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The two now followed the stream down to the ocean, finding that it emptied into a
bay not over a mile from the point upon the beach at which the canoe had been
thrown the night before.
Tarzan was much elated by the discovery, as he knew that in the vicinity of a
large watercourse he should find natives, and from some of these he had little
doubt but that he should obtain news of Rokoff and the child, for he felt
reasonably certain that the Russian would rid himself of the baby as quickly as
possible after having disposed of Tarzan.
He and Mugambi now righted and launched the dugout, though it was a most
difficult feat in the face of the surf which rolled continuously in upon the beach;
but at last they were successful, and soon after were paddling up the coast
toward the mouth of the Ugambi. Here they experienced considerable difficulty in
making an entrance against the combined current and ebb tide, but by taking
advantage of eddies close in to shore they came about dusk to a point nearly
opposite the spot where they had left the pack asleep.
Making the craft fast to an overhanging bough, the two made their way into the
jungle, presently coming upon some of the apes feeding upon fruit a little beyond
the reeds where the buffalo had fallen. Sheeta was not anywhere to be seen, nor
did he return that night, so that Tarzan came to believe that he had wandered
away in search of his own kind.
Early the next morning the ape-man led his band down to the river, and as he
walked he gave vent to a series of shrill cries. Presently from a great distance and
faintly there came an answering scream, and a half-hour later the lithe form of
Sheeta bounded into view where the others of the pack were clambering gingerly
into the canoe.
The great beast, with arched back and purring like a contented tabby, rubbed his
sides against the ape-man, and then at a word from the latter sprang lightly to
his former place in the bow of the dugout.
When all were in place it was discovered that two of the apes of Akut were
missing, and though both the king ape and Tarzan called to them for the better
part of an hour, there was no response, and finally the boat put off without them.
As it happened that the two missing ones were the very same who had evinced
the least desire to accompany the expedition from the island, and had suffered
the most from fright during the voyage, Tarzan was quite sure that they had
absented themselves purposely rather than again enter the canoe.
As the party were putting in for the shore shortly after noon to search for food a
slender, naked savage watched them for a moment from behind the dense screen
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