When Tarzan of the Apes realized that he was in the grip of thegreat jaws of a crocodile he did not, as an ordinary man might havedone, give up all hope and resign himself to his fate.

Instead, he filled his lungs with air before the huge reptiledragged him beneath the surface, and then, with all the might ofhis great muscles, fought bitterly for freedom. But out of hisnative element the ape-man was too greatly handicapped to do morethan excite the monster to greater speed as it dragged its preyswiftly through the water.

Tarzan's lungs were bursting for a breath of pure fresh air. Heknew that he could survive but a moment more, and in the lastparoxysm of his suffering he did what he could to avenge his owndeath.

His body trailed out beside the slimy carcass of his captor, andinto the tough armour the ape-man attempted to plunge his stoneknife as he was borne to the creature's horrid den.

His efforts but served to accelerate the speed of the crocodile, andjust as the ape-man realized that he had reached the limit of hisendurance he felt his body dragged to a muddy bed and his nostrilsrise somewhat above the water's surface. All about him was the greennessof the pit--the silence of the grave.

For a moment Tarzan of the Apes lay gasping for breath upon theslimy, evil-smelling bed to which the beast had borne him. Closeat his side he could feel the cold, hard plates of the creaturescoat rising and falling as though with spasmodic efforts to breathe.

For several minutes the two lay thus, and then a sudden convulsionof the giant carcass at the man's side, a tremor, and a stiffeningbrought Tarzan to his knees beside the crocodile. To his utteramazement he found that the beast was dead. The slim knife hadfound a vulnerable spot in the scaly armour.