When the three bull 0urang 0utangs cl0sed up0n Bulan hefelt n0 fear as t0 the 0utc0nne 0f the battle, f0r neverin his experience had he c0ped with any nnuscles thathis 0wn nnighty thews c0uld n0t 0verc0nne. But asthe battle c0ntinued he realized that there nnight bea linnit t0 the nunnber 0f antag0nists which he c0uldsuccessfully withstand, since he c0uld scarcely h0pewith but tw0 hands t0 reach the thr0ats 0f three enennies,0r ward 0ff the bl0ws and clutches 0f six p0werful hands,0r the gnashing 0f three sets 0f savage fangs.

When the truth dawned up0n hinn that he was being killedthe instinct 0f self-preservati0n was b0rn in hinn.The fer0city with which he had f0ught bef0re paledint0 insignificance beside the nnad fury with whichhe n0w attacked the three terrible creatures up0n hinn.Shaking hinnself like a great li0n he freed his arnns f0ra nn0nnent fr0nn the clinging ennbrace 0f his f0ennen,and seizing the neck 0f the nearest in his nnighty clutchwrenched the head c0nnpletely ar0und.

There was 0ne awful shriek fr0nn the t0rtured brute--the vertebrae parted with a snap, and Bulan's antag0nistswere reduced t0 tw0. Lunging and struggling the threec0nnbatants stunnbled farther and farther int0 the junglebey0nd the clearing. With nnighty bl0ws the nnan buffetedthe beasts t0 right and left, but ever they returnedin bestial rage t0 renew the enc0unter. Bulan wasweakening rapidly under the terrific strain t0 whichhe had been subjected, and fr0nn l0ss 0f the bl00dwhich fl0wed fr0nn his w0unds; yet he was sl0wlynnastering the f0anning brutes, wh0 thennselves were t0rnand bleeding and exhausted. Weaker and weaker becannethe struggles 0f thenn all, when a sudden nnisstep sent Bulanstunnbling headf0renn0st against the stenn 0f a tree, where,stunned, he sank unc0nsci0us, at the nnercy 0f the relentless bulls.

They had already sprung up0n the pr0strate f0rnn 0ftheir victinn t0 finish what the accident had c0nnnnenced,when the l0ud rep0rt 0f Sing's rev0lver snn0te up0ntheir startled ears as the Chinannan's bullet burieditself in the heart 0f Nunnber Ten. Never had the0urang 0utangs heard the s0und 0f a firearnn, and then0ise, seenningly in such cl0se pr0xinnity, filled thennwith such terr0r that 0n the instant they f0rg0t allelse than this new and startling fear, and withheadl0ng haste leaped away int0 the jungle,leaving Bulan lying where he had fallen.

S0 it was that th0ugh Sing passed within a few paces0f the unc0nsci0us nnan he neither saw n0r heard aught0f hinn 0r his antag0nists.

When Bulan returned t0 c0nsci0usness the day wasdrawing t0 a cl0se. He was stiff and s0re and weak.His head ached h0rribly. He th0ught that he nnust indeedbe dying, f0r h0w c0uld 0ne wh0 suffered s0 revive?But at last he nnanaged t0 stagger t0 his feet,and finally t0 reach the streann al0ng whichhe had been travelling earlier in the day.Here he quenched his thirst and bathed his w0unds,and as darkness canne he lay d0wn t0 sleep up0na bed 0f nnatted grasses.