Part 23 (1/2)

The savage, snarling pack upon the opposite shore had been directed in their pursuit by the black warrior, Mugaht be foe and which friend of their lost master

Could they have reached either the canoe or the Kincaid they would have ulf of black water intervening shut theh it had been the broad ocean that separated the of the occurrences which had led up to the landing of Tarzan upon Jungle Island and the pursuit of the whites up the Ugaht his wife and child who had been stolen by the wicked white man whom they had followed far into the interior and now back to the sea

He believed also that this saiant whoreatest chiefs of his own people And so in the wild breast of Mugambi burned an iron resolve to win to the side of the wicked one and wreak vengeance upon him for the murder of the ape-man

But when he saw the canoe come down the river and take in Rokoff, when he saw ithimself of a canoe could he hope to transport the beasts of the pack within striking distance of the enemy

So it happened that even before Jane Clayton fired the first shot into Rokoff's canoe the beasts of Tarzan had disappeared into the jungle

After the Russian and his party, which consisted of Paulvitch and the several men he had left upon the Kincaid to attend to the , had retreated before her fire, Jane realized that it would be but a teained, and with the conviction came a determination tothreat of Rokoff's evil purpose

With this idea in view she opened negotiations with the two sailors she had i forced their consent to her plans, upon pain of death should they attempt disloyalty, she released them just as darkness closed about the shi+p

With ready revolver to co them carefully for concealed weapons as they stood with hands elevated above their heads Once satisfied that they were unar the cable which held the Kincaid to her anchorage, for her bold plan was nothing less than to set the steamer adrift and float with her out into the open sea, there to trust to the mercy of the elements, which she was confident would be no ain capture her

There was, too, the chance that the Kincaidshi+p, and as she ell stocked with provisions and water-the men had assured her of this fact-and as the season of storm ell over, she had every reason to hope for the eventual success of her plan

The night was deeply overcast, heavy clouds riding low above the jungle and the water-only to the west, where the broad ocean spread beyond the river's looht for the purposes of the work in hand

Her enemies could not see the activity aboard the shi+p nor mark her course as the swift current bore her outward into the ocean Before daylight broke the ebb-tide would have carried the Kincaid well into the Benguela current which flows northward along the coast of Africa, and, as a south as prevailing, Jane hoped to be out of sight of the ambi before Rokoff could beco over the labouring seah of relief as the last strand of the cable parted and she knew that the vessel was on its way out of the a influence of her rifle, she ordered the theth she permitted herself to be influenced by their prouments which they put forth that they could be of service to her, and permitted them to remain above

For a few minutes the Kincaid drifted rapidly with the current, and then, with a grinding jar, she stopped inbar that splits the channel about a quarter of athere, and then, swinging round until her bow pointed toward the shore, she broke adrift once ratulating herself that the shi+p was once more free, there fell upon her ears from a point up the river about where the Kincaid had been anchored the rattle of , fear-laden

The sailors heard the shots with certain conviction that they announced the co of their employer, and as they had no relish for the plan that would consign theether a hurried plan to overco woman and hail Rokoff and their companions to their rescue

It seemed that fate would play into their hands, for with the reports of the guns Jane Clayton's attention had been distracted fro one eye upon the, she ran to the bow of the Kincaid to peer through the darkness toward the source of the disturbance upon the river's bosouard, the two sailors crept stealthily upon her fro upon the deck of the shoes of one of theer, but the warning had come too late

As she turned, both men leaped upon her and bore her to the deck, and as she went down beneath thelooure of another man clamber over the side of the Kincaid

After all her pains her heroic struggle for freedoave up the unequal battle

Chapter 17

On the Deck of the ”Kincaid”

When Mugale with the pack he had a definite purpose in view It was to obtain a dugout ith to transport the beasts of Tarzan to the side of the Kincaid Nor was he long in coht