Shouldering his way through the crowd he approached the doorway,
and had almost reached it when one of the Arabs laid a hand upon
his shoulder, crying: "Who is this?" at the same time snatching
back the hood from the ape-man's face.

Tarzan of the Apes in all his savage life had never been accustomed
to pause in argument with an antagonist. The primitive instinct of
self-preservation acknowledges many arts and wiles; but argument is
not one of them, nor did he now waste precious time in an attempt
to convince the raiders that he was not a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Instead he had his unmasker by the throat ere the man's words had
scarce quitted his lips, and hurling him from side to side brushed
away those who would have swarmed upon him.

Using the Arab as a weapon, Tarzan forced his way quickly
to the doorway, and a moment later was within the hut. A hasty
examination revealed the fact that it was empty, and his sense of
smell discovered, too, the scent spoor of Taglat, the ape. Tarzan
uttered a low, ominous growl. Those who were pressing forward
at the doorway to seize him, fell back as the savage notes of the
bestial challenge smote upon their ears. They looked at one another
in surprise and consternation. A man had entered the hut alone,
and yet with their own ears they had heard the voice of a wild
beast within. What could it mean? Had a lion or a leopard sought
sanctuary in the interior, unbeknown to the sentries?

Tarzan's quick eyes discovered the opening in the roof, through
which Taglat had fallen. He guessed that the ape had either come
or gone by way of the break, and while the Arabs hesitated without,
he sprang, catlike, for the opening, grasped the top of the wall