The battle seemed to be
going against him for the giant beast against which he strove would
have been a fair match in weight and strength for Bolgani, the
gorilla. And knowing this he suddenly exerted a single super-human
effort, thrust far apart the giant hands and with the swiftness of
a striking snake buried his fangs in the jugular of the Tor-o-don.
At the same instant the creature's tail coiled about his own throat
and then commenced a battle royal of turning and twisting bodies as
each sought to dislodge the fatal hold of the other, but the acts
of the ape-man were guided by a human brain and thus it was that the
rolling bodies rolled in the direction that Tarzan wished--toward
the edge of the recess.
The choking tail had shut the air from his lungs, he knew that
his gasping lips were parted and his tongue protruding; and now
his brain reeled and his sight grew dim; but not before he reached
his goal and a quick hand shot out to seize the knife that now lay
within reach as the two bodies tottered perilously upon the brink
of the chasm.
With all his remaining strength the ape-man drove home the
blade--once, twice, thrice, and then all went black before him as
he felt himself, still in the clutches of the Tor-o-don, topple
from the recess.
Fortunate it was for Tarzan that Pan-at-lee had not obeyed his
injunction to make good her escape while he engaged the Tor-o-don,
for it was to this fact that he owed his life.
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