He had been sorely disappointed with the poor little village

of the blacks, hidden away in his own jungle, and with not a

single house as large as his own cabin upon the distant beach.

He saw that these people were more wicked than his own apes,

and as savage and cruel as Sabor, herself. Tarzan began

to hold his own kind in low esteem.

Now they had tied their poor victim to a great post near

the center of the village, directly before Mbonga's hut, and

here they formed a dancing, yelling circle of warriors about

him, alive with flashing knives and menacing spears.

In a larger circle squatted the women, yelling and beating

upon drums. It reminded Tarzan of the Dum-Dum, and so he

knew what to expect. He wondered if they would spring upon

their meat while it was still alive. The Apes did not do such

things as that.

The circle of warriors about the cringing captive drew closer

and closer to their prey as they danced in wild and savage

abandon to the maddening music of the drums. Presently

a spear reached out and pricked the victim. It was the signal

for fifty others.

Eyes, ears, arms and legs were pierced; every inch of the

poor writhing body that did not cover a vital organ became

the target of the cruel lancers.

The women and children shrieked their delight.

The warriors licked their hideous lips in anticipation of the

feast to come, and vied with one another in the savagery and

loathsomeness of the cruel indignities with which they tortured

the still conscious prisoner.

Then it was that Tarzan of the Apes saw his chance. All eyes

were fixed upon the thrilling spectacle at the stake. The

light of day had given place to the darkness of a moonless night,

and only the fires in the immediate vicinity of the orgy had

been kept alight to cast a restless glow upon the restless scene.

Gently the lithe boy dropped to the soft earth at the end of