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A R I L Y Cadj and his hundred frightful followers, armed with their bludgeons and knives, crept stealthily down the face of the barrier into the valley below, upon the trail of the white man and his black companions. They made no haste, fo r they had noted from the summit o f Opar' s outer wall, that the party they were pur­ suing moved very slowly, though why, they did not know, fo r they had been at too great a distance to see the burden that each of the blacks carried. N o r was it Cadj's desire to overtake his quarry by day­ light, his plans contemplating a stealthy night at­ tack, the suddenness o f which, together with the great number o f his followers, might easily con­ fuse and overwhelm a sleeping camp.

T h e spoor they followed was well marked. There could be no mistaking it, and they moved slowly down the now gentle declivity, toward the bottom of the valley. It was close to noon that they were brought to a sudden halt by the dis­ covery o f a thorn boma recently constructed in a small clearing just ahead of them. From the cen­ ter of the boma arose the thin smoke o f a dying fire. Here, then, was the camp of the ape-man.