the east of the village of the Wamabos, and then

returned to the wide elephant path nearer to the river, where it continued in a

southerly direction for several miles. At last there came to the ears of the ape-

man a peculiar whirring, throbbing sound. For an instant he paused, listening

intently, "An aeroplane!" he muttered, and hastened forward at greatly increased

speed.

When Tarzan of the Apes finally reached the edge of the meadowland where

Smith-Oldwick's plane had landed, he took in the entire scene in one quick

glance and grasped the situation, although he could scarce give credence to the

things he saw. Bound and helpless, the English officer lay upon the ground at

one side of the meadow, while around him stood a number of the black deserters

from the German command. Tarzan had seen these men before and knew who

they were. Coming toward him down the meadow was an aeroplane piloted by

the black Usanga and in the seat behind the pilot was the white girl, Bertha

Kircher. How it befell that the ignorant savage could operate the plane, Tarzan

could not guess nor had he time in which to speculate upon the subject. His

knowledge of Usanga, together with the position of the white man, told him that

the black sergeant was attempting to carry off the white girl. Why he should be

doing this when he had her in his power and had also captured and secured the

only creature in the jungle who might wish to defend her in so far as the black

could know, Tarzan could not guess, for he knew nothing of Usanga's twenty-four

dream wives nor of the black's fear of the horrid temper of Naratu, his present

mate. He did not know, then, that Usanga had determined to fly away with the

white girl never to return, and to put so great a distance between himself and

Naratu that the latter never could find him again; but it was this very thing that

was in the black's mind although not even his own warriors guessed it. He had

told them that he would take the captive to a sultan of the north and there obtain

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Tarzan the Untamed