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56 Only the corpse of a youth lay sprawled where it had fallen the previous evening. A speck ap­peared in the distant blue. It grew larger as it approached until it took upon itself the form of a bird gliding easily upon motionless wings. Nearer and nearer it came, now and again wing­ing great, slow circles, until at last it swung above the corral of The First Woman. Once again it circled and then dropped to earth within the en­closure—Ska, the vulture, had come. Within the hour the body of the youth was hidden by a mantle of the great birds. It was a two days feast, and when they left, only the clean picked bones remained, and entangled about the neck of one of the birds was a golden chain from which depended a diamond encrusted locket. Ska fought the bauble that swung annoyingly beneath him when he flew and impeded his progress when he walked upon the ground, but it was looped twice about his neck and he was unable to dis­lodge it, and so he winged away across The Great Thorn Forest, the bright gems gleaming and scin­tillating in the sun.

Tarzan of the Apes, after eluding the women that had chased him and the Alalus youth into the forest, halted in the tree beneath which the frightened son of The First Woman had come to a terrified pause. He was there, close above him, when Numa charged, and reaching quickly