Nyoka the Jungle Girl #37

Nyoka and her fiancé Larry venture into uncharted jungle territory, only to have him shot and wounded by a mysterious marksman protecting a hidden shack surrounded by a moat—a man known only as the Jungle Hermit. Desperate to save Larry from both his wound and the crocodiles lurking in the waters around the hermit's domain, Nyoka makes a daring attempt to reach the shack for shelter during a raging storm. But as they cross the bridge under heavy fire, Nyoka and Larry find themselves pinned down with no clear escape, forced to uncover what secret the Jungle Hermit is so violently protecting.

Egbert the Explorer recounts a harrowing brush with cannibals to his companion Bradley, sharing how he found himself in quite the predicament when captured in the jungle. The tale takes a darkly comedic turn when Egbert reveals just how close he came to becoming dinner—complete with a menu to match.

Trapped on a deadly bridge and hunted by an unseen gunman, Nyoka and Larry escape into a mysterious hermit's shack—but discovering the hermit's dark secret and finding him murdered throws everything into question. With Larry gravely wounded and Nyoka herself knocked unconscious by an unknown attacker, the jungle girl must uncover who's really behind the violence before it's too late.

Nyoka finds herself trapped and bound inside a burning shack by the ruthless criminals Nails and Stack, who've set the fire to cover up their opium-smuggling operation and eliminate her and her wounded companion Larry. After a desperate escape through the flames, Nyoka must get the injured Larry across a collapsing bridge to safety—all while the two murderers make a final stand to stop her from reaching help.

When the circus boss orders Ballyhoo Barney to fetch replacement dumbbells for the strongman's act, the literal-minded jokester takes the assignment exactly as stated—and returns with a pair of "dumb belles" instead. As Barney's stubborn misinterpretations spiral from one mishap to the next, the increasingly exasperated boss discovers that patience has its limits.

Nyoka uncovers a sinister scheme when she discovers that a rogue witch doctor—the so-called Poison-Man—has been deliberately stirring up conflict between jungle tribes by spreading false rumors of attack, then profiting by selling them his deadly spear poison. After exposing his treachery and securing his confinement in a deserted village, Nyoka returns to her gift shop only to learn the cunning criminal may have broken free and resumed his dangerous game. Now Nyoka sets out once more to permanently put an end to the Poison-Man's reign of terror before innocent lives are lost to his greed.

Trader Tom's laundry service is running hilariously behind schedule, and when a frustrated customer demands his last clean shirt, Tom offers some questionable advice about letting his neck get as dirty as possible to make the garment look better by comparison. It's a quick dose of jungle humor that plays on the gap between promised service and reality.

Egbert the Explorer struggles with jungle hunting, confessing to Nyoka that his real experience comes from years at sea as a freighter skipper—making him an old salt through and through. When Nyoka reveals she spent six years as a sailor herself, the two kindred spirits bond over their maritime roots, leading to a cheerful discovery about what they have in common.

Nyoka has escaped from the schemers' trap and now races to stop two con artists from turning the jungle tribes against each other—but when her warnings backfire and the Nugloo tribe turns against *her*, she's forced to outthink the crooks instead of outrun them. Nyoka sets the two criminals against each other, tricking them into confessing their scam aloud so the tribe can hear the truth and help her bring them to justice.