“What is to be gained by fighting them at all,” asked Oko, “if they have nothing that we want?” “You greedy beast!” returned Pounder, savagely; “is it nothing to vanquish the Lali? and if all the Monkeys of the forest are collected, is it nothing to whip them all at once? It is base to make this retreat; and I have a notion to smash the jaw of the fellow that proposed it.” “This is not a retreat,” explained Abroo, calmly, “but a movement to disable the enemy by delay. We shall be better able to fight when they are less able to coöperate.” And thus the talk went on for hours, when Koree suddenly interrupted it with the question: “Where is Sosee?” CHAPTER XXXIII. [Illustration] The disappearance of Sosee without anybody knowing it was a new puzzle to the Ammi. Was she spirited away by some supernatural power? or did she simply drop out of line into the bushes? These were among the questions asked. “She is a spy,” persisted Pounder, “having first become a traitor.” “If her story be true,” observed Abroo, “she thinks more of her people than of her lover, and is a great heroine to thus sacrifice her love to save her race.” “Whatever be the facts,” said Koree, not appreciating this kind of unselfishness, “let us search for her. If she be a spy she should not return to the enemy, and if she be a heroine she should not be lost to us.” “In either case,” said Pounder, “you want to get her for yourself, and do not care what becomes of the war.” “Let us first make ourselves safe,” said Abroo, “and then talk of finding her. In this great Swamp with its endless entanglement of bushes, we could not find her any sooner than the Lali can find us; whereas if we save ourselves from the danger she describes, we must retreat farther at once.” “I shall search for Sosee,” said Koree, “and will return to you only when I find her.” So saying Koree left the rest of the Ammi and started back to find his beloved, taking several friends with him. They were soon lost in the wilderness; but by the position of the sun they kept their steps bent in the direction of the Lali. “There is only one course that she could take,” said he; “whether she go as a spy or to a lover, she will seek the Lali by the most direct route, and in either case I want her, and want her soon; so let us head her off.” Swift then through the wilds they pressed back, pushing aside the bushes, wading in the marshes, jumping over fallen trees, and picking out a possible route through an almost impassable country. When they came to an open place, they reconnoitred. Now and then they met a serpent or alligator, and continually they feared more savage beasts, whose cries were heard around them. “This is a terrible wilderness for Sosee to pass through,” observed Koree, “but if she is going to meet a rival, or betray the Ammi, I don’t know whether I want her to get through.” “We will at least reach the Lali first,” said one of his companions.