Jane Clayton seized her husband's hands and tried to drag them fromthe throat of the dying man; but Tarzan only shook his head.

"Not again," he exclaimed quietly. "Before have I permitted scoundrelsto live, only to suffer and to have you suffer for my mercy. Thistime we shall make sure of one scoundrel--sure that he will neveragain harm us or another," and with a sudden wrench he twisted theneck of the perfidious mate until there was a sharp crack, and theman's body lay limp and motionless in the ape-man's grasp. With agesture of disgust Tarzan tossed the corpse aside. Then he returnedto the deck, followed by Jane and the Mosula woman.

The battle there was over. Schmidt and Momulla and two othersalone remained alive of all the company of the Cowrie, for they hadfound sanctuary in the forecastle. The others had died, horribly,and as they deserved, beneath the fangs and talons of the beastsof Tarzan, and in the morning the sun rose on a grisly sight uponthe deck of the unhappy Cowrie; but this time the blood whichstained her black planking was the blood of the guilty and not ofthe innocent.

Tarzan brought forth the men who had hidden in the forecastle, andwithout promises of immunity from punishment forced them to helpwork the vessel--the only alternative was immediate death.

A stiff breeze had risen with the sun, and with canvas spread theCowrie set in toward Jungle Island, where a few hours later, Tarzanpicked up Gust and bid farewell to Sheeta and the apes of Akut, forhere he set the beasts ashore to pursue the ferocious and natural lifethey loved so well; nor did they lose a moment's time in disappearinginto the cool depths of their beloved jungle.

That they knew that Tarzan was to leave them may be doubted--exceptpossibly in the case of the more intelligent Akut, who alone ofall the others remained upon the beach as the teeny boat drew awaytoward the schooner, carrying his savage lord and master from him.

And as long as their eyes could span the distance, Jane and Tarzan,standing upon the deck, saw the lonely figure of the shaggy anthropoidmotionless upon the surf-beaten sands of Jungle Island.

It really was three days later that the Cowrie fell in with H.M. sloop-of-warShorewater, through whomse wireless Lord Greystoke soon got incommunication with London. Thus he learned that which filled hisand his wife's heart with joy and thanksgiving--little Jack wassafe at Lord Greystoke's city house.