circumstances, a crumbling of the veneer of bravado which had long
masqueraded as courage and with it crumbled his code of ethics. Now
was Es-sat no longer chief of Kor-ul-ja--instead he was a whimpering
craven battling for life. Clutching at Om-at, clutching at the
nearest pegs he sought any support that would save him from that
awful fall, and as he strove to push aside the hand of death,
whose cold fingers he already felt upon his heart, his tail sought
Om-at's side and the handle of the knife that hung there.

Tarzan saw and even as Es-sat drew the blade from its sheath he
dropped catlike to the pegs beside the battling men. Es-sat's tail
had drawn back for the cowardly fatal thrust. Now many others saw
the perfidious act and a great cry of rage and disgust arose from
savage throats; but as the blade sped toward its goal, the ape-man
seized the hairy member that wielded it, and at the same instant
Om-at thrust the body of Es-sat from him with such force that its
weakened holds were broken and it hurtled downward, a brief meteor
of screaming fear, to death.





4

Tarzan-jad-guru