They were panting, spent. In another moment that awful swarm of maddened beasts would descend upon them.
Stumbling blindly on, Bomba felt his foot slip into a hollow at the same time that his body struck violently against a hard substance.
He stretched out his hands and felt rather than saw in the darkness that he had come to the entrance of a cave.
“Quick!” he gasped, stepping back and nearly falling over the cowering form of Neram. “Into the cave! Quick!”
CHAPTER XV
LYING IN AMBUSH
The two slaves seemed not to hear Bomba.
Perhaps they were half dead from fright, or perhaps they thought that the malady that had attacked the monkeys had disordered Bomba’s mind as well.
Despite his command, they continued to crouch stupidly close to the ground, striving to keep out of reach of the clutching hands that swung from the branches overhead.
One great ape dropped to the ground and came swiftly toward them on all fours, uttering howl after howl, so wild and eerie that it froze the blood in the veins of the adventurers.
Finding that the slaves were too terrified to heed his orders, Bomba seized Neram, who was nearer to him, and flung him bodily through the opening of the cave. He took Ashati by the arm and dragged him forward, shouting: