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attempted to leap forward to the side of the corpse. Tarzan, however, seized him

and then the fellow turned upon him with teeth and nails. It was with no little

difficulty that Tarzan finally subdued the man, and while Otobu was removing

the outer clothing from the corpse, Tarzan asked the black to question the young

man as to his evident excitement at the sight of the body.

I can tell you Bwana," replied Otobu. "This man was his father."

What is he saying to the girl?" asked Tarzan.

He is asking her if she knew that the body of his father was under the couch.

And she is saying that she did not know it."

Tarzan repeated the conversation to Smith-Oldwick, who smiled. "If the chap

could have seen her removing all evidence of the crime and arranging the

hangings of the couch so that the body was concealed after she had helped me

drag it across the room, he wouldn't have very much doubt as to her knowledge

of the affair. The rug you see draped over the bench in the corner was arranged to

hide the blood stain--in some ways they are not so loony after all."

The black man had now removed the outer garments from the dead man, and

Smith-Oldwick was hastily drawing them on over his own clothing. "And now,"

said Tarzan, "we will sit down and eat. One accomplishes little on an empty

stomach." As they ate the ape-man attempted to carry on a conversation with the

two natives through Otobu. He learned that they were in the palace which had

belonged to the dead man lying upon the floor beside them. He had held an

official position of some nature, and he and his family were of the ruling class but

were not members of the court.

When Tarzan questioned them about Bertha Kircher, the young man said that

she had been taken to the king's palace; and when asked why replied: "For the

king, of course."

During the conversation both the man and the girl appeared quite rational, even

asking some questions as to the country from which their uninvited guests had

come, and evidencing much surprise when informed that there was anything but

waterless wastes beyond their own valley.

When Otobu asked the man, at Tarzan's suggestion, if he was familiar with the

interior of the king's palace, he replied that he was; that he was a friend of Prince

Metak, one of the king's sons, and that he often visited the palace and that Metak

also came here to his father's palace frequently. As Tarzan ate he racked his

brain for some plan whereby he might utilize the knowledge of the young man to

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Tarzan the Untamed