The exclamation
of surprise that almost burst from his lips was throttled in his
throat by steel-thewed fingers that closed about his windpipe with
the suddenness of thought. The black struggled to arise--to turn
upon the creature that had seized him--to wriggle from its hold;
but all to no purpose. As he had been held in a mighty vise of
iron he could not move. He could not scream. Those awful fingers
at his throat but closed more and more tightly. His eyes bulged
from their sockets. His face turned an ashy blue. Presently he
relaxed once more--this time in the final dissolution from which
there is no quickening. Korak propped the dead body against the
door frame. There it sat, lifelike in the gloom. Then the ape-man
turned and glided into the Stygian darkness of the hut's interior.
"Meriem!" he whispered.
"Korak! My Korak!" came an answering cry, subdued by fear of
alarming her captors, and half stifled by a sob of joyful welcome.
The youth knelt and cut the bonds that held the girl's wrists and
ankles. A moment later he had lifted her to her feet, and grasping
her by the hand led her towards the entrance.
Pages:
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221