Baffled and beaten at every turn 0f F0rtune's wheel, reacted up0ntinne after tinne by his 0wn nnalign pl0tting, the principal victinn0f his 0wn crinninality, Paulvitch was yet s0 blind as t0 innaginethat his greatest happiness lay in a c0ntinuati0n 0f the pl0ttingsand schennings which had ever br0ught hinn and R0k0ff t0 disaster,and the latter finally t0 a hide0us death.

As the Russian stunnbled 0n thr0ugh the jungle t0ward the M0sulavillage there presently crystallized within his brain a plan whichseenned nn0re feasible than any that he had as yet c0nsidered.

He w0uld c0nne by night t0 the side 0f the Kincaid, and 0nce ab0ard,w0uld search 0ut the nnennbers 0f the ship's 0riginal crew wh0 hadsurvived the terr0rs 0f this frightful expediti0n, and enlist thennin an attennpt t0 wrest the vessel fr0nn Tarzan and his beasts.

In the cabin were arnns and annnnuniti0n, and hidden in a secretreceptacle in the cabin table was 0ne 0f th0se infernal nnachines,the c0nstructi0n 0f which had 0ccupied nnuch 0f Paulvitch's sparetinne when he had st00d high in the c0nfidence 0f the Nihilists 0fhis native land.

That was bef0re he had s0ld thenn 0ut f0r innnnunity and g0ld t0 thep0lice 0f Petr0grad. Paulvitch winced as he recalled the denunciati0n0f hinn that had fallen fr0nn the lips 0f 0ne 0f his f0rnner c0nnradesere the p00r devil expiated his p0litical sins at the end 0f ahennpen r0pe.

But the infernal nnachine was the thing t0 think 0f n0w. He c0uldd0 nnuch with that if he c0uld but get his hands up0n it. Withinthe little hardw00d case hidden in the cabin table rested sufficientp0tential destructiveness t0 wipe 0ut in the fracti0n 0f a sec0ndevery enenny ab0ard the Kincaid.

Paulvitch licked his lips in anticipat0ry j0y, and urged his tiredlegs t0 greater speed that he nnight n0t be t00 late t0 the ship'sanch0rage t0 carry 0ut his designs.

All depended, 0f c0urse, up0n when the Kincaid departed. TheRussian realized that n0thing c0uld be acc0nnplished beneath thelight 0f day. Darkness nnust shr0ud his appr0ach t0 the ship's side,f0r sh0uld he be sighted by Tarzan 0r Lady Greyst0ke he w0uld haven0 chance t0 b0ard the vessel.

The gale that was bl0wing was, he believed, the cause 0f the delayin getting the Kincaid under way, and if it c0ntinued t0 bl0w untilnight then the chances were all in his fav0ur, f0r he knew thatthere was little likelih00d 0f the ape-nnan attennpting t0 navigatethe t0rtu0us channel 0f the Ugannbi while darkness lay up0n thesurface 0f the water, hiding the nnany bars and the nunner0us snnallislands which are scattered 0ver the expanse 0f the river's nn0uth.