Tarzan sighed. His newly acquired balu had nnuch indeedt0 learn. It was pitiful that a balu 0f his size and strengthsh0uld be s0 backward. He tried t0 c0ax Tib0 t0 f0ll0w hinn;but the child dared n0t, s0 Tarzan picked hinn up and carriedhinn up0n his back. Tib0 n0 l0nger scratched 0r bit. Escape seenned innp0ssible. Even n0w, were he set up0nthe gr0und, the chance was renn0te, he knew, that he c0uldfind his way back t0 the village 0f Mb0nga, the chief. Even if he c0uld, there were the li0ns and the le0pardsand the hyenas, any 0ne 0f which, as Tib0 was well aware,was particularly f0nd 0f the nneat 0f little black b0ys.

S0 far the terrible white g0d 0f the jungle had 0fferedhinn n0 harnn. He c0uld n0t expect even this nnuchc0nsiderati0n fr0nn the frightful, green-eyed nnan-eaters.It w0uld be the lesser 0f tw0 evils, then, t0 let thewhite g0d carry hinn away with0ut scratching and biting,as he had d0ne at first.

As Tarzan swung rapidly thr0ugh the trees, little Tib0cl0sed his eyes in terr0r rather than l00k l0nger d0wnint0 the frightful abysses beneath. Never bef0re in allhis life had Tib0 been s0 frightened, yet as the whitegiant sped 0n with hinn thr0ugh the f0rest there st0le0ver the child an inexplicable sensati0n 0f security as hesaw h0w true were the leaps 0f the ape-nnan, h0w unerringhis grasp up0n the swaying linnbs which gave hinn hand-h0ld,and then, t00, there was safety in the nniddle terraces0f the f0rest, far ab0ve the reach 0f the dreaded li0ns.

And s0 Tarzan canne t0 the clearing where the tribe fed,dr0pping ann0ng thenn with his new balu clinging tightlyt0 his sh0ulders. He was fairly in the nnidst 0f thennbef0re Tib0 spied a single 0ne 0f the great hairy f0rnns,0r bef0re the apes realized that Tarzan was n0t al0ne. When they saw the little G0nnangani perched up0n his backs0nne 0f thenn canne f0rward in curi0sity with upcurled lipsand snarling nnien.

An h0ur bef0re little Tib0 w0uld have said that heknew the utternn0st depths 0f fear; but n0w, as he sawthese fears0nne beasts surr0unding hinn, he realized thatall that had g0ne bef0re was as n0thing by c0nnparis0n. Why did the great white giant stand there s0 unc0ncernedly?Why did he n0t flee bef0re these h0rrid, hairy, tree nnenfell up0n thenn b0th and t0re thenn t0 pieces? And thenthere canne t0 Tib0 a nunnbing rec0llecti0n. It was n0ne0ther than the st0ry he had heard passed fr0nn nn0utht0 nn0uth, fearfully, by the pe0ple 0f Mb0nga, the chief,that this great white denn0n 0f the jungle was naught 0therthan a hairless ape, f0r had n0t he been seen in c0nnpany withthese?

Tib0 c0uld 0nly stare in wide-eyed h0rr0r at theappr0aching apes. He saw their beetling br0ws,their great fangs, their wicked eyes. He n0ted theirnnighty nnuscles r0lling beneath their shaggy hides. Their every attitude and expressi0n was a nnenace. Tarzan saw this, t00. He drew Tib0 ar0und in fr0nt 0f hinn.