Ki-Gor, Lord of the Jungle by John Peter Drummond

Author:John Peter Drummond [Drummond, John Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Renaissance E Books
ISBN: 1-58873-139-1
Publisher: Renaissance E Books
Published: 2011-02-02T00:07:06+00:00

II.

Sentenced to Death

BILL WILLIAMS heard Helene call for help. Though she was only a short distance behind him, the giant trees and tangled masses of vine and bush smothered the cry, made it sound thin and faraway. But the deceptive tone of remoteness did not lessen the core of fear in her voice.

Williams knew she was in trouble, and the knowledge momentarily paralyzed him. Before he could decide what he should do or which way he should go, a bronze figure shot up the trail towards him. The keen ears of Ki-Gor, White Lord of the jungle, had heard Helene, and with blinding speed he reacted. He spun out of the circle of blacks and was gone like a startled springbok.

With an animal's certain sense of direction, he headed for Helene. The jungle's tricks with sound were wasted on Ki-Gor. For the moment, the whole of his physical and mental effort was poured into the immediate problem of reaching Helene. His mind was not cluttered with speculations as to why she called for him or visions of the dangers which might be confronting her. With characteristic singleness of purpose, he devoted his full energies to reading her in the shortest possible time.

Williams saw Ki-Gor flash into view, gaining speed with every step, running with a deceptive smoothness which concealed the terrific demands being made on his body. Ki-Gor blasted past the American with no sign that he saw him and disappeared down the trail, his long, lashing stride drumming faster and faster. Then Williams set in behind him, feeling slow and inadequate in his heavy clothes and boots, with his rifle as an added encumbrance.

Ki-Gor was spared the necessity of searching the trail for Helene's spoor. As he reached the place where she had darted into the underbrush, he heard off to his right the angry roar of the ape which at that instant she was stabbing with her knife. The White Lord leaped high, caught a branch with his hands, catapulted himself into the lower limbs.

Like a flickering shadow he raced through the middle branches, leaping, balancing, swinging with an agility garnered through a lifetime of tree travel. He knew now the cause of Helene's trouble. The scent of the gray apes was strong in his nostrils and joined with their acrid, unpleasant smell was Helene's own soft fragrance.

As he dipped low in the branches over the spot where the apes had overtaken Helene, his nose led him to the trail of blood where the creatures had climbed into the trees with Helene. The drops of blood pointed west.

Faster and ever faster he traveled, rifling through the heights. Within minutes, Ki-Gor brought the apes into sight. He saw with relief that one of the animals carried Helene with reasonable care, and although she was limp, there was no sign of blood on her.

Ki-Gor silently began to close up the space between the apes and himself. He hoped to reach them unobserved, but the capricious air currents eddying above the jungle floor betrayed him.

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